Olympia police appear to be making arrests at the rear exit / entrance of the Red Lion. (KTTH, Jason Rantz via Twitter)
Seven people were taken into custody on Sunday when police rushed and occupied the Red Lion Hotel in downtown Olympia with people trying to find pandemic housing in an apparent takeover.
Homeless activists with a group called Oly Housing Now occupied the hotel after lawyers booked 17 rooms and on Sunday demanded that Thurston County continue to pay for the room with funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
According to The Olympian, the group paid for one night in the rooms and moved 33 homeless people in and had plans to stay indefinitely.
‘We are just ready to hold out. We don’t mean harm. We actually want this hotel to get business, ”said Emma Veite of Oly Housing Now. So they’re going to get the FEMA funds. And the rooms will be occupied by people who need them. So it is a win-win. The funds are there; the province simply has to apply for it. “
At around 11 a.m. Sunday, police said they were receiving calls from hotel employees saying that a “crowd of people in black” with clubs and knives had entered the lobby and demanded that they open rooms.
One employee was assaulted while trying to prevent some of the crowd from entering the lobby, while about seven to eight other employees were hiding in a basement room, police said.
After authorities received a search warrant, police, along with several other agencies, entered the hotel to free the imprisoned employees who stayed at the hotel for more than six hours.
After police began sweeping the hotel rooms of the group of homeless activists, officials from the Red Lion issued a statement saying that workers reported that some members of the group were armed with axes, batons, knives and gas masks, helmets and safety glasses; the group also appeared to be preparing for a confrontation.
Oly Housing Now sent a release with the following requirements:
- Thurston County Health Department must apply for FEMA funding and use it for COVID-19 prevention sites and non-municipal shelters for people 65 and older or with pre-existing health conditions.
- The City of Olympia must stop the cleanups and provide the camps with resources to meet the hygiene recommendations of COVID-19 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including overflow locations, isolation locations, protective housing, sanitation, hygiene materials and 24-hour toilets. .
- The City of Olympia should use public emergency responders / public safety emergency housing in the form of hotel vouchers to support the homeless community in Olympia.
- The City of Olympia should increase impact fees for luxury and commercial properties in downtown Olympia.
- Thurston County and the City of Olympia should encourage housing for people who meet the extremely low income threshold ($ 26,200 for a family of four).
Seven people were taken into custody for various crimes. Authorities said they expect to make more arrests.