City of Port Townsend to close multiple streets for Saturday demonstration

Leader News Staff
news@ptleader.com
Posted 9/2/22

Streets in downtown Port Townsend will be temporarily closed from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3 for a protest. Sections of Water, Washington, Monroe, Madison, and Quincy streets near Pope Marine …

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City of Port Townsend to close multiple streets for Saturday demonstration

Posted

Streets in downtown Port Townsend will be temporarily closed from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3 for a protest.

Sections of Water, Washington, Monroe, Madison, and Quincy streets near Pope Marine Park will be shut down. Parking restrictions will also be in place.

Signs were placed Friday down the median of some streets and along the sidewalks of others by the city of Port Townsend. The signs warn that vehicles will be towed.

The planned protest — spearheaded by Vancouver, Washington resident Robert Zerfing and called “Stand For Democracy — is from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Pope Marine Park.

The anti-trans rally will protest the Olympic Peninsula YMCA’s decision to ban resident Julie Jaman, who was forbidden from returning to Mountain View Pool after harassing a transgender employee in the women’s changing rooms.

Comments

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  • Shoreline59

    Missing from this press release is the fact that Robert Zerfing is a member of the Proud Boys. And if anyone thinks he cares one bit about the YMCA decision, they are sadly mistaken.

    Friday, September 2, 2022 Report this

  • MargeS

    well Julie finally gets her 15 minutes of fame. Been trying since the 1980s.

    Friday, September 2, 2022 Report this

  • ltucker

    Due to the potential violent nature of this Proud Boys protest, many of our businesses are closing today out of caution for their customers. Labor Day weekend is an important revenue generator for our local establishments. Please make an effort to purchase items, eat in restaurants, or buy gift certificates to help make up for their losses after today. While I support anyone's right to free speech, I value our local businesses highly and their loss is our loss.

    Saturday, September 3, 2022 Report this

  • MargeS

    Labor Day has been a national holiday since 1894, when President Grover Cleveland signed the law that Congress passed designating the first Monday in September a holiday for workers. Labor unions pressed and activists sacrificed to gain recognition of both the contributions and the mistreatment of workers at the time.

    So lets have a demonstration by a bunch of folks who don't care to follow a Washington State Law in place since 2006.

    Who cares if the hard working business people lose money, as long as free speech is given.

    That said, I hope no one shows up.

    Saturday, September 3, 2022 Report this

  • CodexSeraphinianus

    Looks like they showed and it was peaceful. That’s always a good thing. This actually went a lot better than the riots of 2020. Free speech was important then as well as there were multiple murders and buildings burned, businesses destroyed so that people felt recognized. I didn’t see their free speech being trampled on because it hurt someone’s feelings. Glad overall this was peaceful and everyone got to say what they wanted. Now hopefully everyone moves on.

    Sunday, September 4, 2022 Report this

  • Dcc

    It was peaceful because of the number of police and barriers. The only reason "proud boy" types show up at an event like this is to cause trouble. The don't give a rodent's behind if Ms. Jaman can swim or not.

    Tuesday, September 6, 2022 Report this

  • EthelMermaid

    Wow, there’s a tiny fraction of PT’s “liberal elite” Food Coopy types that are now courted by Proud Boys and Fox News/Tucker Carlson et al, and are happily engaging with them because they get national attention showered upon them and the extreme right have taken their side in this foofaraw. Strange bedfellows indeed. Even my dear old Port Townsend is not immune from the utter insanity of the times. Of course, calling yourself liberal and/or progressive, and then resting on your hippy-cred laurels has been a way of life in PT for as long as I can remember. The real world is now inside the house and no amount of new-age blessings and prayers for peace will mean anything until you are fighting for all human rights and see who the real perpetrators of hate are. SMDH as the kids say.

    Tuesday, September 6, 2022 Report this

  • Dcc

    What exactly is your point, Ethel?

    Tuesday, September 6, 2022 Report this

  • MargeS

    I want a new name! Nobody uses their real name anymore. Time to retire I suppose. New name coming up!

    Tuesday, September 6, 2022 Report this