7:20pm
Downtown Seattle December 1, 1999
Dear NYFMA & friends,
I just got in off the streets of
downtown Seattle and am writing
to you from a free computer at the
Independent Media Center where
I've been practically living since I
arrived here Friday morning.
Outside the door the streets are
swirling with a chaotic energy.
Battalions of riot police dressed in
tactical gear and gas masks,
armed with clubs, tear gas guns and
pepper spray cannons are
now all over the downtown area,
clearing streets, and firing
on crowds of people or arresting them.
SDome one just ran in
saying that 300 peopel where arrested,
and herded into public
buses. We have a medic stationed in
the basement here for the
IMC folks struck with rubber bullets
or overexposed to tear gas
of smoke from fires. 15 minutes ago I
was on a corner with Jessica
Glass, Errol Maitland, and folks from
Free Speech TV interviewing
a Korean activist in front of a line
of riot cops who had cut
off the street. Agitators across the
street hucked an egg at
the cops, and the cops turned and
fired a tear gas bomb directly
at the people. Choking, stinging smoke
rolled over the street.
Tonight in downtown Seattle the sound
of sirens and chants and
shouts is constant, though nothing in
comparison to the 70,000+
who swarmed the streets yesterday.
The scenes on the street are often
surreal--swarms of people,
kids in ski masks, dancing in the
streets, leafleting, singing,
marching, graffitti, fires in the
streets, Darth Vader looking
cops, sounds of explosions, shouting,
In the past 2 days I have
witnessed many incidents of the police
recklessly using force.
One man came into the center after
having his eyeglass shot out
by a rubber bullet; another woman came
in after being struck
in the head with a tear gas
cannister--her head welted and bleeding;
one journalist was struck in the chest
with a rubber bullet,
which he kept and showed to me.
Last night the media center was
blocked in by riot police who
swept the street. They fired on the
crowd, and I saw one tear
gas bomb detonate beside a kid who
crouched down rather than
run. The riot cops blocked us in by
placing overturned tables
in front of our door, and would not
permit our folks to exit.
Tear gas from the street drifted in to
our windowless space,
poisoning the air. In the midest of
the the crisis we contacted
WBAI's Eileen Sutton and asked for her
to help us patch in to
WBAI. She called back saying that Amy
Goodman was at that moment
reporting
live from the streets. In an utterly
weird moment, as Eileen
was describing to me Amy's live
footage. I looked out the glass
door of the IMC to see Amy, behind the
tactical lines, making
her report to WBAI through her cell
phone in the midst of the
lingering tear gas.
A state of emergency was declared, a
7pm curfew ordered, and
as a result many people were not able
to get home, including
me, who wound of sleeping on someone's
floor.
This morning on my way to the IMC I
heard chanting and explosions
and walked over to the Westview Mall
to witness dozens of sit-in
protestors getting arrested by
battalions of tactical squads.
As the crowd around them chanted and
shouted, the cops got nervous
and fired a tear gas bomb at us. The
arrests continued, and the
protestors sang as they went.
These incidents have been going on
non-stop since yesterday morning,
and the Independent media center has
been a focal point of grassroots
media activity documenting the
demonstrations, police attacks
and arrests of protestors, and most
importantly, analysis of
the WTO's assault on the environment,
labor, public health, labor,
sovereignty and democracy.
Tonight's curfew is now in effect, and
a NO ENTRY lockdown zone
established. Battalions of riot police
are "securing" the streets,
and widespread arrests are being
phoned in to the Center.
I urge you to check out the Media
Center's site, which is posting
news, photos, video feeds, and updates
on a rolling basis. It's
amazing what can be done with a
handful of computers, cell phones,
and the drive to get the word out.
More to come...
sore throat from tear gas,
Greg Ruggiero
7pm Dec 1, 1999
Independent Media Center
naming the political moment in order
to transform it
http://www.indymedia.org