[Note: The Fox 12 video in the clip above does not show what happened next: Officers repeatedly pepper-sprayed two of the longshore workers after they had already been handcuffed, face-down, and subdued.]
Three Longshoremen accused of becoming physical with police during a labor protest in Longview were arraigned on their charges Thursday morning. They were among about a dozen people Cowlitz County deputies arrested after a protest blocked railroad tracks at the Port of Longview.
The president of ILWU Local 21, Dan Coffman, told FOX 12 that the reason the men got violent was because officers were being rough with women who were peacefully protesting.
“If you see some women in need or somebody who needs help, you’d better come to their aid. That’s how we’re brought up, that’s how I was brought up, and you know what, those two guys in my view and in my union’s view, those are heroes,” said Coffman.
Meanwhile, the ILWU filed a civil rights lawsuit to stop police brutality related to its labor dispute with the EGT Development at the Port of Longview.