[192] in peace2
Today's Globe
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Saurabh Asthana)
Wed Apr 5 18:42:28 2000
Message-Id: <200004052242.SAA464178@m1-142-8.mit.edu>
To: peace-list@MIT.EDU
Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2000 18:42:20 -0400
From: Saurabh Asthana <moridin@MIT.EDU>
This article appeared in today's globe. I'm glad to see the mainstream press
can continue misrepresenting what happened in Seattle so consistently. God
bless America.
It is interesting to compare this chopped-up version to the original Wire
article, which I have included below this for reference. Note the telling
points cut out of the Globe piece, as well as the change in title -
"Seattle Violence Blamed on Adversary" -> "Seattle Police Report on WTO
Violence"
Saurabh
____
When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if
it is called 'The People's Stick.' -- Mikhail Bakunin
Seattle police report on WTO violence
By Associated Press, 4/5/2000
S EATTLE - Seattle police blame a lack of financial help and
poor planning for their difficulty against a ''well-trained and
equipped adversary'' during the violent protests against the World
Trade Organization last fall.
''In retrospect, SPD commanders put their faith in historical
precedent - the Seattle tradition of peaceful protest - in assessing the
needs for policing the WTO event,'' Assistant Chief Clark Kimerer
wrote in the report made public yesterday.
The report was given to Chief Herbert V. Johnson, whose predecessor,
Norm Stamper, resigned over the handling of the protests.
Police were overwhelmed Nov. 30 when marches by several groups
converged on the core of downtown. In addition to clogging streets
and hampering the WTO gatherings, the crowds provided cover for a
small number of people who smashed windows and looted stores,
resulting in an estimated $3 million in property damage. More than
500 people were arrested.
Officers ran out of the tear gas and pepper spray used to disperse
crowds. Many officers spent hours without food, water, or rest.
The report recommends better planning next time, noting the city had
only about nine months to plan for the event, rather than the 14 to 24
months considered standard by the State Department.
The report also says police did not prepare for a worst case scenario
because of lack of funds to reimburse the State Patrol, King County
Sheriff's Department, and other area police agencies.
This story ran on page A11 of the Boston Globe on 4/5/2000.
© Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company.
---
Seattle Violence Blamed on Adversary
By PEGGY ANDERSEN
Associated Press Writer
SEATTLE (AP) - Police commanders trusted in Seattle's tradition of
peaceful protest when planning for the World Trade Organization meeting
last fall - and learned a hard lesson when tens of thousands of protesters
filled the streets.
That was one conclusion of a Seattle Police Department report issued
Tuesday as city officials analyzed the days of chaos.
The department conceded it wasn't prepared for trouble, though it had
ample warning that demonstrators hoped to shut down the gathering.
``In retrospect, SPD commanders put their faith in historical precedent -
the Seattle tradition of peaceful protest - in assessing the needs for policing
the WTO event,'' Assistant Chief Clark Kimerer wrote in the report.
The report was given to Chief Herbert V. Johnson, whose predecessor -
Norm Stamper - resigned over the handling of the protests.
Police were overwhelmed Nov. 30 when marches by several groups
converged on the downtown core, clogging streets and hampering the WTO
gatherings. Crowds also provided cover for people who smashed windows
and looted stores, resulting in an estimated $3 million in property damage.
More than 500 people were arrested.
Two hundred National Guard troops and 600 state troopers were enlisted to
restore order.
Tuesday's report recommends better planning next time, noting the city had
only about nine months to plan for the event, rather than the 14 to 24
months considered standard by the State Department.
Part of the problem was that officials based plans on the 1993 Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation conference, held here without incident, Assistant
Chief Ed Joiner said. The WTO meeting will be used as the model for
future planning, he said.
Joiner said he had been confident the 400 officers he assigned to WTO - the
largest force ever fielded here - would be sufficient.
But the department was ``taught a hard lesson by a well-trained and
equipped adversary,'' the report says. It cites demonstrators' use of the
Internet, walkie-talkies and cell phones and the ``critical mass achieved
with the rapid marshaling of forces from all directions nearly
simultaneously.''
However, the marches, the number of people involved and their intention of
shutting down the meeting all had been well advertised.
``We're unfunded people largely, who do this without pay,'' said Dennis
Moynihan of Direct Action Network, which helped promote the
demonstrations and was one of several groups that met with police to tell
them what to expect. ``I do have a cell phone and a decent pair of sneakers.
That's about it.''
The report also says police did not prepare for a worst case scenario because
of ``the lack of outside funding sources'' to reimburse local police agencies.
Direct city costs for the WTO operations are estimated at about $9.3
million - $6.9 million of it incurred by the Seattle Police Department.
The report notes that there were no deaths or serious injuries, and that
``much if not all'' of the $17 million in estimated holiday-shopping
business losses was recovered by late December.
