AP. 12 January 2002. Protesters Planning Huge Demonstrations Against World Economic Forum in NYC.
NEW YORK -- When the world's political and business elite gather later this month for the World Economic Forum, Matt Prescott plans to crash the party. He won't be alone. Anti-globalization protesters from across the nation - some of them self-described anarchists - want to disrupt an event they consider a celebration of corporate greed and corruption. They hope to rally tens of thousands of demonstrators, possibly setting the stage for a showdown with the nation's largest police department. "Everyone's pretty gung-ho and willing to put themselves on the line to show we're going to fight for a just world," said Prescott, 20, of Philadelphia. The annual event, Jan. 31 to Feb. 4, was moved to New York this year from Davos, Switzerland, where security cost $5.4 million during last year's meeting. The security burden now falls on new Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a veteran WEF member, who will join 3,000 other executives and dignitaries at the meeting. Attendees, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, will discuss topics such as global economics and terrorism by day, and network at lavish parties by night. On Web sites, activists label the WEF "the dining club for the ruling class." They accuse delegates of mocking the city's poverty and post-Sept. 11 pain by "partying in the wreckage." Some organizers envision huge street demonstrations pitting militants against millionaires. Among the proposed tactics: denying delegates access to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel meeting site by forming human blockades at hotel entrances and Park Avenue intersections. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly declined to detail crowd control and dignitary security measures, but described the event as "a major manpower commitment" for his 40,000-officer force. International ANSWER spokesman Brian Becker said observers are "waiting to see if the events of Sept. 11 have nullified a movement that's been gathering steam since Seattle," Becker said. "We believe it is alive, and can assemble in large numbers." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews
