Federal Troops Clear I.W.W. Halls in Yakima Valley
Company B of the Third Oregon regiment arrests 24 agitators in North Yakima and dozens more near Easton.
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Governor Lister’s request for federal troops to assist in handling the I. W. W. situation was answered Monday morning when Company B of the Third Oregon regiment arrived in North Yakima. Lieut. Orville A. Stevens led his men into the I. W. W. hall and placed 24 leaders under arrest. The men offered no resistance. Soldiers patrolled the streets and allowed only vehicles to pass while they cleared the hall and seized financial records and literature. Simultaneously, soldiers under Capt. Shorkley arrested between 50 and 60 I. W. W. members near Easton, who were then taken to the Ellensburg stockade. Formal complaints will be filed under the new federal espionage act.
“Spectators outside the hall were dispersed and the guards patrolled the street. They allowed automobiles to pass but not pedestrians.”
This reflects a period of intense labor unrest in Washington, where anti-radical sentiment during World War I often led to the suspension of civil liberties. Today's debates about labor rights and state surveillance echo these earlier, more violent confrontations over who has the right to organize in the public square.
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