(The Center Square) – Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security initially requested his support on Wednesday — not the Spokane Police Department — as protesters blocked agents from leaving a local federal immigration facility.
SPD Spokesperson Officer Dan Strassenberg told The Center Square that officers arrested 34 people on Wednesday at the protest. He said most were charged with failure to disperse, aside from two individuals charged with unlawful imprisonment, a class C felony in Washington state.
Justice Forrall, director of operations for Spokane Community Against Racism, who the mayor appointed to the Human Rights Commission, and local artist Erin Lang were both charged with multiple felonies.
Nowels told The Center Square that he called Police Chief Kevin Hall after federal agents inside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building reached out. He said DHS was worried that SPD didn’t have a plan to “rescue” those inside, but Hall told Nowels they had it handled.
“As soon as I was told that they were surrounding the building and blocking exits, that became unlawful imprisonment,” he said. “It’s very clear to me that that’s what we were dealing with.”
Hall and Mayor Lisa Brown held a press conference late Wednesday night and said more than 185 SPD officers were at the protest, along with SCSO and other regional partners. Nowels said he had about 50 sheriff deputies on-scene but added that having more would’ve been nice.
Wednesday’s protest started after former City Council President Ben Stuckart posted to social media, asking people to join him in preventing ICE from transporting immigrants to Tacoma. A separate ICE protest in Riverfront Park joined Stuckart before police ultimately arrested him.
Stuckart posted to Facebook after his release that ICE transported the immigrants to Tacoma, including a man he had taken legal guardianship of a few weeks ago. He said the Venezuelan was following the rules and came to the facility for a check-in, but ICE took him into custody.
Councilmember Paul Dillon sent The Center Square a statement in response to the event.
“Ben Stuckart is a friend. I admire his courage, and yesterday’s protests was largely peaceful. The two young men that were detained deserved their due process and protections under the Constitution,” he told The Center Square. “We are witnessing in real time the direct result of the escalation that the Trump Administration inflicts on communities, which creates chaos and fear.”
Christi Armstrong, executive director of World Relief Spokane, who helps settle immigrants in the community, told The Center Square that even individuals with legal status are living in fear.
“Immigrant communities are fearful, and even people who are here fully documented, you know, legally at the invitation of the government, there’s a lot of fear,” Armstrong said, “because people are being asked to come to an office to work through their asylum, and then they’re arrested.”
When asked about her thoughts on the rest of President Donald Trump’s second term, she said it brings nothing but uncertainty for those seeking asylum. She said Trump is spending massive amounts of money to supercharge these deportations, sweeping innocent people into the mix.
The Keep Washington Working Act, which many refer to as the state’s “sanctuary” law, essentially prohibits law enforcement from assisting federal immigration authorities. Reporters asked Brown about a potential conflict on Wednesday since SPD helped ICE agents leave the facility.
“I made it clear in my public statement, as well as to Mr. Stuckart,” Brown said, “that Spokane Police Department would remain in compliance with the Keep Washington Working Act.”
The mayor said the protesters at the ICE facility were blocking a public right-of-way, violating the Spokane Municipal Code. She noted that SPD asked demonstrators to disperse, but not everyone complied, and some protesters even took it upon themselves to destroy property.
Brown was in close communication with Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, asking about his perspective on potential legal options, and even said she got him in contact with Stuckart.
When asked about potential federal intervention after Trump deployed the California National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, the Spokane mayor said she was confident in her team.
“I have been in contact with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, that has taken a very strong position that, I think, as we demonstrated this evening, that the city is capable of conducting interactions with peaceful protests,” Brown said. “It was fairly clear to me that if there was no Spokane police presence, that could be used as a justification for federal [intervention].”
The Center Square contacted Hall and Brown about how they plan to prepare for more protests against the Trump administration on Saturday but did not receive a response before publishing.
The sheriff told The Center Square that protesters have nothing to worry about on Saturday as long as they don’t violate other people’s rights or destroy property. However, Nowles expressed concerns that some may show up to riot, so his team is contacting SPD to plan accordingly.
“Please be peaceful. Sign waivers. Let your voice be heard, but if people show up to commit crimes and to do things other than peacefully protest, please follow our lawful orders to disperse,” Nowels said. “It allows us to tell the difference between the people who are there to lawfully protest versus the people there who are there to commit crime and damage our city.”
“Please make our job easier,” he continued.
