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WSWS : News & Analysis : North America
After the WTO protests in Seattle
Police build up anti-riot forces in US cities
By Shannon Jones
14 March 2000
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City governments and police officials around the US, concerned that the
demonstrations against the World Trade Organization last fall in Seattle may
presage the revival of a protest movement, are drawing the conclusion that
police powers need to be beefed up. Preparations include increasing training in
crowd control and the purchase of riot equipment.
During the WTO protests, the courts upheld the right of Seattle officials to
carry out what amounted to a suspension of constitutional rights. A federal
judge ruled during the WTO convention against a request by the ACLU to nullify
a 25-block �no protest zone,� asserting the city had sufficient justification
for �reasonable restrictions on public freedoms.�
City officials in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, sites of the upcoming
Democratic and Republican Party conventions respectively, have taken particular
note of the Seattle protests. Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordin has expressed
concerns about possible demonstrations at the Democratic convention this
August. He is reportedly dissatisfied with security preparations for the event
and recently asked his staff to work with convention organizers, the FBI and
the Secret Service to settle on a security plan.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney has asked for an additional $5
million for his department to cover overtime, training and expenses and the
Pennsylvania State Police is asking for $1.9 million to purchase new riot
equipment for its troopers. �Seattle has got to be a part of what we need to do
here,� said a spokesman for Timoney. �There is going to be a whole host of
training for police ... depending on the nature of their assignment at the
convention.�
The International Association of Chiefs of Police reports that attendance has
doubled at courses it offers on �critical situations," which include training
in crowd control. Last month police officials from Las Vegas, San Diego,
Minneapolis, Tulsa and Washington DC attended a conference at the FBI Academy
in Virginia to assess the lessons of the Seattle protests.
�We're reviewing all our policies and procedures,� said one Nevada lawman. �We
recognized in Seattle that there was an entirely new approach by protestors....
It's not that they're heading here, but we need to know if there is a new shift
in what we should expect.�
On March 8 the American Civil Liberties Union filed a new action in federal
court claiming Seattle officials violated constitutional rights by banning
protests in a wide area surrounding the venue of the WTO meeting last fall.
Mayor Paul Schell imposed a 25-block �no protest zone� and police carried out
indiscriminate arrests. "The city made it a crime to engage in perfectly lawful
acts of free speech," said staff attorney Aaron Caplan of the Washington ACLU.
Since December the ACLU says it has received 500 complaints from protesters
about the treatment meted out by police. One person was harassed for passing
out copies of the US Constitution. Another was arrested for distributing a
political cartoon from the New York Times. Police tackled him from behind as he
attempted to give a flyer to a passerby.
The ACLU complaint seeks damages and names the city of Seattle, Mayor Schell,
former police chief Norm Stamper and two police officers who carried out
arrests of protesters.
One plaintiff in the ACLU suit was a WTO delegate who said he had been talking
with a group of protesters before his arrest. �I glanced over my shoulder and
saw the black capes flying and batons twirling,� he said. �The only thing in my
mind was that they didn't want us to stand together. They grabbed me, put me in
a hold, confiscated my report and my WTO credentials. I spent the night in
jail.�
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