Olympia, WA: Fascist Shoots Out Windows in Downtown; Yells, “Hail Trump!”

From Puget Sound Anarchists

Here is what we know: Inauguration night, someone drove down 4th Ave in downtown Olympia in a white Toyota Tacoma yelling “Hail Trump” and fired a high powered pellet gun through the windows of at least two local businesses, one of which had people inside. Remarkably, no one seems to have been hurt; high-power pellet guns can and have killed people. A suspect has been arrested in connection to this. The Olympia newspaper has not covered this. The Olympia Police Twitter account, which regularly reports on crimes as trivial as graffiti, has been largely silent.

Photo of the windows of Our Table after they were shot out

This concerns us greatly. We refuse to let this indiscriminate fascist attack go without comment or response. The police and the press would like to let this new normal, in which armed Nazi attacks are commonplace, settle in quietly. Over the last few years we have seen a substantial increase of fascist and far-right activity in Olympia. Now
emboldened by Trump, fascists have escalated even further. We must not back down now. It is outrageous that fascist shootings in Olympia and Seattle go unreported, while minor anti-fascist scuffles get described by the media as violent and irresponsible. The media and the police, following Trump’s lead, are trying to normalize right-wing vigilante violence. We cannot let that happen.

In the past, people in Olympia have organized anti-fascist patrols and coordinated safe rides to help people get out of dangerous situations downtown. In order to keep each other safe, we should consider acquiring the skills and supplies needed to stabilize and treat gunshot and knife wounds. There are actual fascists, literally trying to hurt or even kill us, from Minneapolis to Sacramento, from Olympia and Seattle–and an uptick in racially-motivated violent attacks on people of color. Providing for these exigencies will only become more vital and important as the alt-right
grows under Trump’s encouragement. It is clear that the state will not protect us from fascists; all we have is each other.

We must unrelentingly confront fascism and fascists. We must also not fall into the logic of symmetrical warfare, nor let determination and militancy be replaced by specialized violence and minoritarian practice. Rather than exchanging blows with fascists tit for tat, we seek to build anti-fascist power in our streets, neighborhoods, and
communities.