Vashon Verité

Mardi sent out this email to Islanders last night.

I got it this morning and nearly sprayed my morning coffee all over my monitor in shock. This little island? Police getting rough? On sweet Jess? Seriously?!

Here’s Mardi’s email, verbatim:

Dear Islanders,

Yes, I am writing to you in a call for help!  Friday night, of our much loved First Friday gallery walk, turned out to be a much larger scene than us Islanders would like to experience in our quiet comfortable community of neighbors.  Some of you might have already heard of the citizen vs. police brawl up town Vashon on Friday night as people were strolling around checking out this months offerings.  As far as I’ve heard the situation was blown to extreme proportions by a few overly ambitious officers that decided that talking problems out wasn’t going to be an option for them that night. Instead, a few fairly violent occurrences happened which include taking down one of our favorite peeps Chef Jessica Dewire from The Gusto Girls.  Jess and two other co-softball players were walking across the main highway in the center of town from their team sponsor after having after game burgers and ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  

They were told to stop and they did, but for some reason Jessica was thrown to the ground face down, punched, and then had mace sprayed in her face.  As Jess tried to protect herself from the macing she scratched one of the officers in the face and was then arrested for assault and hauled off to jail, where she will sit until Monday at 2:30 for her arraignment. From other reports she was not the only person that experienced unusual force.

There are other factors that as a community we should be very concerned about. One is that the police brutality that we so often see on the news these days has crept onto our peaceful little home. The mob of bystanders that witnessed the events leading up to and then after Jessica’s arrest that I have spoken to are quite adamant that the police on duty did not act in a non violent manner from the beginning.  The general concenses is that the whole sequence of events that evening were a prime example of police brutality.  Keep in mind that Jessica is NOT the only person nor was she the first person that the law had altercations with during gallery walk.

I myself will be in that court room tomorrow to show my support for Jessica, as well as any others that are there with her from the same event.  It is crutial that our police are held accountable for their bad behavior also.  The recent string of police killings is upsetting, but not a good reason to come to Vashon and treat our community like we’ve had a police hating history. If you would like me to take a letter of support with me tomorrow please email me before 10:30am. Even better would be your support in the court room. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this email.  I just couldn’t sit and do nothing this time.  It’s just not fair.  Unfortunely, this whole bad deal will probably end the ability for anyone other than liquor liscense holding establishments from being able to serve wine during art walk, as I’m sure the authorities will blame our behavior on that. We need to be present to stand up for our rights, we do have them.

Mardi Ljubich
Shefidgets Catering
and Sound Food

Following that was an email from Pamn Aspiri, warning that statements from eye witnesses are key. I, of course, am not an eyewitness, but here’s her thoughtful note:

I love Jessica.

The police were out of line.

People who are calm and WITNESSED the event should go to court or write letters explaining exactly what they saw.

People who are only going on “hearsay” (Vashon Rumor Mill) would probably be ignored or might  actually hurt the case.

I was present the night this all went down, and though I did not witness it first-hand, I  am fairly clear on what actually happened from talking to the two main witnesses at the scene and speaking to Officer Kurt Lyson as well. As Jess’s softball manager and friend I was concerned and wanted to help her. The accounting below is not quite correct. It leaves out some crucial information and adds some untruths. Ever play the game “telephone” when you were a kid?

This I do know:

• We all love Jessica.
• We all want to help her.
• We want to address police conduct on Vashon.
• We need to do it in a calm and informed manner so we are taken seriously.
• We have gathered contact information  from eye-witnesses at the scene to help support Jessica’s case.
• We made sure that statements were taken that night by officer Lyson from eye-witnesses, not by the overtown officers.
• We can show support for her but I caution people to keep the story to themselves unless they actually saw what happened.
• Inflammatory or inaccurate information  won’t help Jess and could possibly make things worse.
• Thirty years here has taught me to be very cautious about “news” on Vashon Island. We all love Jessica, and we want to help.

Think about how you can best help her.

Thanks for taking the time to read this if you did.

Pamn Aspiri