independent media news texts about Washington, D. C. , [April 16th]

[www.indymedia.org]

 Several police actions Sunday in Washington DC 
by Michael A. de Yoanna 8:50pm Sun Apr 16 '00  
mdeyoanna@hotmail.com  

WASHINGTON DC—Though many were already in town earlier last week, it was the
estimated 650 arrests Saturday, April 15 in Washington DC that set the tone
for a group of protesters determined to shut down conferences at the World
Bank. 

The organizer of protest told the CU-Denver Advocate just previous to his
arrest, and the arrests of others, the demonstration was meant to address
the “booming” US prison population. 
It was the first major activism of the weekend. 
The arrests came as the demonstration moved from the Department of Justice
building at 3 pm, down Pennslvania Avenue past the White House, headed
towards the World Bank building located just blocks away. Washington DC
metropolitan police set up a barricade and quadroned off protesters,
arresting everyone trapped in the area. At least four members of the
Independent Media Center were arrested along with a Washington Post Pulitzer
Prize winner photographer. 

A majority of those arrested were charged with parading without a permit and
failure to dispurse. By Sunday morning many protesters had posted a $50 bond
and had rejoined the demonstrations. 

A 90-block radius of downtown was sealed by police, preventing access to
several important buildings including the World Bank and White House. Many
police wore body armor, horse and motorcycle patrols were on duty, and an
armored personnel carrier with a turret several times was used to reinforce
police. Many said police had used tear gas, a charge they denied, stating
they had used "smoke grenades." 

Demonstrators confronted police early, matching the 90-block ban by pursuing
a tactic of preventing IMF delegates, police, and the media access to the
World Bank by forming a human blockade by linking arms. 
Early on Sunday many sources reported a “single” pepper spray incident,
however, reports filed by major news providers documented several different
incidents. The Advocate witnessed a pepper spray incident just after 8 am on
Sunday. Police claim they were forced to use pepper spray to the disperse
demonstrators, who gathered across the street from the US Treasury building.
A scuffle emerged between protesters and police over the barricades set up
by police preventing access to 15th Street NW—a major downtown artery just a
block away from the White House. 
A woman, who identified herself as “Ash” of Splinter Green, an environmental
group, was screaming in pain as medics drenched her face in water and
administered eye drops. 
“This was pure brutality,” said an aid worker who rushed Ash and other
victims to a bench. 
Just 20 minutes prior to the pepper spray incident, several protesters
refused to move for a patrol car, locking hands and dropping to the ground.
The stand-off continued for nearly 15 minutes when police, who said they had
wanted to avert a “situation,” backed off, but not before the patrol car had
been vandalized with red spray paint. 

Nearby, several members of Reclaim the Streets of New York City, took
control of 15th Street and Pennsylvania Ave, preventing a tourist bus from
moving forward. Tourists appeared amused by the incident, snapping pictures
of demonstrators. Within 15 minutes several police on horseback appeared
along with officers dressed in body armor, who forcibly removed the five
protesters sitting with their arms locked. Police arriving on the scene use
batons, striking several individuals to the ground. CU-Denver Advocate
photographer Steve Jacobs was nearly clubbed by an officer while
photographing the incident when he was pulled out of the way by CU-Denver
Advocate staff. 

Earlier in the morning a man who identified himself only as “Frank” moved
through a group of protesters. Many accused him of being a member of the
IMF, though he denied the charge. The well-dressed man made his way to
Lafayette Park, directly across from the White House, and was escorted by
police towards the World Bank building after being assisted over a police
blockade. Moments later carloads of men who appeared to be IMF delegates
sped through downtown in a limosine escorted by two patrol cars. 

Though an employee of the World Bank told the CU-Denver Advocate that
demonstrators prevented him from working his usual Sunday shift, meetings
progressed, slightly delayed by the tactics of protesters. 




www.cudenver.edu/public/advocate

add your comments 

 
 
 Many police actions in Washington DC 
by Michael A. de Yoanna 8:46pm Sun Apr 16 '00  
mdeyoanna@hotmail.com  

WASHINGTON DC—Though many were already in town earlier last week, it was the
estimated 650 arrests Saturday, April 15 in Washington DC that set the tone
for a group of protesters determined to shut down conferences at the World
Bank. 
print article
Michael A. de Yoanna 
Edirot in Chief 


The organizer of protest told the CU-Denver Advocate just previous to his
arrest, and the arrests of others, the demonstration was meant to address
the “booming” US prison population. 
It was the first major activism of the weekend. 
The arrests came as the demonstration moved from the Department of Justice
building at 3 pm, down Pennslvania Avenue past the White House, headed
towards the World Bank building located just blocks away. Washington DC
metropolitan police set up a barricade and quadroned off protesters,
arresting everyone trapped in the area. At least four members of the
Independent Media Center were arrested along with a Washington Post Pulitzer
Prize winner photographer. 
A majority of those arrested were charged with parading without a permit and
failure to dispurse. By Sunday morning many protesters had posted a $50 bond
and had rejoined the demonstrations. 
A 90-block radius of downtown was sealed by police, preventing access to
several important buildings including the World Bank and White House. Many
police wore body armor, horse and motorcycle patrols were on duty, and an
armored personnel carrier with a turret several times was used to reinforce
police. Many said police had used tear gas, a charge they denied, stating
they had used "smoke grenades." 
Demonstrators confronted police early, matching the 90-block ban by pursuing
a tactic of preventing IMF delegates, police, and the media access to the
World Bank by forming a human blockade by linking arms. 
Early on Sunday many sources reported a “single” pepper spray incident,
however, reports filed by major news providers documented several different
incidents. The Advocate witnessed a pepper spray incident just after 8 am on
Sunday. Police claim they were forced to use pepper spray to the disperse
demonstrators, who gathered across the street from the US Treasury building.
A scuffle emerged between protesters and police over the barricades set up
by police preventing access to 15th Street NW—a major downtown artery just a
block away from the White House. 
A woman, who identified herself as “Ash” of Splinter Green, an environmental
group, was screaming in pain as medics drenched her face in water and
administered eye drops. 
“This was pure brutality,” said an aid worker who rushed Ash and other
victims to a bench. 
Just 20 minutes prior to the pepper spray incident, several protesters
refused to move for a patrol car, locking hands and dropping to the ground.
The stand-off continued for nearly 15 minutes when police, who said they had
wanted to avert a “situation,” backed off, but not before the patrol car had
been vandalized with red spray paint. 
Nearby, several members of Reclaim the Streets of New York City, took
control of 15th Street and Pennsylvania Ave, preventing a tourist bus from
moving forward. Tourists appeared amused by the incident, snapping pictures
of demonstrators. Within 15 minutes several police on horseback appeared
along with officers dressed in body armor, who forcibly removed the five
protesters sitting with their arms locked. Police arriving on the scene use
batons, striking several individuals to the ground. CU-Denver Advocate
photographer Steve Jacobs was nearly clubbed by an officer while
photographing the incident when he was pulled out of the way by CU-Denver
Advocate staff. 
Earlier in the morning a man who identified himself only as “Frank” moved
through a group of protesters. Many accused him of being a member of the
IMF, though he denied the charge. The well-dressed man made his way to
Lafayette Park, directly across from the White House, and was escorted by
police towards the World Bank building after being assisted over a police
blockade. Moments later carloads of men who appeared to be IMF delegates
sped through downtown in a limosine escorted by two patrol cars. 
Though an employee of the World Bank told the CU-Denver Advocate that
demonstrators prevented him from working his usual Sunday shift, meetings
progressed, slightly delayed by the tactics of protesters. 


add your comments 

 


 
 

 Blac Bloccades on the streets of DC 
by si @ squall 8:28pm Sun Apr 16 '00  
antidote11@angelfire.com  



Masked teenage ninja mob who gained legendary status on the streets of
Seattle n30 rise again in DC 
print article
"No justice, no peace, fuck the police!" America's infamous Black Bloc were
once again out in force in the streets of the nation's capitol today, April 
16. 
A posse of around two hundred masked-up teenage ninja revolutionaries
marched on the IMF and World Bank at around 7am under a sea of black and red
flags and a twenty foot banner declaring them the "Revolutionary Anti
Capitalist Bloc." They then set about on a running, wall tagging, barricade
building, cop baiting rampage. 'Fuck the Whorehouse' appeared on a
Whitehouse outbuilding wall, The World Bank's door plaque now boasts a natty
anarchy sign and a federal spook's motor lost a couple of windows. 
Not yet up to speed with their Eugene counterparts - who reduced downtown
Seattle into a sea of shattered glass and corporate hair tugging - the DC
Bloc were big in numbers and young in years. Every dissafected youngster in
the land of the 'free' is telling mom and pops to go hang and running away
and join the black bloc. 

Four am alarm calls had woken a several thousand strong protest contingent
early Sunday morning to get their butts down to the first IMF and World Bank
meetings of the 21st century. They dribbed and drabbed down to the meeting
points, dotted round downtown, but the old bill had been working overtime
and had a fifty block area cordoned off. The mass of mostly twenty
something, white American's (though a significant contingent of
internationals were making their presence felt) pissed off with the
destruction being wreaked on the planet's poorest nations by IMF and World
Bank so-called development packages, locked on, linked arms and boogied
about with giant puppets - as has become the hallmark of 'The mobilisation
for Global Justice'. 

Every law enforcement agency in Washington was on the streets, US Marshalls,
City Police, Park, Sate and military cops mingled with comically badly
'disguised' FBI agents. 
It soon became evident that the Bank and Fund meetings were going ahead,
big-business as usual, despite a gathered crowd of over twenty five
thousand. The police reclaimed several blocks and City Police chief Rainer
banged on to anyone who would listen to how "chilled and restrained" his
officers were being. 

Billy clubs and pepper spray were brought in to quell violent er......
chanters. The ubiquitous badgeless cops manned the barricades. As well as
the cops, the spread of protesters over such a large area made them a less
effective force than that that stopped the WTO in November. 

Attempts by police to extend their cordon area were held back by the kids on
the streets with dumpsters, sticks and lots of: "Fuck you pig bastard," sort
of stuff. 

The extensive organisation for the event was badly hit as training and
convergence buildings were evicted, Independent media cellphones were
blocked and anyone who looked like a beatnik throwback got shook down and
had their puppets, banners and lock on gear confiscated. An entire eight
hundred strong Free Mumia /US justice demo had been arrested and bussed out
of town on Saturday night. They were held on the busses with the usual
disregard for their civil rights - no lawyers, water etc - brought into
play. Half are still locked down. 

Mid afternoon saw the majority of blockaders leaving the barricades to go
down to The Ellipse - a large park just south of the Whitehouse - to join a
'permitted' anti globalisation rally. Things seemed to be fumbling to an
anti climax, until Park Police horsemen tried to storm into a five hundred
strong bandannered partying posse. SWAT teams quickly came to the rescue of
both horsemen and corporate media teams who were attracting the odd slap.
Horse shit and sticks sent the police out of the park. 

Buoyed by their mini victory a significant contingent of activists headed
back to the IMF to monster delegates coming out of their meeting, but police
whisked them away in buses and most headed home to prepare for round two
tomorrow - the last day of talks. 

Around fifty arrests were made, one protester was hospitalised and activist
legal teams are talking about bringing law suits against the police for
brutality and violations of their first and sixth ammendment rights. 

As usual the mainstream media ignored the true story of structurally
adjusted genocide and concentrated on the mythical violence of shouting and
paint. Nigerian activist, Oronto Douglas, pointed out: "Puppets and songs
don't kill children, bullets and poverty do." 


[Picture from another page, and its caption] Their numbers -- a hundred, at
least -- and conveniently-placed jointed anchor-fence construction-site
barriers serve to lock down the intersection. 




www.squall.co.uk

add your comments 

 


 
 
Photos and Truthful Reporting About A16 
by Libertarian Socialist News 10:40pm Sun Apr 16 '00  
address: PO Box 12244 Silver Spring MD 20908 phone: 202-237-3774
bwhite@libertariansocialist.com  


A16 Goes Great! 
CD Flops, Anarchists Disappear, Protest Peaceful, CNN Is Full Of Shit 

April 16, 2000 
http://www.libertariansocialist.com/cgi-bin/bbmat.cgi?script=libsoc 
We are right now uploading photos to 
http://www.libertariansocialist.com/04_16 

Hey, I was at the protests. I saw the incident where "police used pepper
spray and batons on protesters", and that is 
bullshit! The protest was peaceful -- super peaceful. The CD was a bad joke,
and all the anarchists had disappeared by 
noon. I don't know what protest CNN went to, or any of the other networks,
but I think they were given the story and are 
making things up to fit their story line. 

First, the CD was an absolute failure. Myself and one comrade walked around
the entire World Bank area. The World 
Bank and IMF were not shut down. In fact, there weren't enough protesters to
even block all the entrances. We walked six 
blocks from the Ellipse before we even saw a group of protesters "locked
down." And do you know what those protesters 
were doing? They were whining! They were sitting there going "these things
are heavy" and "can we take them off now?" It 
was a fucking joke! 

Then, when we got onto the GWU campus, there were a lot of protesters locked
down. In fact, there were enough that they 
blocked the entire West side of the protests. However, that was pointless,
because all the streets on the Eastern and South 
sides of the bank were open. 

Further, these people had "blockaded" the street. With what, you might ask?
String! No joke. These guys blockaded the 
streets with colored yarn. Hahahahahahahaha! It was so hilarious. And, they
put out some dumpsters with wheels, which the 
police promptly wheeled back. We do have photos. 

So, as we're waking along 21st Street, we're trying to cross an
intersection. They've got string all over it, so to avoid the 
string, we decide to walk around it. But the CD people thought we were
trying to get through their line, even though there was 
no reason to think that. One grabbed me, I almost broke his arm, and tried
to explain we were just trying to cross the street. 
Then, these guys were so desperate to stop *somebody*, *anybody*, from
"breaking their line", that the got the whole street 
on their feet. Why? We weren't sure. We were going parallel to their line,
not across it, and if we had wanted to, we could've 
literally just beaten the shit out of all of them. So we just kept walking,
they seem confused, and then all sat back down. 

We then saw some anarchists -- the only anarchists in force we saw all day.
They were parading. One of them didn't like 
my shirt, which read "Innocent Bystander". He said "Innocent Bystander, what
the fuck does that mean?" I responded by 
saying "It means if you say one more word to me I'm gonna kick your fucking
ass." This hard-core anarchist then very 
sheepishly decided to keep marching. (Most people liked my shirt, but two
people argued.) 

By the time we got to the Northeast corner, it was clear the blockade had
failed. There were no protesters past about 18th 
street, even though those streets were sealed off for delegate access. We
then walked around the entire bank building. 

There was one confrontation between police and protesters the entire day,
and we walked into it on the tail end of it. That 
was the confrontation where CNN is reporting "police used gas and batons."
But it was bullshit. Apparently two guys who 
looked to be about in their fifties tried to break the police line, and the
cops hit them with their batons, and the guys got their 
head bloody and got pepper sprayed. They were treated by ambulances that
came, and were let go. However, the situation 
was pretty tense, and it did look for a minute like tear gas might be fired,
so that's when we busted out with gas masks. 

However, by the time we returned to that square, about two hours later,
everyone had vacated. This was not unusual, since 
every had vacated most of the places by about 2 PM, but maybe there was some
more action we missed. 

About seventeen thousand people attended the march and various rallies
combined -- these rallies were spread over about a 
twenty block area, and the largest group was about seven to eight thousand
who attended the main protest. Every sort of 
communist weirdo, including several little New York and Chicago based groups
I've never heard of, were there. There were 
probably about a thousand communists overall, including about three hundred
members of the International Socialist 
Organization, some from as far away as Canada. None of the local communists
were there; we hypothesize they were all 
arrested. 

The march was peaceful and huge. There was no fighting anywhere, and no
conflicts between demonstrators and police 
once the early morning confrontations were over. While we were waiting to
photograph the march, we ran across this chick 
who we had seen speaking the other night, who was doing a TV interview. She
was telling the television the CD people had 
stopped delegates from getting in. Then we heard the story, and realized the
"delegates" they had "stopped" were our LSN 
photo crew! So we butted in on the interview, though she didn't mind, and
told the truth. As soon as we started giving a story 
different than what the camera wanted to hear, the camera turned off.. This
woman then explained to us that the demonstrator's 
entire communication's network had broken down because of yesterday's
arrests, and that she really had no idea if the CD had 
been effective or not. She seemed disappointed to hear that they hadn't had
an effective blockade since at least 11 AM (this 
was at 1:30 PM), but thanked us. 

The march happened and was peaceful. We took a lot of photographs,
particularly of the pathetic attempt at civil 
disobedience these guys made, and of their "roadblocks" (look at the photo
of the two car "roadblock", it's funny. The protest 
rally was good. The radicalism was laughable. We enjoyed ourselves, and had
a great dinner afterwards. 

----- 

Libertarian Socialist News 
Post Office Box 12244 
Silver Spring, MD 20908 

lsn@libertariansocialist.com 
http://www.libertariansocialist.com 

----- 

PS: We just want to point out that by the time of the march, all of the
"anarchists" were gone. Also, Chuck Munson did not 
appear to have attended the march. We saw many people we know there, but no
Chuck0, and we were looking for him or 
*any* local DC anarchists. 

PPS: We've now seen the ABCNews report and some of the other reports. One
possibility is that the reporters were smoking 
crack, but instead of that, we think the reporters are merely printing any
crap demonstrators told them. We were at this 
"confrontation" by the Treasury building, we were there just after Noon, at
the time and place tear gas was allegedly fired, we 
thought tear gas was going to be fired, we put on gas masks, and there was
*no* gas used. Furthermore, there was no *sign* 
that gas had been used. There were two older guys with bleeding heads.
Period. All this news coverage is bullshit and lie
 

 
Smashed Cop Car [though see below]
by Brian Schmitz 9:08pm Sun Apr 16 '00  
bullschmitz@hotmail  
[Picture and its caption] A large mass of people were marching down 21st.
street (I think) collecting people to congregate at the ellipse. A few
masked men jumped on a unmarked police carr, smashing windows and slashing
tires. As pictures and footage was being shot, a consciences marcher made a
sign, reminding the press to focus on the issues instead of the glamour of
the trashed car.  [The sign reads 'The media should cover the REAL issues,
not this car."]
 
 wrong car 
by onduty 4:33am Mon Apr 17 '00  
 

print article

Car belonged to local news station, not police

add your comments 
 
same things in Greece 
by sakis gekas 5:11am Mon Apr 17 '00  
address: University of Essex,Colchester UK agekas@essex.ac.uk  

print article

The same situation appears in the Greek media every time they cover a
demonstration on the night news. They systematically distort the issues at
stake, the ones people go out to demonstrate for, and especially recently in
Greece where it is becoming less and less common to go out in the streets
(everyone is concerned about the stock market and not really about global
capitalism taking over) this attitude of the media shrinks any effort of the
movement to make their voice heard. People in Greece find alternative means
of expression, yet maybe it is time for a greek indymedia.org

add your comments 

Major Media 
by George Kassel 7:34am Mon Apr 17 '00  
phone: 510-526-3891 gkassel@luclink4.berkeley.edu  

print article

The disinformation and shoddy reporting in the Wash. D.C. anti-World Bank
demonstrations have been so bad and outrageous that I think the news
organizations themselves should become the sites of demonstrations. E.g.,
ABC news in New York City. 
GK

add your comments 

 
Black and white 
by jane sunn 7:24am Mon Apr 17 '00  
ruitsdawtah@Hotmail.com  

print article

Just looking at photos, I see a black cop and I don't see any black
protesters. Is it just a bunch of white kids out there or what???

add your comments 
 


[From a video on the www.indymedia.org site, a California politician [Tom
Hayden?] with explanation why he, an elected offical, is marching.  Check it
out yourself.]




-------quote from the Washington Post, relayed

Keynote speech by the radical protest leader Pat Buchanan at the rally in
D.C. today 

An assortment of Democratic, Republican and independent members of Congress
spoke first at a rally for the Teamsters and later at a rally for all the
unions. Buchanan, wearing a blue and gold Teamsters jacket, told applauding
union members at the Teamsters rally, "If I was in the White House and the
Communist Chinese came to my office, I'd tell them to stop threatening my
country, persecuting the Christians, and if you won't, you have sold your
last  pair of chopsticks."