Sidebar: THE
CRACKDOWN
Last week's threatened showdown between police and protesters
in Seattle on the anniversary of the WTO protests that rocked
that city a year ago never materialized--at least not when
it was expected to.
While many Rose City activists stayed home, four Portland
police observers made the trip to Seattle, where they
witnessed a brand of peaceful coexistence and cooperation
between protesters and police that was markedly different
from the WTO protests of a year before. The jovial mood
was also a stark contrast to the tension felt during downtown
Portland rallies earlier this year on May 1 and Sept.
26, when dozens of protesters were arrested, some injured
by police; in those protests, property was damaged and
officers spit on.
It seemed like the stage was set for more conflict in
Seattle last week. Before the Nov. 30 protest, Seattle
police had threatened to arrest anyone marching or protesting
without a permit. Instead, the march got a courteous police
escort, and a peaceful crowd of 3,000 filled the streets
on two prime shopping blocks, forcing rush-hour traffic
to detour. Throughout the afternoon, topless lesbians,
a seniors group called "Raging Grannies" and marching
green sea turtles joined with puppets, drummers and dancers
in a big street party while Seattle's horse patrol stood
by, cracking jokes and sipping on bottled water.
Dressed as civilians, Portland police Capt. Larry Ratcliff,
Lt. Mike Crebs and two other officers watched the events.
"I think it's important that we can see it from a demonstrator's
perspective, and see what it's like," Crebs said afterward.
"I learned a lot." The captain's congenial square-jawed
face is familiar to many Portlanders. He had his 15 seconds
in the spotlight on May 1, when a Portland protest went
sour and was crushed with overwhelming force by the PPB.
Crebs, the field commander that day, looked like he was
in over his head--as indeed he was. According to Chief
Mark Kroeker's subsequent May Day report, Crebs did not
have the command support called for by the bureau's own
rules. Another problem that day was lack of communication
with protesters. At one point, for example, officers directed
people off the street onto the sidewalk. As their reward
for obeying, they were charged by officers on horseback.
In Seattle, the scene was ripe for the same reaction.
At 2:30 pm, outside Union Station at the corner of 4th
and Jackson, squads of police stood ready as more than
200 protesters gathered, centered around the Sea Turtles
and a marching band called the Infernal Noise Brigade.
The group had been warned that marching without a permit
could lead to their arrests--and paddy wagons were sitting
ready, just a block away.
Flanked by two lieutenants, Seattle police Capt. Bill
Moffatt approached and spoke with AFL-CIO organizer Jonathan
Rosenblum and Unitarian minister Judy Hitchcock. But instead
of issuing ultimatums, Moffatt told them, in a calm voice,
"I'd like to get this moving as soon as possible because
rush hour traffic should start soon."
Asked about the accommodation, Rosenblum told WW
he wasn't all that surprised. "The term 'unpermitted march'
is a new one in Seattle's lexicon," he said. "We have
never taken the position that 'permission' to express
one's political views is required" as long as protesters
"work responsibly with authorities" when their actions
affect motorists or other non-demonstrators.
Portland police typically break up any large demonstration
that does not have a permit. In Seattle, the police had
threatened to do the same. A crucial moment was when marchers
got to Westlake Park, outside Seattle's prime upscale
mall, and filled the streets, blocking traffic. Police,
who had changed into riot gear, ordered protesters to
disperse. Dozens of protesters instead sat down on the
pavement. Ten minutes came and went, and no crackdown
came. Eventually, protesters split into two marches. Only
later that night did things get disorderly (see box story
below).
So does Seattle, where some protesters actually thanked
police for their forbearance, hold lessons for Portland?
Crebs isn't sure: "I don't know the dialogue that went
on between the protesters and the Seattle police, so I
can't say whether we would have handled it any differently."
He says Portland is making changes to better deal with
protesters, such as increasing efforts to communicate
and being more judicious in breaking out riot gear--a
move that tends to escalate tensions dramatically.
Since May Day, PPB has sent Crebs and other observers
to rallies in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. "I'm probably
thrown into the mix more than anybody on demonstrations
downtown right now," said Crebs. "I think I'm getting
a lot better at them."
He'll keep getting chances to show it. Back in Portland
on Nov. 30, labor, environmental and church officials
were meeting on the steps of the federal courthouse, announcing
their efforts to block the extension of NAFTA throughout
Latin America, which they say will increase global inequities
and erode worker rights and environmental laws.
The protests, in other words, will continue.
Crackdown
It was not until nightfall, after a few protesters got
unruly, that the streets of Seattle again looked like
a war zone, with hundreds of officers dressed in full
black riot gear, making 140 arrests in all.
At about 9 pm, lingering protesters at Westlake Park
were ordered to disperse. Police drove them down 4th Avenue,
again ordering them to disperse--but by this time, at
4th and Blanchard, the 100 or so protesters were surrounded
on four sides by police and had no exit.
"They arrested everyone: protesters, legal observers,
shoppers, students, workers going home from work, etc.,"
says labor organizer Jonathan Rosenblum. "It was a police
riot."
But even during the crackdown, there were differences
from Portland. Seattle police used tear gas and pepper
spray only in isolated instances, unlike the mass sprayings
and firing of bean-bag shotguns at protesters in Portland
on May 1 and Sept. 26.
The violence was not completely one-sided: Two officers
suffered eye injuries. Also, a police car was stolen,
though it is not known by whom. --NB
