29 arrested as anti-police protesters clash with officers in Olympia, Wash.

29 arrested in Olympia during anti-police protest

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Police arrested 29 people after an anti-police march in Olympia Thursday night turned violent.

Cmdr. Tor Bjornstad said Friday that officers were monitoring about three-dozen people dressed in black, wearing masks and calling themselves anarchists. The group started marching downtown about 7 p.m. Thursday, chanting obscenities at the police.

By 9 p.m., they had spray-painted the camera of a photographer for The Olympian and tried to take the camera and his cell phone, Bjornstad said. They also spray-painted buildings, broke windows and threw newspaper boxes into the street.

Officers surrounded the group and made the arrests.

Two officers were hit — one in the head and one in the groin — and those two attackers were booked for investigation of felony assault, Bjornstad said.

Two people who attacked the photographer were booked for investigation of assault.

The rest were booked for investigation of riotous conduct and released overnight with charges referred to the prosecutor.

Bjornstad said there was no identifiable group responsible for the demonstration, but most of the marchers are college age. He said it may be related to similar protests in Portland, where hundreds have marched through downtown streets in recent weeks to decry two fatal shootings by officers.