The Latest: Friend says man wanted to provoke deadly fight
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — The Latest on the death of a man who confronted police after he reportedly threw incendiary devices at an immigration jail in Washington state early Saturday morning(all times local):
9:10 p.m.
A friend of the man who authorities say died after throwing explosive devices at an immigration jail in Tacoma says that she thinks he wanted to provoke a fatal conflict, the Seattle Times reports.
Deb Bartley, who tells the Times she has been a friend of Willem Van Spronsen's for about 20 years, described him as an anarchist and anti-fascist, and believes his attack on the detention center intending to provoke a fatal conflict.
"He was ready to end it," Bartley told the Times. "I think this was a suicide. But then he was able to kind of do it in a way that spoke to his political beliefs . I know he went down there knowing he was going to die."
She says that she and other friends of Van Spronsen got letters in the mail "just saying goodbye." He also wrote what she referred to as a manifesto, which she declined to discuss in detail, the Times reports.
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8 p.m.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office identified the man who threw incendiary devices at an immigration jail in Tacoma as Willem Van Spronsen, 69, of Vashon Island, the Tacoma News-Tribune and the Seattle Times report.
The News-Tribune reports that Van Spronsen was accused of assaulting a police officer during a protest outside the detention center in 2018.
The newspaper reports that court documents say he lunged at the officer and wrapped his arms around the officer's neck and shoulders, as the officer was trying to detain a 17-year-old protester June 26, 2018.
According to court documents, police handcuffed Van Spronsen and found that he had a collapsible baton and a folding knife in his...