21 Apr 2000

UNITED KINGDOM:

MayDay 2K: In The "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" Department

By C. L. Staten, ERRI Senior Analyst

Even as the tear-gas settles from skirmishes in Washington, DC, "anti-capitalist" protestors are already gearing up for the next round of demonstrations and civil unrest. This time, the major action will be centered in London, England and the activities are scheduled to start on April 28th and culminating with the largest actions on 01 May 2000. The occasion this time is a holiday traditionally celebrated by Communists/Socialists...MayDay. 

As with previous protests in London, Greece, Seattle and Washington, ERRI analysts are concerned about the possibility of violence and property damage associated with MayDay 2K activities. It is likely that protest activities will occur in other cities throughout the world. An alleged "anarchist" leader from Eugene, OR has already warned that there will be "an offensive in various places...it is going to be an interesting Spring." 

In 1999, there were two anti-capitalist demonstrations in London that turned violent. The first one, code-named J18, took place on 18 June. Thousands of protesters burned cars, smashed offices and battled riot police in the city's financial district. The second violent demonstration, called N30, occurred in November. Hundreds of anarchists started fires, overturned vehicles and fought riot police outside a central London train station. Police said they were determined to prevent a repeat. Metropolitan Police were coordinating their plans with other police forces...Additional advisories will be issued by ERRI/EmergencyNet News as more information becomes available and circumstances warrant...

18 Apr 2000

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA:

DC Police Win The Battle Of The Streets Against Anarchists

Police in the nation's capital and activists defused a potentially violent standoff during a second day of major protests against global financial policies on Monday by working out a deal allowing demonstrators past police barricades on the understanding they would be arrested. Scores of demonstrators were allowed, in small groups, to cross the metal barricades that had formed the front lines of a tense, two-hour standoff between several thousand protesters and an armada of D.C. police officers, National Guardsmen, mounted U.S. park police and other security forces.

A total of about 600 demonstrators were arrested on Monday afternoon. Many were cuffed in plastic manacles, hustled into waiting school buses and hauled away for processing on charges of crossing police lines. The settlement was negotiated in part by D.C. Executive Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer. The action avoided what seemed at midday to be brewing violence, as demonstrators surged toward the barricades at the rainy intersection of 20th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue...

17 Apr 2000

INSTANT UPDATE-14:30CDT/15:30CDT

Large Number of Arrests Reported

Washington, DC (EmergencyNet News) - In what is being called a "negotiated settlement" by some, it appears that a number of protestors are surrendering to police and being placed under arrest. The activity is reportedly taking place in the vicinity of 20th and Pennsylvania and "I" street. Reports from the scene say that protestors are being hand-cuffed with plastic ties and loaded onto yellow buses in preparation for arrest processing. In excess of 500 people may have been taken into custody today, according to MPD Chief Charles Ramsey. Few other details of the negotiations and/or arrests were immediately available...

One official eyewitness told EmergencyNet News, "Hopefully, today's protests are going to end with a whimper...rather than a bang...that was in some doubt earlier today." "The protestors got to make their point and the IMF meetings went on uninterrupted... sounds like the best ending we could have hoped for," he added.

EmergencyNet News has correspondents "on the street" in Washington and will provide additional details as circumstances warrant...  

*****

INSTANT UPDATE - 12:00CDT/13:00EDT

Police/Protestors in Stand-Off

Washington, DC (EmergencyNet News) -- A major confrontation continues at this hour in the vicinity of 20th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.  Another potential "flash point" is located at 20th and "I" street.  

According to on-scene witnesses, hundreds of hard-core protestors and a reinforced line of police officers are "head-to-head" in what is described as a "tense situation," by observers.  It is believed that at least some protestors have said that they intend to "storm" the IMF and World Bank buildings, about two or three blocks away from the point of current stand-off.  Police are prepared to prevent that from occurring. 

*****

Updated: 09:30CST/10:30CDT - 17 Apr 2000

Rain Dampens D. C. Protests So Far This Morning

Washington, DC (EmergencyNet News) -- Rain in Washington area has reportedly dampened the spirits and activities of protestors so far this morning. Although a number of office workers have been told to stay home and traffic is described as heavy...the situation could be much worse.

Protest leaders have again threatened to shut down today's IMF meeting and block finance ministers from attending.  One skirmish between police and protestors this morning did result in as many as fifty (50) arrests and a reported use of tear-gas.  Totally "black-clad protestors," many wearing masks, were clearly in evidence. Dispersed guerilla-style "hit and run" type tactics were early today being used by the protestors. Most other protest activities so far today have been sporadic and largely ineffectual.  Other protest activities are scheduled later this morning. 

WASHINGTON, DC:

10:30CDT/11:30EDT - 16 Apr 2000

Washington, DC (EmergencyNet News) -- Reports of sporadic violence are coming in from several locations in the nation's capital. As many as forty (40) arrests have been reported so far today, as police attempt to keep a lid on evolving disturbances. There have been some reports of protestors attempting to block intersections with construction materials and over-turned dumpsters. 

At a news conference earlier today, DC Metro Police Chief Charles Ramsey recommended that local residents avoid travel to areas involved in the demonstrations. Ramsey noted, "We expect to have serious disruptions." 

Conflicting reports are coming in as to actual deployment of tear-gas, but Ramsey did acknowledge that individual officers may have used "pepper-spray" as a police barricade was breached by protestors in the vicinity of the U.S. Treasury Department. Police told Emergencynet News this morning that peaceful dissent and protest will be allowed, but that violence will be met "with the force necessary to terminate it.."

07:00CDT - 16 Apr 2000

Washington, DC ( EmergencyNet News) -- D.C. Metro Police Chief Charles Ramsey is quoted by Bloomberg Information services as saying that "about 600 or so" anti-capitalist protesters have been arrested and charged with " parading without a permit." The arrests happened in a series of tactical moves which began at about 18:30EDT last night.  "We are in mass-arrest mode,'' Ramsey told reporters. "The protesters were given several opportunities to disperse, and they didn't, so we took action."

Police are out in force this morning, in anticipation of attempts to block streets and interrupt meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. Protestors, so far successfully thwarted by D.C. police, say that they are still planning mass demonstrations later today. 

11:00CDT - 15 Apr 2000

Police Close Protest "Convergence Center"; Firebomb Materials Reported

Washington, DC (EmergencyNet News) -- Despite protest leaders constant assurances that any demonstrations against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund would be peaceful, D.C. police say that they recovered materials that could be used in the making of "molotov-cocktails" (fire-bombs).  

The information was disclosed following a fire inspection and evacuation of the protestor "Convergence Center" at 1328 Florida Avenue, NW. Police and fire officials said that they evacuated the center this morning after finding several fire and safety violations, including modified and potentially overloaded electrical wiring, unsafe cooking equipment, and blocked fire exits. Protesters said they would move their headquarters to a new location in Columbia Heights. 

12 Apr 2000

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA:

As authorities deployed heavy security to try to ensure there would not be a repeat of the chaos unleashed in Seattle last November, anti-IMF and World Bank protesters were often outnumbered by police on Wednesday in Washington. A series of peaceful rallies were carried out in the District of Columbia, as part of a week of protests against the adverse effects of an increasingly global economy.

With some concern that the situation may degenerate into scenes of riots and vandalism as seen at last year's trade talks in Seattle, the DC police have heightened security around bank and fund buildings by erecting a security perimeter in that area. Several streets have also been closed in the vicinity of the IMF. The protests are set to reach their peak on Sunday when protestors estimate that as many as 10,000 people will march on the IMF and World Bank in an attempt to close down their spring meetings...

The nation's capital may not be a place to go for a few weeks. Protest groups are said to already be on the streets of Washington before the April 16-17 meetings of the world's largest multinational lending agencies.

Organized under the umbrella name "Mobilization for Global Justice," the protest groups, ranging from the AFL-CIO to "Friends of the Earth" and the "Forum of Indian Leftists," are planning ten days of teach-ins and street protests starting on Saturday. All the activity will be aimed at a massive rally on the Ellipse, the park across the street from the White House, on April 16. On April 16, finance ministers from around the world will be in Washington for the start of the spring meetings of the 182-nation International  Monetary Fund Bank.

The protesters believe that the operating rules of the WTO, IMF and World Bank are rigged in favor of wealthy multinational corporations at the expense of poor people, labor unions and the environment. These are the same groups that created mayhem in Seattle. The groups are vague about just what they will be doing during their protests in Washington, but there have been training sessions in such activities as blocking traffic, hanging banners from tall buildings and being chained to immovable objects.

Group leaders insist the demonstrations will be nonviolent. District of Columbia police and federal authorities are taking no chances, given what happened in Seattle. District of Columbia police chief Charles Ramsey says his department will have 1,500 officers ready -- nearly half the force. They have been taking lessons since January, watching videos of how the Seattle police lost control and brushing up on their crowd control tactics. The DC police department has spent $1 million on new helmets and body armor. Backing up those officers will be hundreds of others from federal agencies.

While the IMF and World Bank have been meeting every spring in Washington for decades without incident, the anti-globalization groups say they are energized by what happened in Seattle. The White House is not making one mistake it made in Seattle, when it had POTUS arriving only hours after police had been battling demonstrators outside his hotel. For the IMF weekend, the President will be a continent away in California.