----- Original Message ----- From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2000 1:08 AM Subject: [STOPNATO] Police State America: Washington STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG Tuesday, April 18, 2000 Morning coffee taken with blast of tear gas, blood Mark Hume National Post (Canada) WASHINGTON - Inside Fortress America paranoia is rampant, the predominant sound is the thud of a helicopter overhead, and it's getting hard to tell the revolutionaries from the establishment. In a surreal scene here yesterday, riot police wielding batons chased demonstrators through the streets of the central business district, clubbing them, spraying them and blasting off percussion grenades, while astonished citizens looked on. What they saw as they walked to work, carrying their briefcases and morning coffee, were scenes of fleeting, but unforgettable violence. A woman spewing blood on the sidewalk while protesters wearing red crosses on their arms tried to help. A young man, reeling along like a drunk, his face white, mucus running from his eyes, mouth and nose from a blast of pepper spray before volunteer medics grabbed him. While police chased the demonstrators, the wounded fell away. One man was left leaning against a building near some office workers, a makeshift bandage wrapped around his head to stem the blood flowing from below his left ear. Rob Fish, 21, from Stanhope, N.J., an independent photographer, was trying to shoot pictures of demonstrators fleeing a phalanx of riot police when a man wearing street clothes suddenly hit him with a club. "I didn't even know it was a police officer," he said, a blank look of shock on his face. "I called for police to arrest him. But when they came over they started hitting me ... I don't know how many times they hit me. At least twice ... They tried to step on my camera, but I managed to throw it across to a friend." He refused to be taken to hospital. "The hospital is a police state," said an angry young woman who was helping him. The violence erupted at about 8:15 a.m., shortly after two groups of protesters, numbering a few hundred, converged near Farragut Square, about three blocks from the White House. They headed west down I Street, outside a police fence, going toward one of the main entrances to the well-guarded buildings where delegates to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund were meeting. The protesters were behaving peacefully, chanting slogans and beating on drums. But when they hit the intersection leading to the World Bank, they marched right into the path of a police car escorting a van loaded with conference delegates. A police officer jumped out of his vehicle -- and that was the spark that would trigger panic and violence. "I think somebody touched him," said Kenyon, a man who was at the front. "He started swinging his club, then more police came piling out of the van ... the grenades went off ... it was mayhem." A riot squad that had been guarding a security fence leaped into the fray, and suddenly undercover police officers seemed to be everywhere, coming out of the crowd and jumping out of unmarked cars. Some of the undercover officers pulled on arm patches that identified them, but some didn't bother. They pulled clubs out of car trunks and started chasing protesters along with the riot squad. "I guess it's kind of shocking. It's kind of hard to believe," said Chris Hamaty, a patent lawyer who was standing on the sidewalk, his briefcase in hand. He was on his way to work when he heard the protest march coming, and stood aside to watch. He said the protesters were raising important issues. A few blocks away, Charles Harrison, an accountant, walked along the sidewalk while a squad of riot police charged down the middle of the street beside him. Commuter traffic ground to a sudden halt, and people came to their office windows to watch, while the police pursued a group of about 100 demonstrators who were fleeing ahead of them. "This is pretty incredible," said Mr. Harrison. "I remember this as a kid, in 1968, when they had [urban] riots here. But we haven't seen anything like this since then. "I lived in Washington all my life, and I can tell you, you don't see stuff like this." Mr. Harrison, an African American, said the black community has not been paying a lot of attention to the protests, but he felt the dramatic events here had changed that. "Most African Americans don't know what this is all about, but there's a program about it on the black radio network. I will listen to that. I want to be better informed," he said. The clash shattered efforts to organize a morning rally near the World Bank. With squads of police chasing protesters through the streets, it seemed like the final day of protest was going to be over before it got started. "This feels to me like a clean up by the police," said Jaggi Singh, a student from Montreal. "The police are acting like a gang, reclaiming their turf. They're saying 'You had the streets yesterday, we're takin' it today'. " But he predicted the protesters would somehow find a way to rebound. The small, scattered groups began slowly to coalesce, as word passed to rally at The Ellipse, a public park near the South Lawn of the White House. The gathering was hampered by the fact that protesters, alarmed by the role the undercover police had played, began to suspect anyone they didn't know. "Watch it, there are undercover cops among us," shouted one man. "This guy! This guy!" he said pointing at a man in blue jeans, a sweat shirt and a baseball cap who was carrying a video camera. As people crowded around him, police in plain clothes, but wearing arm bands, ran to his assistance. One protest organizer I approached jumped back when I touched his arm, thinking he was about to be arrested. "I'm sorry," he said. "You just don't know who to trust." He said the protest would go on, but it would be difficult. His group of about 200 demonstrators snaked through back streets, picking up supporters wherever they could -- eventually catching up to the main protest group of about 5,000 marching up 14th Street. The crowd flooded onto the street, blocking traffic as they marched past government office buildings which were closed for the day because of the protest. Arthur Meister, an architect, stood on the sidewalk as they passed. "I think it's fantastic," he said of the protest. "You've gotta be aware of what's going on. You can't go through life thinking corporations will look out for you. They look out for the bottom line. That's the message they are getting across, and I'm all for it." ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb
