OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Anti-war activists said police used excessive force when breaking up a blockade of military equipment at the Port of Olympia last week, reported KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.

The activists gathered at the Olympia City Council chambers Sunday to tell their versions of the events.

“I received pepper spray right to the face, point blank. It still burns today,” said one person.

Home video showed how police responded over the last few days to protests at the port of Olympia, where anti-war activists gathered to protest military cargo shipments returning to Fort Lewis from Iraq.

Police used pepper spray and batons to move back the crowd.

City council member, T.J. Johnson, organized Sunday’s meeting for activists to describe their experiences of what he called police brutality.

KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Graham Johnson asked Johnson why police were not invited to the forum.

“This is not the time to talk to police. This is a time for people who feel victimized to tell their stories,” said T.J. Johnson.

Olympia Police Commander Tor Bjornstad said protesters were blocking traffic and were given four warnings, several minutes apart, to move. He said the police response has been “very methodical and calculated and it’s not a wild and crazy sort of thing.”

Bjornstad acknowledged that officers used force to apply pepper spray at close range.

“Yes, we have removed goggles, and yes, we have removed bandanas, but all those people were given the option of moving and getting out of the way,” Bjornstad said.

Police said they arrested 11 people Saturday night and three Sunday morning.

Some protestors are filing complaints with the city and others said they are planning to sue.