 |
Police push back hangers-on well into the night
National Guard called in as civil emergency declared
Tuesday, November 30, 1999
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF
(Last updated 10:40 p.m.)
(See our latest coverage of Wednesday's protests.)
Late into the night, officers in riot gear continued to push back a crowd of perhaps several hundred that seemed unwilling to break up. Around 10 p.m., State Patrol troopers joined the police line to try to break up the crowd and return the rainy Seattle night to normal.
Mayor Paul Schell declared a civil emergency earlier in the day and ordered everyone out of downtown -- where hundreds of World Trade Organization delegates are meeting -- until sunrise. (See story on today's developments.)
National Guard units and State Patrol troopers were called in to relieve and back up local police.(See story.) Authorities wanted to be ready to control any demonstrations that erupt Wednesday, when President Clinton is scheduled to attend WTO meetings.
Damage to downtown buildings was considerable -- broken windows, looted stores, damaged goods. And Schell pledged at a 10 p.m. news conference to move quickly to clean up the city's scarred downtown.
"I hated that our buildings were trashed," he said. "It's not something that any of us feel good about."
Asked whether the escalating situation earlier in the day could have been avoided if he called in the National Guard sooner, Schell said such a show of force "would've influenced circumstances and made circumstances worse."
During a long day of demonstrations, the goal of protesters was to disrupt -- if not halt -- this week's WTO meetings. To a point, they succeeded.
Just before 1 p.m., WTO organizers canceled the opening ceremonies, but not the general WTO sessions, which were held as scheduled in the afternoon. By early evening, delegates who had been holed up inside the state Convention and Trade Center most of the day were escorted out by police.
"Violence is not the way to settle differences," Mike Moore, the WTO's new director general, said in a statement earlier in the day.
"We have much work that needs to be done," he added, calling it a "sad day" in Seattle. "I want to urge a maximum of restraint in the coming days."
Tens of thousands of demonstrators packed downtown during the height of the day's mostly peaceful protests and most dispersed quietly after the curfew was declared, but some groups continued to challenge police through the evening.
One large group was slowly driven across an Interstate 5 overpass toward the Capitol Hill neighborhood east of downtown. Police established a line at Boren Avenue and Pine Street, and the vicinity quickly became the site of a tense face-off as demonstrators tried to charge the line and return downtown.
Eventually the group moved farther east, to Broadway, a main thoroughfare in the area, but police held the upper hand late into the night.
Even though police continued to fire tear gas or pepper spray through the evening, scattered violence persisted. About 15 minutes after the curfew went into effect, several people smashed their way into a Starbucks at 6th Avenue and Stewart Street and began destroying merchandise. A Radio Shack store also was looted.
Still, the majority of protesters demonstrated peacefully when WTO delegates from 135 nations met for a difficult round of talks aimed at reducing barriers to international trade. And a labor march involving tens of thousands of union members made its way through the city without incident.
But unruly protesters were out in force. Officers in riot gear, on horseback, in patrol cars and on foot lined up to hold crowds back throughout the day. City buses and fences also were used to separate protesters from WTO delegates and meeting sites.
By 10 p.m., up to 30 people had been arrested, but only minor injuries were reported throughout the city.
The first time police used tear gas to control protesters was about 10 a.m. Officers in riot gear donned gas masks and ordered demonstrators at two sites to disperse. When they didn't, police set tear gas off at the intersections of Sixth Avenue and University Street and Sixth and Union Street near the Sheraton hotel.
One young woman who was in the area said, "They shot us (with rubber bullets) and sprayed, but we're here protesting for peace." She was crying and covered her mouth and eyes with a red bandana. Scott Gibson of Inglewood, Calif., whose eyes were red and puffy, told what happened to him: "They (police) started lofting gas into the crowd. Then they started shooting rubber bullets. One hit me in the leg."
Yogi Hutsen, the Sheraton's general manager, said he thought demonstrators targeted his hotel because many delegates were staying there.
"I'm not worrying about losing business, because most of our guests are
in-house already, but unless they got here very early this morning, some
employees cant get in to work," he said.
In perhaps the single most violent act during a long day of protests, a small group of demonstrators dressed in black raced along downtown streets spray-painting businesses and breaking windows.
They targeted businesses at random, from small jewelry stores to banks to fast-food restaurants. Most other demonstrators in the crowd yelled at them to stop.
During their rampage, windows were broken at the Bank of America on Pike between Fourth and Fifth avenues, as well as at Starbucks, Washington Mutual Bank, Warner Bros., Banana Republic, Nordstrom, FAO Schwarz and McDonald's. A red "A" -- the symbol for anarchy -- was spray-painted on some buildings.
In addition, windows were "tagged" with spray paint and broken at the Eileen Fisher women's clothing store, at Sixth and Pike, and at the Speedo fitness clothing store.
Chuck Kroll, Speedo manager, said "all of a sudden I heard a 'pop'" and saw the window was shattered. "I said to myself, 'Welcome to the WTO!' "
On the edge of another downtown building, someone painted in black: "We are winning, don't forget."
The morning's demonstrations attracted an estimated 3,000 to 6,000 protesters, and up to 50,000 people took part in the AFL-CIO march later in the day.
In advance of the AFL-CIO march, 20,000 to 25,000 union members and their supporters gathered at Memorial Stadium near Seattle Center for a rally. They represented 25 states, 50 unions and 144 countries, and came in 185 buses, nine planes and two trains. The contingent included members from the French metal workers union, 1,000 union retirees from Seattle and a teacher with 20 Seattle middle school students and their parents.
After the march, at least some union members planned to plant themselves at the downtown Westin Hotel -- one of various WTO sites -- for the biggest sit-down in Seattle history.
Norm Stamper, the city's police chief, defended the use of tear gas, saying some protesters were "much more aggressive" than their counterparts and posed potential threats to participants. He said the primary objective of police was to "protect the rights of protesters" and the safety of everyone in the city.
He acknowledged that the tear gas "hurts, it stings and it's intended to drive people away from a potentially violent situation," but said it was necessary because of "very aggressive" provocation by some protesters.
Stamper seemed confident the AFL-CIO march would be peaceful because he said police and labor organizers have "a true partnership" and worked together for months on the logistics. For example, labor leaders provided at least 1,500 "marshals" to guide the parade, Stamper said.
Also see our WTO photo galleries.
Downtown office workers and commuters had been warned about traffic disruptions, protests and congestion today, and many stayed away or adjusted their commutes to avoid the crush of demonstrators.
At one point, several protesters threw a few plastic bottles toward police. But the rest of the crowd didn't like it and started shouting "Non-violence!" Some demonstrators said they had been trying to drill non-violence into their fellow protesters' heads for four months.
Many protesters received permits for marches and rallies; others did not, but pledged to push their cause regardless.
Near the Paramount Theatre about 9:30 a.m. where WTO events were scheduled, police tried to escort a handful of delegates past a group of protesters for a 10 a.m. session. There was a minor confrontation with several protesters, after which police -- and the delegates -- pulled back.
At one point, protesters following delegates yelled, "Go home!" and "We love you, why don't you love us?"
At Pine and Boren, also near downtown, protesters blocked the intersection and refused to let cars pass, causing tensions to rise briefly. At the Nike store downtown, protesters painted graffiti on windows, and at a McDonald's, someone through a newspaper box through the window.
The WTO is essentially a committee of its member governments, operating by consensus as the members try to forge agreements to eliminate protectionist tariffs.
But the movement to free trade around the world has become increasingly controversial as many tariffs are removed and countries increasingly challenge the non-tariff barriers to trade, such as labor laws and environmental regulations.
Activists are working to head off plans to apply the free trade rules to investments. They also are working to short-circuit plans for liberalized trade in timber and other forest products, and other goods as part of the so-called accelerated tariff-liberalization idea. In addition, they want the WTO to butt out of discussions over genetically modified foods.
On Monday, the eve of the WTO, Seattle police arrested eight people, all on minor charges. University of Washington police arrested two people who they say were caught climbing smokestacks on campus.
Not all the protests were against the WTO, however. Trade advocates staged a counter-demonstration at Mercer Arena. In a patriotic air of red, white and blue balloons and American flags, Republican officeholders and others spoke of the virtues of trade to a crowd of only 50.
"We believe trade has a positive influence and want to put the best face forward for Seattle," said former U.S. Rep. Randy Tate, who once represented the 9th District. He is now executive vice president of the Christian Coalition.
Last night, about 4,000 people held hands near the Stadium Exhibition Center, where the WTO held a reception. The protest involved those wanting to forgive debts of developing nations.
Patty Lyman, a 50-year-old physician's assistant in Seattle, said she was marching for her foster brother, a rice farmer in Vietnam who earns $20 a month.
"I want him to have a better life. I think canceling the debt will help," Lyman said.
For Aaron Kohl and his friends, last night's march followed a 17-hour bus ride from California.
"I'm here to tell the WTO they can't overlook the public," said Kohl, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. "People in the Third World can't come and protest. I see myself as being a little part of their voice."
About 600 steelworkers and other labor activists dressed in blue ponchos also last night from the Hammering Man sculpture at the Seattle Art Museum to the Exhibition Center.
"Hell, no WTO!" the steelworkers chanted, led by Teamsters President James Hoffa.
Police kept protesters away from the Exhibition Center. Still, they grabbed a golden ribbon and held hands around the perimeter. A few minutes later, they began walking away, wet and cold from a night of sometimes driving rain.
After night fell, as many as 100 people danced, chanted and shouted "home is not a jail" at Ninth Avenue and Virginia Street, where protesters occupied an empty apartment building Sunday and vowed to stay a second night even though the electricity was off.
See also: WTO Photo Galleries for Monday and Tuesday
Seattle police firing tear gas managed to herd hundreds of combative WTO protesters out of the city's core in time for a 7 p.m. curfew, but some continued to taunt authorities and a few even took to looting.
A police officer fires rubber bullets into a corwd of protesters who refused an order to disperse. Paul Joseph Brown/P-I
Many downtown office buildings were locked up for the security of the few employees who braved coming to work.
For more coverage, see our WTO index.
· Mall searched after fatal shooting, no gunman found
· Fire leaves two Arlington boys dead
· Shooting leaves three hurt, one dead in Skyway
more
101 Elliott Ave. W.
Seattle, WA 98119
(206) 448-8000
Home Delivery: (206) 464-2121 or (800) 542-0820
seattlepi.com serves about 1.7 million unique visitors
and 30 million page views each month.
Send comments to newmedia@seattlepi.com
Send investigative tips to iteam@seattlepi.com
©1996-2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Terms of Use/Privacy Policy
