Activists take over Washington lodge to demand housing for homeless throughout pandemic

Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby described the group’s action as an “unproductive” tactic.

February 2, 2021, 1:21 am

• • 4 min read

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Members of a housing advocacy group were arrested Sunday in Washington state after allegedly storming and occupying a hotel in Olympia while demanding better care for those on the street.

Olympia police said that around 11 a.m., around 45 members of the Oly Housing Now group, some of whom were reportedly armed with axes, batons and knives, and had gas masks, helmets and goggles, gathered outside the Red Lion Hotel in Olympia had and set off within.

Oly Housing Now released a statement claiming members took the hotel for “pandemic emergencies” and asked the city to pay for the rooms with funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“It’s too cold to sleep on the street,” the statement said.

Red Lion Inn & Suites in Olympia, Wash.

The hotel staff called 911 after saying they felt “threatened by the group and one employee was allegedly attacked,” police said. The seven employees were housed in the hotel’s basement for the rest of the afternoon and early evening while the activists took the hotel.

Before the demonstration, the group had reserved and paid for 17 rooms, which according to the police, housed the homeless. Police said guests in 40 rooms that were protected during the incident.

The officers escorted the staff out of the building later that night and cleared the hotel floor by floor. The homeless people who lived in the hotels were connected to the city’s social services, according to the police.

“The city’s Crisis Response Unit connects these unaccomodated people with services. They are not allowed to stay in the hotel,” police said in a statement.

Olympia interim police chief Aaron Jelcick told reporters Monday that 10 people have been arrested and charged with various crimes, including first-degree burglary, first-degree assault, and obstruction of an officer. Jelcick said the group allegedly recruited about 30 people from homeless camps across the city to stay in these rooms and told them they could stay in the rooms indefinitely.

According to police, no homeless person was charged in connection with the incident.

Oly Housing Now officials did not immediately return messages for comment. A spokeswoman for the Red Lion hotel chain said the company had contacted the owner of the Olympia Hotel and was working with officials in its investigation.

In a press release on Sunday, Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby said the city is taking its homelessness problem seriously.

“Olympia has led to responding to homelessness, coordinating shelter and other basic needs,” she said in a statement. “The tactics that Oly Housing Now uses today are unproductive and do not make the mission any easier to achieve.”