The purpose of this site is to bring to the public view a set of stories our mainstream media in America has generally been neglecting, though these stories are culturally and politically significant in many ways. The events in Seattle have brought the issue of the WTO, however briefly, to the forefront of world media, and along with it, the issue of social protest. The world watched as a large and diverse coalition of activist groups coordinated marches, strikes, and an impressive array of direct action techniques. It also watched as the legitimacy and sustainability of a large nonviolent action were questioned, both in the media and by activists. While the nonviolent direct actions, as shown by these accounts, were the predominant form of protest, and were quite successful, they were consistently overshadowed in the mainstream media by accounts of the property damage undertaken by a few.
   I have not chosen which accounts appear here with any bias in favor of what stories you will read (I will post as many as I can), but I would like to take this chance to make my personal views about nonviolence known. Some of the accounts you will read here argue that, without the planned and targeted property damage against corporate symbols, the protests of Seattle '99 would have been ignored by America at large. I personally feel that we as an activist community can use such public forums as a large-scale protest to showcase our cause most effectively if we maintain full nonviolent discipline. The week of protests in Seattle was a major chance for us to relegitimize activism to the American public, and, with the media's complicity, I feel that the less-than-fully-nonviolent (though not outright violent) actions of a few may have jeopardized that chance. I hope that sites such as this, which show how the vast majority of the tens of thousands of people who gathered in Seattle practiced nonviolence, even at extreme provocation, can help to correct the image of violence that made its way out of Seattle to the rest of the U.S.
   Finally, as it's now being acknowledged by respected human rights groups like Amnesty International, what happened in Seattle reveals the systemic failure of human rights in the American police system. It's difficult not to feel shock and disbelief when reading the stories of police actions toward nonviolent demonstrators. I ask that we attempt to read these accounts not in a spirit of anger but with an understanding of the social and psychological forces pressuring these police officers, and recognize the problem as a systemic failure of our "justice" system and not as the fault solely of individual officers.

Thank you,

Erica George
December 12, 1999

Introduction

   The following are a series of emails I received from various sources during and after the recent World Trade Organization conference and protests in Seattle. Explanations about who the authors are will follow after all the messages.
   All comments in bold type are my insertions. Some email addresses have been deleted, since I was unable to obtain the permission of all authors involved to do more than post the message content, and some authors of widely distributed emails I have not yet been able to contact for permission. I have made no edits except at the authors' request. A few submissions may be revisions by the authors of the original messages distributed by email during the Seattle protests, for a more complete retelling of the story.
   Look under the Actions link in the table of contents for my list of several WTO independent media and protest links.
   This is a site in progress, and I'm getting new stories regularly. Please excuse the amateur appearance of this site; I'm not that familiar with html, and I'm also in the middle of final exams right now. Check back for updates over the next several weeks.
   I'm sorry that evidently not everyone is able to see the images on this page. They are in jpeg format, if that helps anyone. I'll work on getting the photos viewable after finals.
   Disclaimer: Just because I'm posting this stuff doesn't mean I agree with it. I'm trying simply to let what I haven't really seen in major media outlets, and what progressive magazines may not have space for, have some place to be out for the world to see.
   Hurray for independent media!

Enlightening reading, all!
Erica George
(RainsongEG@aol.com)

Contents:

Messages
1.  News From the WTO Frontlines  by Noam Gundle, 11/30/99
2.  Intro to "Collateral Damage in Seattle"  by Eldad Gothelf, 12/3/99
3.  Collateral Damage in Seattle  by Jim Desyllas, 12/1/99
4.  A Police City-State  by Noam Gundle, 12/3/99
5.  Intro to "First Hand Protest Account..." (original version)  by Sam Diener, 12/4/99
6.  First Hand Protest Account ...(revised version)  by Derek Poinsette, 11/30/99
7.  Seattle  Unknown author, 12/3/99 (posted USAS list)
8.  Continuing Nonviolent Action  by Noam Gundle, 12/6/99
9.  The Battle in Seattle  by Roni Krouzman, (GrBosYPSL list 12/7/99)
10. What a Week  by Paul Schell (Seattle Mayor), December 6, 1999
11. What is the sound of history happening?  by Justin Ruben, 12/2/99
12. The Kids Are Alright...  by Jeff Crosby, 12/6/99

Other Relevant Information
Introduction to the Diverse Women for Diversity Seattle Declaration  by Ursula Oswald
Seattle Declaration

Amnesty International Press Release - Calls for investigation of possible human rights abuses in Seattle

Actions you can take
Reading you can do (links)
Sources

News from the WTO Frontlines

You have probably been hearing much about the WTO ministerial conference
here in Seattle and the demonstrations and destructions that oppose it. I
wanted to share my own experiences through the past 2 days.

The WTO meeting was supposed to start monday morning with opening rigamarole
at the WA St. Convention and Trade Center but this was delayed. A "security
breach" prompted armies of police to search and sniff the building, twice.
Things finally started, but not before the people took to the streets. The
first day was focused on the WTO's policies on animals and trade. One big
issue is turtles and the endangered species act. Seems this pesky law is a
"trade barrier" according the ministers of the WTO (this is what they are
really called, I am not making this up) because it favors export of shrimp
caught in nets that are safe for sea turtles (all 7 species are on the end.
list) Volunteers built 400 sea turtle suits. Once I was turtle-riffic I
marched with about 10000 others past supportive folks in offices and
clueless holiday shoppers. We went through the main part of Downtown
Seattle, then assembled near the Convention center and listened to speakers
such as Paul Wellstone (US Dem. Senator from Minnesota), Pres. of the Sierra
Club, Vandana Shiva and others. The event was very peaceful, and pretty
harmless. Many people were informed however. The whole day was focused on
awareness and action surrounding the WTO's role in trade of food and
animals, specifically genet. altered foods, hormone infused beef and others.
Ever heard of the precautionary principle? It is the idea employed by the
FDA and virtually every other regulatory agency when evaluating product
safety. Basically, in order to sell the product it must be proven safe.
Simple, eh? The WTO has turned this idea on it's head, requiring the burden
of proof on the consumer to prove the product is NOT safe. They ruled 7/7
times in environmental and food safety laws to overturn because of their
status as "trade barriers". This occured both with hormone tainted beef and
genetically altered foods in Europe.

The only arrests or damage was at McDonalds downtown.  A couple people were
arrested for smashing in the windows of this popular corporate target. (the
GAP also- saw a cool hat today that said CRAP) There were teach ins and
events all day, including an even bigger march to encircle the exhibition
cntr. where the WTO ministers were gathering for an opening gala
reception/black tie dinner. The idea was to create a circle calling for the
cancellation of third world debt (a very complex issue- from what I know the
countries have already paid far more than the principle on loans and the
interest payments are a super hindrance to development, the point of WB and
IMF loans in the first place.) The police decided to NOT let us make the
human chain, putting up a fence 400 yards from the exh. center built with
tax dollars. There was a confrontation bet. protesters of all ages and cops
dressed in full riot regalia, much like the storm trooper of Star Wars. I
was at the ex. center a good few hours, and were able to make our presence
known to the delegates getting on and off buses. All of the protests and
chants were nonviolent. Some of th humorous ones even provoked a smile from
a couple of the policemen. Only one of the storm troopers accepted an
offered donut :)

Today, Tuesday was literally a day in Seattle History. At this moment, there
are hundreds of national guard troops all over downtown. The whole area is
closed off, about 8 sq. miles. A curfew is and will be enforced from 7pm on.
  The police have called for reinforcements from all over the state, and
even had to order more tear gas. How did it come to this?

The protests against the WTO attracted MANY seemingly different groups.
Environmental groups protest the WTO's ignorance of envir. standards and its
utter eagerness to roll back many nations envr. laws. Labor groups decrie
slave labor worldwide and working conditions. There people here trying to
free tibet, stop the SLORC in Burma, stop the consumerist paradigm, save the
earth etc. There are anarchists, greens, teamsters, radical vegan activists
and many peaceful folks under the same tent. It is crazy and amazing. BUT,
nearly all of the groups and demonstrators have committed themselves to
NONVIOLENCE, in every way. This is very important, for reasons I don't need
to explain.

I arose at 5 today, met folks for breakfast then took a bus downtown to "The
Protest of the Century" (as the organizers called it). At two gathering
points on different sides of the convention ctr. groups gathered to march to
the WTO. The goal? To shut the proceedings down, with no new round of
negotiations now. The groups planned to go beyond the "protest zones"
negotiated ahead of time bet. the Sea. PD and organizers. At 7 am Victor
Steinbruek park at the Pike market was awash with color. There were MANY
people there, many carrying huge puppets, banners, flags, signs etc and
wearing costumes. The Direct Action Network was informing people about
possible arrest, legal support, and non violent civil disobedience.
Actually, many people have been in Seattle for weeks, attending teachins and
doing nonviolent resistance trainings. At 7am the streets of Seattle were
already mostly empty, with the streets occupied by us.

We marched to the convention center, and then didn't really get a handle on
what to do. Some leaders kept telling people to go this way, CD people (civ.
disobed.) this way etc. There was no concensus. Eventually the people all
converged from various points to various points around the perimeter of the
Conv. Center. I had assumed that most of the direct actions would be
breaking th. police lines leading to arrest but this ended up not to be so.
What became clear quickly (at least to me) was that a much more effective
nonviolent way of shutting down the procedings was to form human links
across EVERY access point to the Convention Center, to prevent delegates,
press or anyone else from getting in. I joined a line by 6th and Pine, and I
was there for basically the rest of the day. At first I was across an alley
near the police line, connected across the main street with others, linked
arm and arm. We were of course chanting stuff, singing, drumming and
performing others nonviolent acts of public expression and solidarity. I
have to say that it was really amazing. We mobilized even stronger when a
delegate would approach. They would first try to convince us, as if they
couldn't believe we were there. Some we talked to, some we just shouted
slogans to. All of them gave up, and NONE of them got through. It was
awesome! The police line not 10 yards in front of us finally figured out
that this was probably not good and they armed themselves- with pepper
spray, tear gas and rubber bullets. They finally moved in with pepper spray,
dispersing people very quickly and breaking our "line" as we chanted "no
violence!, no violence! etc. I was able to avoid it, and I beat on my drum
and chanted as the cops moved towards us in lockstep. It was quite a scary
moment. We expected more of the same after that, so everyone linked arms,
sat down tightly on our new line and chanted. As we chanted "The Whole World
is watching! The whole world is Watching!..." the cops actually stopped.  As
you might imagine, many many cameras were there. In fact, i saw myself on
ch. 7 news tonight at this very moment. Such solidarity, such a spirit of
peace. This kept us all together.

I was in basically the same spot for most of the rest of the day, my arms
linked to my friends to the left and right. Delegates were still trying to
get through at this spot, but we never let them. One did, actually. I don't
remember this, but I saw it on tv tonight (therefore it MUST be true). A
delegate tryed to force his way through a line, with no success. He then
pulled a gun!! I saw this twice. This scared folks enough, and he got th. to
the police, who gladly let him through. Is anyone as upset about this as I
am. Other delegates trying to force through with their fists or bodies, to
no avail. I left once to use the bathroom, and when I returned, the first
bails of tear gas came my way. With my shirt over my face, i made my way
back to line, against the flow of the people, fleeing the poisonous gas. It
turns out a similar line had been penetrated by the police, through direct
spraying of tear gas and the use of rubber bullets (the deny this but I saw
the bullets and saw the wounds). I think the breaking of this line was
pivotal for the eventual slow trickle of delegates into the conference. By
noon, we found out that we had won our first major success- the WTO had
cancelled morning sessions!!! It only made us stronger. The streets were
filled with people in literally every direction. Shops were closed and
minirallies were occuring everywhere.

Meanwhile, a big group of people in the intersection behind my line had
formed a lockdown. This is a group of people in a circle all chained
together, to nonviolently exist in a space. They secured the whole area to
us, and prevented the police or anyone else from getting to the area.
Something else was also going on- vandalism. It started off with defacing
such corporate stores such as Niketown and  the Gap. simple messages or the
like. People were occupying awnings and hanging banners on the sides of
buildings. Sounds scary, but for awhile it WAS peaceful, was not causing any
huge damage and nothing had been looted. In fact, the one store that did
have its windows broken- Starbucks- was prevented from having its shelves
plundered by non violent activists. They physically stood in the way, and
the anarchists backed down. Chalk up a victory for those who don't believe
might makes right.

The day continued like this, with the police moving forward slightly, then
sometimes back. They would sometimes get all ready, with gasmasks on- then
back down. We held our line tightly. One of the most amazing things that
happened today was the communication which occurred bet. the storm trooper
lines and the nonviolent activists. The activist, led by a leader named
Asante started approaching the officers (in front of our line) and simply
talking to them. They talked to the officers about the WTO, nonviolence,
changing the system, the rights of all humans etc. The rehumanization of US
and THEM was utterly miraculous. It was the power of peace before my eyes.
Asante claimed that they wouldn't spray gas at us if they were looking into
his eyes, and he was right. After awhile, the cops even took off their masks
and relaxed. Supposedly some got weepy and had to be replaced. When the
whole police line was replaced, the dialogue continued. The officers
couldn't exactly talk back, but they communicated with their eyes, and many
nodded agreement. A bizarre sight for a cop with a helmet, riot gear and a 3
ft. long baton.
This was the good news.

The bad news was that the minority committing acts of destruction were
increasing their activities. Despite the crowds overwhelming disapproval
("shame! shame!" we called) some guys where ripping apart the sign for
Niketown. One woman did stop spraypainting the top of a building when we
told her we didn't approve. She stopped in midword! I had many verbal
altercations and discussions with folks who didn't favor the nonviolent
path.  It was quite disturbing, but I knew that our mission was working and
was doing so without using any sort of violence.

The police had adopted the strategy of gassing, not arresting people- the
opposite of what was planned and expected. I learned very well today what
the taste, smell and feel of tear gas are. It is a damn shame that I or
anyone ever has to know this. It is not pleasant at all. It sort of feels
like breathing REALLY BAD POLLUTION. Your eyes sting, your nose itches and
your skin crawls. i can still feel the sensation now, as I write this 7
hours later. The cops on our line continued to remarkably keep their
composure, but in other places very near to me tear gas was used liberally.
They were using canisters shot from big rifles and also spray guns to shoot
a deadly rain over the crowd. I suffered from this a little, but never had a
to deal with a direct hit. I fashioned a bandana from a discarded cloth
sign, and wetted it with water. Volunteers were coming through the lines
spraying masks, and giving affected folks water to clense and drink. Many
protesters sported gas masks.

Things came to a head later in the day, when the destruction 50 yards behind
our line became worse, and nonviolent activists were unable to contain it.
the police had boxed us in from nearly all sides, and were using tear gas on
the crowd to disperse us (why did they want us to leave, if they closed the
streets for us?). It didn't work. Our line's fragile peace with the police
in front of us was holding, but just barely. By 5pm the chief of police
finally drove in, and told us we were breaking the law, and must disperse.
He was obviously following some protocol, because he said that if you don't
leave now you are risking arrest. He also said that they would be releasing
chemical agents momentarily. Our response- Arrest us! We linked stronger,
chanted and cheered louder and looked them in the eye. Finally they gas
looked like it was coming. We all turned around, sat down, linked arms and
waited. We were chanting "nonviolent protest, etc." whenever they raised the
gas rifles. They kept repeating the warning but never fired the gas. It
looked like we won. They really didn't have any reason to disperse us. Our
only out from our position was the violence behind us, which has absolutely
NO police presence. The announcement came that the afternoon talks of the
WTO, scheduled to start at 3, had also been cancelled. Due to this, the
lateness of the hour and the ensuing violence elsewhere we proposed an exit.
A procession actually. They were even trying to negotiate a POLICE ESCORT.
This is the level of trust we established with the police in our line. The
lockdown was removed, most of the line was gone and we were preparing exit
peacably. Some of us actually THANKED the officers for being patient and
nonviolent with us.

The nightmare began. A group of people, I never saw who, spilled over into
our area. They were fighting physically and out of control. I had my back to
the police line, and at the time very confident that we had done the right
thing, the cops were almost on our side and we would get out safe. I got
really worried when I saw the guys fighting. The next thing I felt was a
hard nightstick in my back. The police were closing our line, to approach
the groups beyond us. I was with 3 people I met. We linked arms and got out
as fast as we could. I didn't get hit again, but I saw, heard and smelled to
multiple rounds of tear gas grenades all around me. I could actually see the
flash of the shell as it left the gun in my peripheral vision as we hurried
away from the cops, away from our line, away from the anarchists and frat
boys leading the violent behavior. The cops only made it much worse. Shells
were flying all around. The explosions were very loud. Like a shotgun, but
louder and scarier. All of them seemed like they were in my ear.  As we
advanced quickly, the cops advanced too. Our fragile peace was gone. Way
gone. The path through the skyscraper canyon soon became once again engulfed
in teargas smoke, billowing towards us just a little slower than we could
go. WE finally made it clear of all the bad stuff, but could still see,
smell and hear the tear gas behind us.  Other police had apparantly also
gone into the crowd at about the same time, because the gas was coming from
many directions.

We paused about a mile from our line to use the bathroom, pondering what we
had seen. I felt like I had been in a war.

As I was walking to my bus, now about 2 miles outside of the center of the
protests, I could still distinctly smell and feel the gas. A  chilling
feeling for a street that actually had traffic on it. The helicopters roared
above.

We found out on the bus that the afternoon sessions had actually NOT been
shut down. Bummer. Did the police tell us this to help us to disperse? Was
our fragile peace a sham? I really don't think so.

The whole downtown area was put under curfew soon after this. The protests
were moved up out of downtown to the broadway area. As I watched the late
local news, a ragtag group of a dozen diehard protesters was facing off
against an army of cops, to my estimation numbering 100. Teargas was even
used on them! The Seattle Police apparantly are refusing to arrest them.
Poison seems to be a better option.

Although we didn't completely shut down the proceeding today, i think the
nonviolent protests were a phenomenal success. We prevented the AM meetings.
The 3pm meetings were very sparsely attended, according to a shot of the
hall on the news. Only about half of the delegates were able or wanted to
attend a dinner hosted by Bill Gates. Many delegates went on record in
SUPPORT of what we were doing today.

I think it is important for people to know what we are doing in Seattle, how
it ia all happening and why. Believe that nonviolence civil disobedience can
be effective. The WTO has many problems. For many people it simply
represents the consumerist society that they believe is harmful to our
planet, our people, our jobs, our quality of life, our democracy and our
genetic resources.

If you are still reading this far, thank you. Feel free to ask me any
questions.

peace and love,
 

Noam

Introduction to "Collateral Damage in Seattle"

hi guys,

I graduated last year and I still get your SFT e-mails.  I see that you've
been having some regarding the WTO and the actions in Seattle.  I was there
for a week and just got back today.  The mainstream media is grossly
misrepresenting the truth (i.e. lying)  I got this e-mail that I'm
forwarding from some guy who was there too and his account is very
accurate. I'm trying to pass it along to as many people as possible because
the truth must be told.

This was an amazing week in the history of activism.  I saw such amazing
organizing being done in a collective and democratic way.  There was a
constant emphasis on non-violence and a certain beauty to it.  If you have
any questions as to what really happened I'd be happy to answer any
e-mails.

Eldad Gothelf

Collateral Damage in Seattle

COLLATERAL DAMAGE IN SEATTLE
by Portland student/reporter Jim Desyllas

Called-in from a pay phone outside Seattle. Wed., 7:30 pm Pacific time.

(Posted at www.emperors-clothes.com 12-2-99.  Feel free to distribute in
full including this note.)

I just spent 4 days in Seattle. The "information" people are getting from
the mass media is false. This was not, as Pres. Clinton claims, a peaceful
protest marred by the actions of violent protesters. This was a massive,
strong but peaceful demonstration which was attacked repeatedly by the
police with the express purpose of provoking a violent response to provide
photo opportunities for the Western media. I know because I watched it
happening. I'll tell you how they did it.

As Michel Chossudovsky says in his "Disarming the New World Order" (See
Note # 1 at end for link to that article) - the government put a lot of
effort into making sure the protesters in Seattle were a "loyal opposition"
who wanted to reform the WTO, not get rid of it. But the people in Seattle
- American steel workers, Canadian postal workers, college kids from all
over, environmentalists from Australia - you name it - were not for
reforming the WTO. They were for getting rid of it.

And this wasn't just true of the protesters. I interviewed delegates. None
of them had anything favorable to say about the WTO. Two delegates from the
Caribbean were angry about job loss. One delegate from Peru took a bullhorn
and got up on a car and spoke to the protestors against the World Trade
Organization. He said it hurts the workers and farmers. I interviewed a
Norwegian guy from Greenpeace. Totally against it. Even a delegate from
Holland said it had hurt the farmers there. He said though it is supposedly
democratic, that's actually a lie: the US, England and Canada and a few
others get together and decide what they want to do. Then they ask the rest
of the countries to vote and if they vote wrong they threaten,"You won't
get loans," or whatever. They get them to do what they want by blackmailing
them. The Italians we interviewed were upset too. I couldn't find any
delegates who were in favor.

So the government instigated a "riot" to discredit the movement against the
WTO because they couldn't dilute it. I am not guessing about this. I was
there. I saw it happening. And I will tell you I am frankly shocked to see,
close up, just how little our leaders care what happens to ordinary people.
Clinton can pose and speak a lot of flowery stuff but the truth is - we are
nothing to them. I saw this with my own eyes.

Sunday and Monday, there was no violence. None. The people were
aggressively non-violent; they were self-policing. Up until Tuesday at 4pm
there was one window broken in the whole city - a McDonalds window. This
compares favorably to the typical rock concert, let alone a demonstration
of people who were non-violently barring entry to the World Trade Center!

At this point, a new group of police - tactical police - moved in and
started gassing people and shooting rubber bullets. Is it any surprise that
people got mad? Of course, the young kids hit back by breaking some windows
in retaliation for being gassed, sprayed with very painful pepper gas, and
shot with dangerous "rubber" bullets. The police instigated these kids,
plain and simple.

Sunday and Monday they had young cops, using them to block the streets.
These were trainees. But Tuesday they had the real cops; none of them were
young. They were trained to attack people. A small group, maybe 100 people
total, struck back. Then these cops herded that group around the city,
making sure there were plenty of photo ops of "violent protesters."

A number of times they had these 100 or so protesters caught between
buildings and walls of police. They could easily have arrested and detained
this small number of people and gotten it over with. Instead they would gas
them and let them go. Then trap them again, gas them again, and again let
them go. The cops made no arrests that I know of until late Tuesday night
though the skirmishing was going on from three till 9:30. The cops would
blockade three or five blocks of an area, give the angry kids room to
operate, keep gassing them - when you gas a person, let me tell you, it
gets them fighting mad.

Tuesday night the police gassed all of downtown. This was going on from 3
PM, till 6 PM.. Gas everywhere. The kids broke a few windows - McD's,
Starbucks - small stuff - burned a few garbage cans. The police were using
these people as extras. It was staged. I believe also the police had their
own people in there, encouraging people to break stuff - if people think I
may be exaggerating, I saw supposed protesters - they were screaming and so
on - and then later, when everything was over, the same people tackled
other protestors and put handcuffs on them.

At 6pm they issued a State of Emergency. At that point they had pushed the
100 people outside the city limits, so the police went outside the limits
too, and they started gassing that area too, gassing the neighborhoods
where the regular people live. I am not exaggerating. The police were
relentless.

This was in an area from the city limits for about 10 blocks to the Seattle
Central Community College. If you were alive, the police gassed you. People
coming back from work, kids, women, everyone. People would go out of their
houses to see what was happening because these tear gas guns sound like a
cannon - and they would get gassed. A block away there was a Texaco gas
station - they threw tear gas at gas pumps, believe it or not - they were
like vandals. They gassed a bus. I saw it with my own eyes. A bus. The
driver, the riders, the people just abandoned it .

I was sitting in a little coffee shop called Rauhaus, [Jim did not spell
this - the spelling may be wrong.] They were shooting "rubber" bullets at
the glass. I picked up a dozen of the things in a few square feet. They
were also shooting this paint that you can only see with a florescent
light. They would paint anyone and everyone and then go hunting them.

Anyway, because they were gassing everybody, the local people got mad too
and they joined the 100 who had been herded out of the city. So soon there
were 500 including the neighborhood people and all very angry. Naturally.
Because they had been gassed and hit with pepper spray, that stuff does a
number on you. And shot with these damn bullets. Then people set up
barricades at Seattle Central Community College. The cops organized
themselves for about an hour and then moved in and gassed that area.

Today they started mass arrests. That was because Clinton - the Greeks call
him the Planitarchis, Ruler of the World - was coming. Weeping crocodile
tears about how he just LOVES peaceful protest, which of course you'd have
to be two years old to believe he had nothing to do with the police action.
This whole thing, this police attack, this was US foreign policy, not some
action decided by some bureaucrat in Seattle. This was the State
Department. They wanted to discredit the people.

When things started on Sunday, there was a protest rally of solidarity
involving people from different walks of life. Monday it got even bigger.
Tuesday there was a big sort of carnival where people were doing different
things, a band was playing music and people were blocking the World Trade
Center. And about 3 PM the cops started throwing tear gas.

The thing that drove Clinton crazy was that on Tuesday the protesters had
succeeded in making nonviolent human chains and had therefore stopped
everyone from going into the World Trade Center. Only maybe 27 delegates
got through, mostly US and British. There were what seemed like tens of
thousands of protesters involved. So the police did their gassing number
against these nonviolent people to break up the human chains and make the
protesters look violent.

Today (Wednesday) I followed the union protest put together by the
Longshoremen's Union. They went down to the docks and had a rally then
marched to Third Avenue. As soon as they got there the cops started gassing
them. There was an old lady there. She had gone downtown by bus to buy
something. This lady was in her 70's and I saw her trying to run, but she
couldn't breathe. She was in shock. I carried her to a building entryway.
She was gasping, terrified. She had been in Germany, and it was like she
was having flashbacks. The tear gas sounds like gunfire and there were
helicopters overhead, sirens, cops on horses, everything.

They had clearly made a decision to destroy this movement.

So anyway there I was with her in this building and she wanted to go to the
hospital but there was tear gas everywhere and I was afraid if I tried to
move her she'd be gassed again. I went to this line of cops and begged - I
mean begged - these riot police to help her. They ignored me. A girl told
me later that a one year old had been gassed. And I myself saw a girl no
more than 18 - a cop had busted her lip wide open - she was bleeding - and
then they gassed everyone including her. After that she was kneeling on the
ground crying like a baby and praying for 15 minutes, Hail Mary, Hail Mary.
Over and over. She was in a state of shock. They just gassed these people
who were sitting down non-violently and doing nothing. Nothing.

At one point the Seattle Mayor said his boys were not using rubber bullets.
Miraculously, by then I had ten in my pocket. I could open a little market,
sell the things. They are everywhere. I and other people started giving
them to delegates and stuff. "See what they're doing? They're shooting
"rubber" bullets and lying about it." We showed them to the media. I guess
enough people and the media got the information because the Mayor made a
new statement then that they were using them. As if he hadn't known.

They shot rubber bullets from four feet away into the face of a guy next to
me, broke all his front teeth. When that happened I lost it. I forgot I was
supposed to be getting the news for all of you and I started yelling at the
cops, "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you sick, man?" So this cop
aimed his gun right at me. That was his answer. So I first put my hands in
front of my face because I didn't want to lose my teeth. And then I
thought, to hell with it. I was wearing my target shirt that said
"Collateral Damage", you know? With a bullseye target, like they wore
during the bombing in Yugoslavia. And I told this guy, "Go ahead, shoot!
Here! Here's the target!" He didn't shoot me.

I want to emphasize, these protesters were NOT violent people. They were
the most non-violent people I have ever seen. Even when I was screaming at
the cop, this girl came up to me and said, "Do not scream. This is
non-violent." These people were too much to believe. They must meditate all
the time, I don't know.

Clinton said he supports nonviolent protest. That is baloney. Today (Wed.)
the protesters were causing absolutely no "trouble". In downtown the cops
had people running who weren't even protesters - like that old lady or just
people going to work or shopping - everyone was getting gassed. The busses
weren't running because of the gas. I was lucky to catch one with a driver
who could still see. I begged him to drive the old lady home - the driver
changed his route especially for her. If you want to find human decency,
stay away from the Planitarchis. Go to the to regular people. They have
some. The Planitarchis lost all his years ago. Now he wouldn't know human
decency if it came up and bit him.

So now I have made personal acquaintance with the people who run this
country, and they are quite simply scum. There were people at work, people
with babies, they were all getting gassed because the government would not
allow an assembly of people speaking their minds. It is the same as what
happened in Athens. Clinton's requirements on the Greek government created
the riot and he did the same thing here. And then he says he supports
nonviolent protest? How? By shooting rubber bullets? And today they
outlawed gas masks. They want to make sure everyone gets his money's worth.

Today, just like yesterday night, the police were in the residential
neighborhoods. People in cafÈs were getting gassed and shot at, you could
hear it on the windows, bang, bang, bang. A guy trying to cross the street
to go to his house got gassed. First a drunk guy outside a bar yelled at
the cops "Get out of here!" so they gassed him. And then this other guys
was just crossing the street to go home so the cops figured, might as well
gas him too. People got gassed for coming out of restaruants and bars and
coffeee shops. I'm amazed that nobody died who had asthma or something.

Or maybe somebody did die and they didn't talk about it. I mean after all,
it's just collateral damage..

*** Note # 1 - For a critical look at the World Trade Organization, click
on SEATTLE AND BEYOND: DISARMING THE NEW WORLD ORDER or go to
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/seattle.htm

A Police City-State

(also very long...)

Life goes on in Seattle. Sort of.

If you live in the suburbs, don't pay attention to world events and didn't
think of shopping downtown things around here are quite normal. If you work
near downtown, care about civil rights at all or feel the World Trade
Organization talks are an anathema to our city then it is a pretty messed up
situation around here.

I have a feeling that the media has not been covering many of the major
issues surrounding the WTO ministerial and the protests/riots from it. At
least the mainstream local media here.  In my view, the important issues are
human rights, civil rights, and the purposes of the WTO meeting and/or the
protests. These things don't get tossed around too much here. The news talks
in a stern tone about tear gas here, window broken here, then cuts to a shot
of a shopper shocked and disappointed that santa's house is closed at
downtown Nordstrom. Things really ARE out of control apparantly.

As you may know, the mayor of town Paul Schell issued an emergency order on
tuesday night establishing a curfew through the bulk of downtown Seattle.
Gov. Locke called in the National Guard. Part of the emergency order est. a
"no protest zone" in the area immediately surrounding the site of the WTO
conference, the WA st. Convention and Trade Center. This basically means
that you are not allowed to speak up, wear a button, hold a sign or show any
other emotion against the WTO in this area. Any of these activities would
warrant immediate arrest and detention.  Another part of the order that
doesn't get much news is that it is now illegal to own or possess a gas mask
in the city of Seattle. They are liberally gassing us now and it is illegal
to protect yourself.  Of course law enforcement officers can have them.
Believe me, there are many of them here.

Last night, Schell made things even more extreme by est. a "no-go zone" in
the middle of the no-protest zone. If you don't have "official business" in
the area (I assume this means a business or something) or are not an
unelected delegate the World Trade Org. then you are not allowed to go there
  AT ALL.

Things are crazy. I was downtown both yesterday and today again. Man how
things have changed from monday and tuesday. There are police, national
Guardsmen in fatigues and state patrollers on every corner in the downtown
curfew area. Some streets are blocked off, but most are open to traffic. I
actually had few problems getting around, except that I had to take the
stick off of my sign. I met some people and walked in. We found a march in
process that actually went through the no-protest zone. Then we ended up
near the same intersection where I held a line for most of the day, 6th and
Pike. Except now, there were about 100 police, 10 squad cars, bunches of
Natl. Guard etc. The whole intersection was occupied by their forces. No way
are delegates going to be prevented from getting to their oh-so-important
meetings this time. We had a standoff with the police again. Everyone sat
down and linked up. Seemingly immediately, the police moved in on both sides
and ordered us to leave. It was very scary to be surrounded by such heavily
armed people. There weren't that many of us either- only about 200.
Relatively quickly a group decision was made to keep moving instead of
getting arrested. It's hard to make a difference in jail. Already many
people had been arrested just for BEING there. No violence AT ALL, mind you.
We marched south, out of the noprotest area. We did a sort of tour of the
city, blocking many streets and meeting up with other groups. The new rules
had fragmented the plans of the organizers, so it was difficult to get a
handle on what the best action was. Especially since the police were
arresting EVERYONE. Eventually we decided to march to the labor hall and
meet up with the Longshoremen (who closed down ports all along the west
coast in solidarity of the anti-WTO movement. does the media ever say
this?). I left soon after this to go to work. The marchers proceeded to the
pier where Clinton was speaking. The crowds were broken up in the same
violent manner in this march after I left- with tear gas, rubber bullets and
pepper spray. Only this time there were ZERO violent people. Everyone was
solidly peaceful. This march had many people of all ages and many children
and old union people tasted gas. Later in the night the same thing happened
as on tuesday- the police chased the crowd with tear gas up the hill out of
downtown, into capital hill. Only this time, things were crazy. They backed
them up into corners, then attacked them from both sides. Reporters were
gassed. Innocent bystanders were gassed. Residents of the Cap. Hill
neighborhood were gassed as they returned home. Gas was launched
indisriminately throughout the neighborhood, including places like the cap.
hill resevoir (the souce of our drinking water!!!) King County Council
member Brian Derdowski was gassed as he attempted to mediate with the
police.  I am not making this stuff. I wish I was. I heard a lot of this
from people I talked to in the street and independent media reporters but I
also saw it on the local TV stations.

On wednesday they also arrested many more people. A total of 450 people were
detained throughout the day. Many were just sitting around, some were
actively marching, most were actually confronting the police. The police
arrested protest organizers- in some cases they actually went into the
middle of a group of people and isolated one individual they knew had a role
in organization. Assigned medics who were helping tear gas victims were
isolated and arrested. Legal observers- people assigned to monitor and
record police activity were also isolated and arrested- their notes
confiscated.

The fate of the many arrested was tragic. They were loaded onto Metro buses
which were commandeered by police (to the disgust of Metro folks of course)
something which was also allowed in the emergency order. They took them to a
temporary jail facility that had already been set up at the former Sand
Point Naval Station. None of people arrested were given access to their
legal council or given the right to a phone call. In protest and in
solidarity they stayed on the buses all night. They had no food, water,
bathroom facilities or legal council for 20 hours. Someone reported that
many Direct Action Network (DAN) lawyers who were representing everyone who
was arrested during civil disobedience (or I suppose now just for being
downtown) attempted to get to their clients on the buses outside the temp.
jail and they too were arrested.  There were rumors that they were
teargassing ON the buses in an attempt to force them off of the buses. One
journalist I spoke with who spent most of last night at Sand Point reported
seeing a person trying to yell something out of a bus window to the press,
but was quieted "The Police are uhh.." The police blocked media access to
the buses filled with people by setting up commandeered Seattle City Light
trucks and shining bright lights directly at the press. Crazy stuff is going
on.

By 5 pm today, none of the people arrested yesterday had been processed,
charged with any crime or had any access to legal council despite having
been finally cleared from the buses. I believe there is a law that this must
happen within 24 hours. What would they charge them with? Loitering?
Disturbing the peace? It is scary that this kind of arrest is not that
implausible considering the ridiculous "civility" laws we now have in our
city thanks to city attorney Mark Sidran. It is illegal now to sleep on the
stree or sit on the sidewalk. Unless of course you are white or are wearing
a suit.

The lack of due process with the detained folks sparked the activists here
into action. A march and mass sit-in occurred from 4-7:30 in front of and
around the King Co. jail downtown where most of the arrested ended up. This
was one of the few positive develops I have seen in the last two days.
Surprisingly, the police backed off, perhaps because of the watching eyes of
the prisoners in the windows above the sit-in. Negotiation actually
occurred, and took place for a long time. It was finally agreed to let the
detained have access to the DAN legal team, plus paralegals (organizers). In
exchange the protesters agreed to leave downtown, which they did extremely
peacably. It was a victory but odd because it was something already
guaranteed by law. It seems all rules were off now though.

I spent most of today downtown, mostly just observing things. Of the 4 days
I have been there, today was by far the scariest. The police presence is
huge. Helicopters zoom overhead constantly (there is a no fly zone in
downtown as well- police copters are fine, but news copters are disallowed).
Police are everywhere. You are questioned are looked at on every corner. It
is a true police state. Very scary indeed. My housemate Jen and I went to
some teach-ins in the morning at the Methodist church, the center of much of
the organizing. On the way we had a long conversation with one officer which
was great. He was at least willing to get to know me, and shake my hand. I
didn't agree with his views. He listened to mine, I listened to his. We took
a picture together. I talked to a bunch of journalists and activists at the
church and listened to part of a speech by an African all in french (only
word I recognized-"mehr"). We wanted to join a march coming from Cap. Hill,
and had to negotiate many corners of officers and guardsmen. On the way to
the church we had few problems, but towards the conv. center was a different
story. At one point, the cops took a look at me with a backpack, a drum and
long hair and simply yelled "that way!" . They pointed where we should
apparantly be walking. At the next intersection cops were stopping cars and
talking to occupants. I saw one say "she wants to join the protesters". He
waived her to pull over and more cops descended on her vehicle. I didn't
wait around to see what happened. It was freaky. I eventually made back into
downtown after not finding the march. We went the long way around the
"no-protest" and "no-go" zones. On the way I saw a guy on a corner holding a
very simple, yet effective sign. It was the First Amendment of the
Constitution of the United States written out in full.  We found a rally at
Pike place market. During the whole morning all of downtown was eerily free
of people for the cause. It was great to come over the hill and see
thousands gathered at Victor Steinbruek park. It was a rally for food and
farming. I saw Ralph Nader speak (he gave a me a funny look after I met him
briefly as he walked by then I yelled to him "run for president for us
Ralph!"), Jose Gove (the French farmer and cheese maker who is infamous for
destroying a McDonalds with a tractor) and others. Despite all I had seen
all day, it was very empowering to be among the people again. I eventually
had to leave again to go to work. As I left, the crowd was moving to protest
at Weyerhauser HQ (the biggest timber co. in the world- important because
the forest products intitiative is proposed in the WTO meeting here. It
would get rid of all tariffs on wood and wood products, drastically
increasing the rate of deforestation here in Washington and elsewhere, a
very bad thing).

After work today I prepared to go join the sit-in at the jail, but at the
last minute found out things had been resolved so I went to cap. hill
instead to join the march. We gathered by Sea. Cent. Comm. College. The
crowd decided to march down Broadway, then came back. It was great, but
after that we had no idea what to do. I don't know if there is a dearth of
leadership because they are all detained or what but no one was able to lead
people effectively. We milled in the intersection awhile before half of us
(still a very significant number- about 1000 folks) headed back downtown,
toward the no-zones. There was a zero police presence this time. Literally
none. Except for helicopters. I wasn't about to march right back into the
lion's den again, especially after curfew. We decided to go home shortly
after this. I was hoping we could have all gathered and rallied in the
square at SCCC and discussed possible non-violent actions, decided what the
agenda would be tomorrow or something else. This just wasn't happening
though. I found this happening a lot this week, especially after much of the
civil disobedience became more difficult due to the increased police
presence.

So, there are a multitude of human rights violations taking place before my
eyes. I cannot believe it has come to this. Paul Schell has said more than
once that his priority was protect the WTO delegates to have the meetings as
planned.  His priorities were not civil rights, the rights of Seattlites to
go to work or shop downtown, the rights of people to express their views,
the rights of city agencies to not have their property expropriated, or the
right to be safe in your city. About 100% of city police are within 4 blocks
of the WTO right now. I haven't seen any police or police vehicles anywhere
all week except around the WTO. It is ridiculous. Schell's priorities are
very skewed. I think my housemate put it best when he said "They had to call
in the National Guard just to hold the @#$%ing meetings!!". What is really
important after all?

Please learn more about what is happening. Not just the WTO itself, but how
our justice system deals with conflict and what are priorities are anyway.
Please share it with others. And have conversations with all kinds of
people. It all begins there.

peace and love,
 

Noam

ps- some very interesting articles and links at Seattle99.org (People for
Fair Trade) and your favorite alternative media.

Introduction to "First Hand Protest Account..." (original version)

Dear folks,

What follows is a vivid first hand account, relayed to me from Hameed, of
the WTO actions. I am awed by what the WTO protestors are accomplishing (as
of this writing on Saturday afternoon, December 4, some 400 protestors are
still in jail, and they are conducting jail solidarity actions by refusing
to give their names, etc.). I believe the WTO actions, in which 5-10,000
people participated in the nonviolent blockades on Tuesday alone, according
to Vivien Sharples, are the second largest nonviolent direct action
protests in U.S. history (next to the May Days of Action in 1971 in D.C.
"If they don't shut down the war, we'll shut down the government," in which
some 13,000 were arrested). If anyone knows of other similarly-scaled
examples (perhaps the W. Virginia mineworkers actions in the mid-1980s?),
please let me know.

This account is similar to what I heard from Vivien Sharples, an organizer,
mediator, and nonviolence direct action trainer in Seattle who is a U.S.
rep to War Resisters International, except for the part towards the end
about "organized in a few days." It's true that thousands of people were
trained and helped to form and find affinity groups (small groups of from
5-20 people who can support each other and engage in coordinated autonomous
actions) in the last few days before and during the actions.

But to mobilize thousands and transform the national debate on the WTO with
such boldness, skill, creativity, democracy, and care (demonstrators from
across the country were housed and fed by the Seattle organizers), folks
from Art and Revolution (based in San Francisco), the west coast Direct
Action Network, the Seattle based Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia
(NACC), and many, many, other local and national groups (including the War
Resisters League, which sent a staff person out to help with training and
distributed thousands of Handbooks for Nonviolent Action) have been
preparing these direct actions for over a year, and working intensely for
the last several months.  And folks have been organizing and protesting in
Europe, especially in Geneva (WTO headquarters), for years.

The unions and mainstream environmental groups have also been organizing
for months for the large scale legal demonstrations, which had the benefit
of an action office with 13 paid staffpeople. Unfortunately, the tactical
coordination between those folks and direct actionists was, from what
Vivien said, strained at best, with martials at those demonstrations trying
to physically block union members who wanted to join the nonviolent
blockades.

I didn't make it out to Seattle, but the day after Thanksgiving/Day of
Mourning I did take part in an inspiring action in New York City (I was
only there for 2 days) to "Protest the WTO/Globalize Liberation, Not
Exploitation" which was organized by N.Y. Reclaim the Streets (which began
in England?), and was one of the actions part of International Youthpeace
Week. Mostly I just collected signatures on a petition against
War-and-Violent-themed toys (if any of you are interested in copies of the
petition, please ask). Reclaim's chant, "Whose streets? Our streets!" was
answered by one funny/scary police officer, who muttered over and over,
"The City's Streets," as he went about arresting demonstrators who had
taken over an intersection in Times Square. There were about 400 of us
singing, dancing, and chanting, and about 45 were arrested. Even the
demo-phobic New York Times ran an article.

I know high school and college students in Seattle were planning walk outs
and student strikes to coincide with the events, but I haven't heard about
results of those yet. If anyone knows about this, I'd be interested in
hearing from you.

Anyway, thanks, Hameed for sending the account below on to us.

In Peace and Struggle,
sam diener

(Sam's introduction was based on the unrevised version of Derek Poinsette's account. Any discrepancies between his interpretation and Derek's revised version should be understood in this light.)

First Hand Protest Account...

November 30.  The "mass action" began at 6:00am, starting out at two
locations: Victor Steinbrook Park, where my group was organizing, and
Seattle Community College.  I was a part of an affinity group of about twenty
others whose job it was to "keep the peace" and direct the march through the
city on orders from a tactical group.  The festive parade wound its way
through downtown Seattle, occupying streets and intersections as it went.
By 9:00am we had gone as far as we could, cut off by riot lines in many
locations and a city-bus blockade near the Paramount Theater.  At roughly
10:00am there had, as yet, been no tear gas or pepper spray used against us.
There were bystanders still shopping at the stores throughout the downtown,
walking around with their plastic bags as if nothing was happening.

I believe it was at the intersection of Union and 6th that we negotiated
with a sergeant to back up his riot line, and when they did so we sat down
on the street to occupy the space, leaving a buffer zone of a good twenty
feet between us.  At this point in time we held virtually EVERY
intersection in downtown Seattle.  Soon, a police captain with a bullhorn
came up behind his soldiers and said, "We must clear this intersection.
Please clear the intersection."  They wanted to get a line of busses
through to transport WTO delegates.  We didn't budge and filled the street
with bodies, most of us sitting down, and myself, mostly by chance,
sitting front and center.  (Incidentally, we DID let school busses and
emergency vehicles pass, despite what the police are claiming.)

"Whose streets?...
                  ...Our streets!"

A few minutes passed, and then the cops donned their gas masks.  (Picture:
an ordered line of faceless riot cops in full battle armor, helmets and
gas masks, wielding four-foot hardwood cudgels.)  We protestors got out
our bandannas, soaked them with water, and tied them around our faces.  I
was able to help the guy next to me get ready, as I think he was even more
frightened than me.  I had been preparing for this for a few days, but I
don't think this poor guy had any training or experience whatsoever.  The
cops began moving toward us in this very intimidating robotic stutter-step
march, stomping heavy armored boots on our recently freed pavement, and
thrusting their batons in unison.  Stomp-stomp, stomp-stomp, stomp-stomp.
We chanted, "The whole world is watching! The whole world is watching!"

The riot-line stopped a few feet in front of me, nobody moved and we
changed our chant: "No violence! No violence! No violence!"  A cop
appeared from behind the line with what looked like a fire extinguisher
and before I could react he shot a blast of pepper spray into my eyes from
two feet away.  The gas was still cold from its decompression.  I couldn't
see very much but I heard people screaming and scattering all around me as
the officer let loose on us with the chemical weapon.  I just sat
cross-legged and didn't move as the capsicum slowly worked itself into my
mucous membranes and wrought its havoc.  I could open my eyes a tiny bit
to see a large armored black boot stomping the asphalt inches before my
crossed shins.  Stomp "MOVE!"... Stomp "MOVE!"

I raised both arms above my head with the two-finger peace sign, hoping
that he would just arrest me, and not lay into me with the riot baton.
This stand-off lasted for probably a minute, and I really don't know what
everyone else was doing around me.  A reporter finally ran up and stuck a
microphone in my face.  "How do you feel?" he said.  I looked at him
through a haze of stinging pain and said, into the mic, "Like SHIT!"  He
went and got a medic.  (We protestors had organized our own medical teams;
there would be no ambulances.)

The medic came up yelling, "Medic! I'm a medic!" so that the cops wouldn't
beat all hell out of him.  He approached me and tried to flush my eyes
with saline solution.  An officer ran up and knocked the solution out of
his hand, and so I had to be led away from the line to be treated in a
makeshift triage area in the alcove of a store entrance.  (The medics that
treated me were both from Montana--Bozeman and Missoula.)  As they cleaned
the spray off my face and neck and tried to flush my eyes (the pain was
only increasing with each passing second) I could hear the tear gas and
concussion grenades being fired very near-by, and the screams and fearful
yells of fleeing demonstrators.  My mucous glands were going nuts, the
snot poured out of my nose, tasting a bit like Cajun food, and I couldn't
open my eyes for a long time, perhaps fifteen minutes or even longer.
The tear gas was beginning to get thick and people everywhere were
coughing and spitting.

I recovered enough to stand up, and I happened to be near a business woman
type (in shiny brown hiking boots, no less) who was railing against us
unruly protestors to a small audience of coworkers.  I turned and
confronted her (this sort of thing is very much not in my character, and I
think I may have been suffering from mild shock).  "What's with the stupid
masks and bandannas?" she said to her cohorts.  "They're fucking
tear-gassing us!" I yelled at her.  And yada yada, exchanged insults... I
regained my composure and walked away.  Another reporter approached me and
wanted to put me on some sort of live web-broadcast, but I just didn't
have my head together yet and so I declined, wasn't really interested
anyway.  A photographer took my picture; I saw in the mirrored glass of a
bank window that my face was bright red and my eyes swollen badly.  My
clothing reeked of the pepper spray.

The police took the intersection in that assault (fifteen more to go), and
things quieted a little.  I walked around to clear my head, talked to some
of our communications people.  The cops had already jammed our CB's and
raided our communications center, and we were relying on a few digital
radios and cell phones.  I gathered that we were in contact with the
mayor's office, negotiating etc., and that we had succeeded in completely
enveloping the convention center.  Other than that, I didn't really know
what was going on, but we all expected the police to continue with the
chemical weapons attacks until they finally cleared the streets.  It was
now 11:00am.

I wandered from blockade to blockade.  People were drumming and dancing,
painting murals on big sheets of plywood while surrounded by rings of
"locked down" demonstrators, a garbage truck was hijacked (without
violence), floats and inflatable whales were used as barricades, etc etc.
(We used what they call "lock boxes" to make it extremely time-consuming for
the cops to break our lines and blockades.)  And with all of this going on
all over the city, and thousands of people participating, I saw not a
single violent incident anywhere within the crowds of protestors.  I saw
only one window get broken, and the wholesale property damage would not
begin until the big police attacks at nightfall.

At one point the rain stopped, and I looked up through dissipating clouds
of tear-gas to a clearing sky and a perfect rainbow bridging the distance
between two skyscrapers.  Tears formed in my eyes (though this time it was
by natural causes), and I turned to a couple standing near-by who were also
admiring the wonder: "That's what I'm fighting for," I said.  Large white
gulls cruised overhead, seemingly oblivious to the poisonous gas.

I came to another stand-off with a formation of riot cops and joined the
protest lines (I think it was Union and 4th).  Young anarchists were
filling the intersection behind us with overturned dumpsters and standing
on top of them and jumping up and down.  "Who are you protecting! Who are
you protecting!" we yelled at the line of foot soldiers backed by a line
of mounted police and an armored vehicle topped by an officer with a
rubber-pellet gun.  A woman who looked to be in her seventies came up next
to me on the lines.  She was nicely dressed in a dark wool overcoat, and
she said, "What's going on?"  I explained a little about the immediate
situation, the tear gas and pepper spray.  She was already very
knowledgeable about the politics of the WTO, and I think she actually came
out to help us.  "It's just terrible what they're doing," she said, "they
have no right."  I advised her that she might want to move back away from
the front lines, but she stood her ground with the rest of us.  When
she moved away from me a little ways, I saw that five or six others were
immediately ready to look out for her safety.

The police put on their masks...  A horn sounded and we were pepper
sprayed, followed immediately by tear gas and concussion grenades and
rubber bullets.  The instinct was to run, but we were able to quell that
tendency, and we walked away calmly as they fired gas canisters spewing
five-inch flames at our backs.  Many people were hit by the live
canisters, and I was very nearly so.  (At some other locations they also
fired rubber bullets into the backs of retreating demonstrators.)  Those
protestors that wore gas masks and gloves picked up the canisters and
hurled them back at the approaching riot cops.  The police stopped and
formed a line, and we immediately filled in the space and held our ground.

This scene was repeated all over downtown for the next ten hours or so.
The police had to fight for every inch until they finally pushed the
remaining protestors over the interstate and out of downtown Seattle.
I wasn't around for the final series of assaults at dusk, having left the
area a couple of hours before.  We had succeeded in SHUTTING DOWN THE WTO!,
and most of us non-violent types declared victory and left the area to the
anarchists to make their statement.  (Which, though I was working as a
"peacekeeper"--or "peace police", as the anarchists called us--I do not
necessarily disagree with using property damage as a protest tactic, and I
could not bring myself to try and stop them.  Niketown does not deserve my
protection.  Don't believe what you hear in the media; the property damage
was for the most part directed and organized and not at all "senseless".
I do not deny that there were thugs who joined in the fun, especially later
on, but these were a very tiny minority.  And the looters don't even
deserve mention.)

It was all so amazing, and empowering: the days of training and
preparation culminating in this wildly successful demonstration.  It was
"true democracy" (anarchy) in action.  We organized the entire action
in a matter of a few days--and always through consensus, with no
sanctioned leaders (there were some "natural" leaders, of course).  And
for an entire working day a few thousand of us took over the streets of a
major city and declared it liberated.  We, The People, stood up to our
oppressors and took back what is naturally ours.
 

        .Derek.Poinsette.
         derekndawn@mcn.net

        !Viva la libertad!

Seattle

The message originally also contained the "Collateral Damage" article posted above.

> Another account (which I've edited slightly to make it a bit more concise
> and
> readable):
>
> >>here's the part cnn left out. PLEASE READ THIS AND PASS IT ON!
>  Subject:   seattle
>  Date:  Thu, 02 Dec 1999 01:10:14 PST
>
> okay everyone, i'll try to make this coherent, but it's been a really long
> two days and tomorrow promises to be pretty crazy as well. i'd like to
> write
> more about the entire experience but right now i'll give you the shortened
> "i
> need to sleep or i will die version, up-to-minute police state siege class
> war version." check out whatever news you can about seattle. british seems
> to be pretty good.  there is tons of alternative documentation, live
> internet
> feeds, etc. the real deal: as i write this riot squads and the national
> guard
> are shooting cs gas (tear gas), concussion grenades, rubber bullets, pepper
> spray (from cannons and directly into faces), using long batons, boots,
> etc.
> against peaceful protesters, shoppers, workers, and anyone else they come
> across. yesterday (november 30), what seems to be at least 100,000 people
> took to
> the streets of seattle for non-violent protest, civil disobedience, and
> direct action.  riot cops (armor, carrying rifles,
> pepper spray, tear gas cannisters, helmets) gassed people sitting on the
> ground and dancing in front of them at 9:30 am.  the next time i was
> gassed,
> again sitting non-violently. as we dispersed they shot the tear gas ahead
> of
> us up the block, in front of us, trapping people in alleys.  a little later
> on, more people were out in the streets, checking things out, pissed at the
> cops. they fired gas, concussion grenades, rubber bullets constantly.
> (during
> this whole time i was helping to keep the crowds from not panicking, moving
> slowly and not trampling one another, helping to treat injured people).  It
> was about this time that the rioting really broke loose, and i will stress
> that if it was mindless, it was still in response to cop brutality and
> aggression, curfew was declared, and the cops started to drive people out
> of
> downtown (which meant marching on us, firing tear gas constantly as we
> dispersed).  they followed far beyond the perimeter they declared, at least
> two miles out of downtown into a neighborhood which then responded in kind
> as
> best they could.  this fighting kept on until am hours.
>
> is this readable at all?  sorry.  i've been gassed more times than i can
> count now, sprayed with pepper spray, seen children, old women, and anyone
> else you can imagine, brutalized.  a girl shot between the eyes with a
> rubber
> bullet.  people lying on the ground losing consciousness in clouds of gas,
> running blind and vomiting if they can.  today has continued beyond that,
> with the declaring of martial law, police chief refusing to comment when
> asked if gas and bullets are being used, claiming that all explosions (the
> concussion grenades which are fired in rapid succession into crowds) are
> pipe bombs thrown by demonstrators.  the police declared a NO Protest zone
> in
> the core of downtown (a clear violation of first amendment rights, as if
> that
> is the only violation occurring), a permiter which you would be arrested if
> crossing into and suspected of being a protester, not a business worker
> showing ID.  By this early afternoon, they went outside of
> that zone, way beyond it, firing gas and grenades and rubber bullets into
> crowds, protests, driving us into an outdoor market and gassing the market
> (all businesses were open, people on the streets shopping, lunch break,
> going
> home, etc.).  Then columns of riots squads began to occupy streets, beating
> people, etc.  (assume that that is constant), herding people to the
> waterfront.  There has not been a curfew imposed in seattle since WWII, and
> martial law was last declared in 1919.  I got out of downtown after
> sundown,
> up to safe space, and then hours later the cops came and invaded, layed
> siege
> to the same neighborhood they had come to the night before and are still in
> as far as i know, right now.
>
> okay, that's the horror stories, but only a fraction of it.  The solidarity
> here has been amazing, steelworkers supporting ecology activists supporting
> anarchists, on and on.  lots of citizens completely in aggreement and
> completely disgusted by the police state actions.  There are over 500
> people
> in jail, practicing disobediance and jail solidarity there, although their
> legal rights are being severly abused as well.  Supposedly jails are full,
> which is why the cops have become so much more brutal, as they have no
> where
> to put us.  But, yesterday they arrested almost no one at all, and when
> asked
> why not, the chief replied "you can't just arrest people for nothing."  Oh,
> but you can brutalize them into submission.  So, do not believe whatever
> mainstream media bullshit you see.  This has been by far and large
> completely
> non-violent, no-confrontation protest.  there was some destruction, and
> what
> some would call deserving businesses were targeted for the main part
> (starbucks, nike, gap,etc.).  in my experience, almost all destruction came
> in response to police attacks on
> non-violent protestors (not to mention the young black kids taking to the
> streets after years of police attacks).  This is an all-out war at this
> point, and it is amazing to me that in the face of body armor, batons,
> grenades, gas, pepperspray, rifles, and what is pretty much a tank, we are
> defending ourselves with only wetted bandanas, swim goggles (if you're
>