Bridge Protest Ends In Arrests

After two days of hanging by ropes from the Aurora Bridge, seven weary Greenpeace members on Monday gave up their vigil against factory trawler fishing and climbed to the bridge deck to face arrest.

While they upset some motorists, who faced traffic restrictions on the busy north-south bridge over the weekend, demonstrators said they made their point.

“We’ve done more in the last two days and nights to stop overfishing in the North Pacific and protect the Steller sea lion than the (National Marine Fisheries Service) has done in the last five years,” said protester Katie Flynn Jambeck of Amherst, Mass.

Others assessed the effects differently. The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, accused Greenpeace of having a cavalier attitude toward workers whose jobs depend on fisheries.

After the protesters climbed back up their ropes to the bridge deck, they were arrested, taken to Harborview Medical Center for physical checkups, and then booked into King County Jail on charges of reckless endangerment, a police spokeswoman said.