As the unrelenting rumble of raindrops falling on umbrellas fell on a crowd of 50 at Finnriver Farm Friday, the persistent patter was cut by the resonant sound of a song: the Woman Warrior song.
“This song was originally composed to recognize our missing and murdered Indigenous women,” said Sabrina McQuillen Hill, a member of the Makah Tribe, who addressed a group of people preparing to walk 8.5 kilometers in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement on Friday, June 12. “It is now used as a protest song widely across Turtle Island, all of North America.”
The walk was one of many rallies held in the past two weeks in Jefferson County following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 25, and whose death has sparked weeks of protests across the country and the globe.
On Friday, Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County called for a statewide day of action in support of all Black lives in Washington, which sparked the idea for the 8.5-kilometer walk.
Activists in Jefferson County have called for an end to police brutality and racism against Black people by holding vigils, rallies, and marches in honor of the many Black people who have died, including Floyd, at the hands of police. But the rallies have also focused on the killing of Indigenous people around the country and here on the Olympic Peninsula.
CDC data from 1999 to 2015 shows Indigenous people are killed by law enforcement at a higher rate than any other race or ethnicity.
“We are here because Black Lives Matter, right?” McQuillen Hill asked the crowd. “But I want you to remember that Indigenous lives matter, too.”
In addition to remembering Floyd and the many other Black men and women who have been killed by police, walkers also held signs calling for “Justice for Stoney.” Stonechild Chiefstick was an Indigenous man killed by Poulsbo Police Officer Craig Keller in front of a crowd of people at the city’s Third of July celebration almost a year ago.
The walk was organized by a group of community members, including Finnriver owner Crystie Kisler and Jane Rioseco. It was held in honor and recognition of lives lost to police violence, institutional racism, and oppression.
“Our physical bodies in stillness together and in unified motion create a sacred space,” said Rufina Garay, who spoke at the beginning of the event. “As we walk, I would encourage you to feel into your body, into your breath, into your thoughts —your heart, and your spirit. Be grateful for it all, because, today, we can breathe.”
Organizers also invited Sheriff Joe Nole to speak at the beginning of the event.
“Part of the accountability in this moment for me has been to think about how structural change has to happen, and one of the key places for that is in our institutions of law enforcement,” said Crystie Kisler, before inviting Nole to share how people could ask questions and deliver concerns to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
But as Nole spoke, some protesters broke from the crowd — an echo of the nationwide distrust of law enforcement.
“I don’t want to listen to this,” murmured one woman in the crowd before breaking off and beginning the walk. Others followed, and the long walk from Finnriver Farm through HJ Carroll Park, Port Hadlock and back began.
About a mile into the walk, some attendees decided to begin walking in the road instead of the sidewalk. This action was met with aggression from motorists driving by, who witnesses say yelled out their windows and drove dangerously near the walkers.
Samuel Swenson-Daly, who attended the walk, said he saw civilian motorists driving vehicles “aggressively into the bodies of marchers.”
“Just south of the 116 intersection I noticed marchers in the street up ahead,” Swenson-Daly said. “I stepped into the road at a safe distance from the oncoming cars and signalled for them to slow. I was met with immediate acceleration and aggression from one driver, such that I had to jump out of the way. His vehicle careened through the crowd and along the median. It was terrible.”
In a response email, Commissioner Kate Dean said she heard from attendees it was a state patrol vehicle that passed by, not a sheriff’s deputy.
“I have already spoken with (event organizer) Crystie Kisler about scheduling a meeting with the sheriff to discuss yesterday’s events,” Dean said.
Nole said he and Undersheriff Andy Pernsteiner responded to the scene, but by the time they arrived, the march was ending and most protesters were congregating in the Chimacum Corner Farmstand parking lot.
Kisler said the response from motorists and the conversations that followed Friday’s walk revealed “how much work we have to do still.”
“A lot of people are really angry, and they want the world to stop and take notice,” Garay said.
Swenson-Daly said in a follow-up email he is waiting for a response from public officials on the issue.
“Whether or not marchers had a legal sanction to march on the roadway, they have an absolute and unambiguous right to freedom from assault by motorists, and freedom from endangerment by reckless driving,” he wrote. “This was a case of civil disobedience in a march by people who are distraught with the systemic failure of police. No ink, breath, nor keystroke should be wasted on the taxpayer’s dime by public officials engaging in discourse that victim-blames, plays into the good-protester/bad-protester false dichotomy, or otherwise treats the folks involved as anything other than victims of acts of vehicular assault and reckless endangerment.”
