Re: RAT Hello Seattle

["chris mac" <cmacdona@adobe.com>]

Take on events in the Seattle Times:



by Seattle Times staff 


Marches, rallies and rhetoric continued in Seattle today as several thousand
protesters assembled at the Pike Place Market, while Mayor Paul Schell held
a news conference to ask for their cooperation and respect.
The city remained in a state of civil emergency, declared by Schell on
Tuesday.
"If you are protesting lawfully, the police will allow you to do so," Schell
said from the Federal Building, just blocks from the Market.
To protest lawfully, Schell said, demonstrators must have a permit and must
disperse if police tell them to. "You must honor their authority and they
will honor your right to make lawful, free speech."
Schell's remarks came shortly after noon, just as the protesters, who had
rallied earlier on Capitol Hill, marched into Victor Steinbrueck Park next
to the Market for another rally. It was at the Market and on Capitol Hill
last night that a violent confrontation erupted between police and
protesters.
At Steinbrueck Park, the marchers were joined by a group of demonstrators
concerned about agricultural issues.
The noontime convergence of demonstrators had prompted Market businesses to
close up earlier in the morning so merchants would not expose their
customers - or themselves - to the violent clashes that erupted last evening
and continued into the early morning.
During the surreal-for-Seattle confrontations, police on motorcycles and in
armored vehicles had thrown tear-gas containers and concussion grenades at
groups of protesters and nonprotesters alike, some of whom were peaceful,
others who taunted officers and surrounded and beat on their patrol cars.
Most everyone today called for an end to that behavior.
In an announcement to the crowd that gathered this morning on Capitol Hill,
demonstrator Rice Baker-Yeboah called - in no uncertain terms - for a
peaceful procession to the Market.
"So everybody is clear on this right now: This is nonviolent," he said.
"Anyone who does anything to endanger anyone else is betraying this whole
movement."
Before taking to the street for the rally today, the protesters had accused
city officials of suspending their constitutional rights and mistreating
demonstrators. They had vowed to keep up what they said would be peaceful
demonstrations in the streets of Seattle.
"We will not be intimidated by the show of force, and will be out in the
streets again today," David Taylor of the Direct Action Network said at a
news conference.
"But I hope and I pray that the same level of violence does not continue . .
. and we're allowed to continue our peaceful protest of the World Trade
Organization,' he said.
Several speakers criticized what they described as violent actions by police
- throwing tear-gas canisters, firing rubber bullets and striking
demonstrators - in the clashes that continued early into the morning today
on Capitol Hill.
"This is not keeping public safety," Taylor said. "This is a war being waged
against us."
But police once again defended their handling of the situation and said they
will not back down.
"Those bent on destruction need to know we are not backing off or walking
away," Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper said in a statement issued by
Schell's office.
"We will deal with misconduct and criminal behavior. . . . In order to do
that, immediate dispersal when ordered is absolutely necessary. We have a
public safety mission to meet."
"We are not going to give up the city," added Assistant Police Chief Ed
Joiner.
Police have admitted, though, that they were unprepared to respond to the
massive demonstrations that began with the opening of the WTO.
On Tuesday, they used tear gas to clear streets for WTO delegates but left
the downtown shopping area unmanned as vandals smashed windows. But
yesterday, they adopted much more aggressive crowd control.
Two hundred National Guard troops in fatigues, ordered by Gov. Gary Locke,
helped cordon off much of downtown, and armored trucks patrolled the
streets. Police fired pepper spray point-blank at some protesters and
wrestled others to the ground with wooden clubs.
At one point last night, police cars, motorcycles and trucks sped up and
down city streets with sirens screaming and lights flashing. They weren't
really going anywhere. It was meant as a loud show of force.
By last night, police were roaming the city, often with squads jogging to
respond to growing crowds.
The new police tactics allowed the WTO meetings and President Clinton's
visit to Seattle to go off more smoothly. But they didn't quell the city's
troubles.
Some trade ministers were unhappy with the ongoing battle between police and
protesters.
A delegation from Chile fumed at officers when the group couldn't get to the
Four Seasons Hotel. "If you're in a state of war here, you shouldn't have
invited us to this country," yelled Mario Artaza, the Chilean trade
minister.
The costs of the week of protest are mounting rapidly. The downtown retail
core has lost $7 million in business so far, according to the Downtown
Seattle Association, which estimates every additional day of restrictions
downtown will bring losses of $2.5 million. The association estimated damage
as of yesterday at a minimum of $1.5 million, mostly in broken glass and
graffiti.
As of late last night, at least 572 people had been arrested. Seattle City
Council member Richard McIver said he was almost among them.
McIver was nearly arrested last night while trying to cross police lines on
his way to a WTO-related event at the Westin Hotel. He was stopped initially
at a police line at Sixth Avenue and Spring Street and again at the Westin
Hotel.
After identifying himself and showing his business card, McIver was taken
from his car, his cellular phone removed, his card thrown to the ground and
his hands placed behind his back by police, according to sources familiar
with the incident.
"All they were interested in was that I was a black man who wasn't doing
what they wanted," said McIver.
McIver received an apology from the mayor's office last night. Seattle's
response to the protests was criticized yesterday by King County Sheriff
Dave Reichert and Sen. Slade Gorton.
Reichert said he was uncomfortable second-guessing Seattle police. But he
acknowledged that he and others had argued in strategy sessions before the
WTO began that the police needed to have a stronger, more visible presence.
Asked if he would have had more law-enforcement personnel on the streets
than Seattle chose to, Reichert hesitated, nodded his head slowly and said:
"Yes, that's what I'm saying, in a roundabout way."
The Sheriff's Office had offered to have more of its deputies on the streets
Tuesday morning but were told by Seattle to be on standby. Reichert said his
officers, who were part of the much larger force brought out yesterday to
take control, resented the strategy.
Still, he added, it was a difficult situation to anticipate. "It's one you
play by ear," he said. "We ended up with too many people (demonstrators) too
quick."
Gorton praised police but criticized city officials for poor planning. He
said the scenes of battling protesters and police will hurt the city's
chances of attracting national conventions that could be controversial.
"If the police operations conducted today had been done yesterday it would
have resulted in a lot less disturbance," he said.
The day began peacefully yesterday. A group of protesters came downtown to
clean graffiti left by small groups of vandals who ran through town Tuesday.
About 1,000 WTO opponents joined a well-behaved march through downtown
Seattle organized by the United Steelworkers Union.
Earlier in the day, police seemed to be trying to make strategic arrests,
targeting high-profile demonstrators.
Things turned really messy by nightfall, when police found themselves in
trouble several times.
Gone was the festival of resistance that demonstrators had hoped for. There
were some anti-WTO chants - but most directed their anger toward Schell and
the police.
"People are protesting for their civil liberties. It's not just the WTO
anymore," said Rumzi Araj, a student at Ohio University who flew in to take
part in the demonstration.
After protesters were tear-gassed near the Pike Place Market, most officers
quickly left the area. But left behind was one cruiser. Protesters began
shouting and running toward it until a line of police ran back and
surrounded it.
On Second Avenue, a police officer in riot gear shoved Bonnie Walters down
the street away from a growing crowd.
"I was born here, and I'm appalled at this state of siege," said Walters. "I
didn't get involved until Mayor Schell took away my right to assemble. Now
I'm here just to show I can do it."
Last night's prolonged confrontation on Capitol Hill was typical of the
day's events. Early into this morning, riot police lobbed round after round
of concussion grenades, which are meant to startle but not injure people, at
a ragtag mob that seemed eager for a fight.
The drama began when police began enforcing a curfew imposed by Schell that
allows only WTO delegates and others with proper identification into the
part of downtown where the conference is being held.
As officers pushed protesters out of downtown and into surrounding
neighborhoods, hundreds of demonstrators swarmed up Capitol Hill via Denny
Way. In a leaderless, impromptu demonstration, they marched up and down
Broadway, from Denny to Pike Street.
When a police Ford Explorer tried to pass through a crowd at Broadway and
Pine, people swarmed around it, and kicked it as an officer got out to move
a protester.
The situation escalated when police saw people with Molotov cocktails, said
Seattle police spokeswoman Carmen Best. Extra troops, including the National
Guard, were brought in and the East Precinct station was locked down.
Tear gas and pepper spray were fired at the demonstrators after they were
warned to disperse, Best said. If the police hadn't responded, they would
have been criticized for allowing the streets to be blocked.
But many Capitol Hill residents complained they were given no warning before
the tear gas started drifting down Broadway.
"This is not a mob, this is what Broadway looks like," said Michael Martin,
32, who lives and works on Broadway. "This is a normal crowd."
The crowd, warned several times to leave or be arrested, had dwindled to
several dozen and sung "Deck the Halls" when it was dispersed again about
1:50 a.m. in a torrent of gas and grenades. More gas was fired at about 2:20
a.m.




----------
>From: Chris Jeffries <cjeffries@seanet.com>
>To: "RAT List" <rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com>
>Subject: Re: RAT Hello Seattle
>Date: Thu, Dec 2, 1999, 4:40 PM
>

> Local news just confirmed that of over 500 people arrested in Seattle,
> only 14 are being held on felony charges due to violent behavior of any
> kind.
>
> It was also announced that some national magazine (I've forgotten which)
> puts Seattle at number 8 on its list of Top Ten Well-Mannered Cities.  I
> wonder if the WTO delegates agree.  (First place went to Charleston, SC.)
>