At least seven people were in custody on Sunday night after homeless activists, some allegedly armed with axes and knives, “forcibly” occupied the lobby and 17 rooms of the Red Lion Hotel in Olympia, Wash, according to authorities .
The activists were with a group that called itself Oly Housing Now. They occupied the hotel in an apparent acquisition attempt to demand a housing pandemic, according to reports.
City officials, in a statement, said that the Olympia Police Department (OPD) had received reports that employees felt threatened by the group and that at least one employee had been beaten.
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Law enforcement and SWAT teams have closed the nearby highway and are walking the hotel floor by floor, The Olympian reported. A group of hotel staff, who fled to the basement after activists entered the hotel, were safely removed from the building, officials said.
Shauna Sowersby, a reporter, tweeted that a loud bang was heard inside the hotel just before 11:00 pm local time. She said flashbangs also went off while police were trying to clean the building.
A crowd across the street from the hotel was later seen shouting and harassing local officials, according to videos on social media.
WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
The group on Saturday night bought a night at the hotel and transferred 33 homeless people, according to reports. Around midday on Sunday, at least 35 members of the group gathered in the lobby and in front of the hotel.
Subsequently, the OPD estimated about 45 group members inside and outside the hotel.
Oly Housing Now released a list of demands and planned to stay indefinitely until Thurston County committed funds for permanent housing.
The group wants the county to request funds that are being offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to pay for “non-congregated” shelters, according to the newspaper.
Specifically, homeless people over 65 or with pre-existing health problems, which puts them at greater risk during the pandemic.
At around 11 am, officials said people inside the Red Lion called 911 to report that a group was trying to take control of the hotel by force.
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“Officials reported that some members of the activist group inside the hotel were armed with items such as hatchets, batons, knives and were wearing gas masks, helmets and goggles apparently in preparation for a confrontation,” according to the statement.
The city’s crisis response unit is in place and will connect homeless people to “services”, officials said. Occupants cannot stay at the hotel.
“Ensuring that our homeless residents have access to safe and affordable housing has been Olympia’s priority for more than a decade,” said Mayor Cheryl Selby. “Olympia led the response to the homeless, coordinating shelters and other basic needs. The tactics used by Oly Housing Now today are unproductive and will not make the mission more accessible.”
OPD predicts that there will be more prisons associated with the occupation, the reports say.
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The investigation is ongoing.