A group of about 20 protesters gathered at the Port of Tacoma on Sunday afternoon, once again demonstrating against the military's use of the facility to bring Stryker vehicles back from Iraq.

The demonstrations have been smaller than past protests at the ports in Tacoma and Olympia. But, to the group, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"So far it's been a pretty good victory," said Chris Grande, 19, of Olympia.

"It's been really positive," he said, noting the vast amount of police resources that were being dedicated to monitor the group's actions.

Grande said he participated in a road blockade early Sunday near Ft. Lewis that held up a Stryker military vehicle for 10-20 minutes -- though he wasn't among the three who were arrested, according to the Olympia Port Militarization Resistance Web site.

The three who were named on the site were booked into the Pierce County jail on suspicion of disorderly conduct, records show. A call to a Lakewood Police spokeswoman was not returned Sunday afternoon.

According to the protesters:

A group of 25-30 demonstrators met the first convoy at Exit 122 at 11:45 p.m. A soft blockade on the overpass disrupted the transport for approximately 15 minutes. Estimates counted 20 police cars, including WA State Patrol, Pierce County Sheriff, Tacoma and Lakewood PD. Just before midnight three demonstrators were arrested--two females and one male--and were charged with obstruction and failure to obey a police officer. At 2:45 a.m. a soft blockade at Exit 124 on the overpass disrupted the transport for approximately 10 minutes.

One protester told me an anecdote about shouting to a News Tribune van that they were being detained by police. But at that time of night, I told him, no reporters were working -- only delivery people.

Covering the protests several times over the past week got me thinking. According to CNN/Opinion Research Corporation polling, between roughtly 65 percent of Americans have been opposed to the war since the beginning of 2007.

But these protests at the port have drawn very little support beyond a small, hardcore group. Granted, the tactic of trying to impede military vehicles doesn't play well in a town like Tacoma, but the greater question is what kind of civic disobedience/action/protest/march/etc. might the greater public care about? Or are the majority of people content to be discontent with the war, but uninterested in action beyond the ballot box?

Update: Just after 7 p.m., a call was put out over the scanner that one of the protesters was Tasered by police. The circumstances are unclear right now.

Update 2: Still waiting to hear back from the Tacoma Police spokesman about the Taser incident. Meantime, here's a YouTube video posted by the protesters.

Update 3: I just spoke with Josh Simpson, 26, of Olympia. He was with the protesters when his friend was Tasered.

According to him: one of the officers drove his patrol car into an area police had designated as a "free speech zone" for the protesters. That made them uncomfortable and they went over to his car to ask him why he was parked there. Simpson said he was on the passenger side of the car and was warned by the officer to back up or he would be Tasered. He complied.

But other people, including the man who got Tasered, were still standing near the car on the driver's side. The man was standing with his arms crossed and was not threatening the officer either by word or deed, Simpson said. Simpson estimated his friend was three to five feet from the car.

Then, without warning anyone on the driver's side of the car, the officer fired the Taser through the window, he said. The man fell to the ground in agony.

"I didn't think he was OK," Simpson said. "None of us can understand why they Tasered him."

His friend was Tasered again why lying on the ground, Simpson said.

I called and paged the fill-in police spokesman and still haven't heard back.

According to police radio traffic, the man who was Tasered was taken to a hospital.