Port Militarization Resistance

Port Militarization Resistance (PMR) is an anti-war movement in the United States. The movement began in May 2006, in Olympia, Washington, but also has chapters in Tacoma, Washington, Grays Harbor, Washington, and the Mid-Atlantic region. Port Militarization Resistance is also the name of the strategy employed by this movement. Adherents of the PMR strategy advocate an end to the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan to be accomplished through making civilian-owned ports inaccessible to the military, with less emphasis on persuading elected officials to abandon the war. PMR organized high-profile protests at the Port of Olympia and the Port of Tacoma in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.

While attempts are made to appeal to local governing bodies to cease military shipments, many PMR organizers and port action participants believe these avenues have largely been exhausted. Thus, PMR the movement and adherents of the PMR strategy focus on direct action, a political philosophy which relies on circumventing the authority of elected officials.

Tactics used in PMR actions vary, and have included each of the following:

While each of the above listed tactics has been used at PMR hosted protests, PMR does not necessarily endorse each of those, and organizers have from time to time spoken out against various actions taken at its protests.

It has also been suggested by port action participants that one of PMR's most effective tactics is the forcing of local jurisdictions to escalate their security expenses during the shipments, making the shipments less valuable.

Port Militarization Resistance has encouraged participants to engage in a mixture of direct action and indirect action for the purposes of obstructing military shipments. PMR has at times acted as a cohesive unit, and at other times has encouraged members to organize into affinity groups.

Port Militarization Resistance has issued statements committing itself to non-violence. This commitment includes refusals to engage in things like "verbal harassment" and "malicious sabotage." While the movement has never been involved in any act in violation of this commitment, not all participants in port actions consider themselves aligned with PMR the movement, and some have engaged in actions which would be in violation of PMR's commitment to non-violence.

The basic strategy of Port Militarization Resistance is not unique to the anti-Iraq War movement. During the Vietnam War, sailors and anti-war activists petitioned local governments to prevent deployments and shipments out of local ports.