by Kate Showers
ATTACApril 30, 2002
The anti-corporate globalization movement criminalization is a problem in the US. At certain levels of government it has intensified since Sept 11. But I think that there has also been a positive shift in the attitude of the public and of local police. Certainly the press is more educated. Enron has been a great help to us.
Most of all, the US Constitution guarantees the rights of public assembly and free speech. There are lines that the authorities cannot cross, and if they do, they will have legal proceedings brought against them. (If nothing else, this is an expensive exercise, and their budgets are finite).
Because of these legal rights, demonstrators have a basic structure from which to operate. At every demonstration since (and including) Seattle, there have been members of the Laywers Guild observing police-citizen interactions, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) available as advocates.
With each demonstration the legal support structures have become more sophisticated. Affinity groups all have lawyers on call.
As in Europe, before each demonstration negotiations with the police detail acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Lawyers have been able to obtain injunctions to stop the police from erecting barriers (In Los Angeles the police were forced to allow demonstrators close to the convention center), and using certain equipment.
I am not sure that these protections exist in Europe. They certainly do not in Canada.
After Seattle and Before Sept 11, in general, municipal police forces and federal military agencies worked to stop all protests, or at least arrest as many as possible. Puppets were called weapons and were confiscated and banned, convergence centers were raided and closed.
After Sept 11:
The Bush administration asserted that any dissent was unpatriotic. This campaign was not successful. Dissent was muted most by public sentiment (fear expressed as anger), but now is growing. Attempts to criminalize dissent ran into the US Constitution.
The big Sept. World Bank protest was cancelled, a combination of police phobia and national anxiety (and fear of what a hysterical DC police and military might do).
The WEF Demonstration, NYC was very interesting. The police did not have a uniform aura of defensiveness. As long as people obeyed pre-agreed upon rules, stuck exactly to the permitted routes and scheduled time, there was no problem.
It was agreed by all demonstrators that NYC had had enough trauma, and this should be a celebration, a carnival.
The police insisted on no masks (invoking a 19th century law created against striking workers), and no sticks of any kind. But there seemed to be a general feeling among authorities that Americans marching in the streets was NOT a threat. Just a traffic management problem.
The police did not ban backpacks or puppets, just wooden structures. So the puppets came made of card board tubing.
This was also just after the Enron collapse, and it seemed that many of the police actually agreed with us. We received smiles and good wishes, and expressions of outrage and disgust at corporate greed. (There were also the standard hostile policemen, but this was just authoritarian individuals, not a group hysteria of violence).
Washington DC - last weekend.
Advance negotiations were sticky because some of the police were simply obstinate authoritarians. But finally they accepted that a peace march was unlikely to be violent. Some of the policemen seemed tense and ready for problems near the World Bank building gathering point, but by the end of the march near the capitol police were friendly and smiling.
As a participant, I can say that the WEF and recent peace/solidarity/anti-IFI marches were less confrontational than pre-Sept 11. Federal rhetoric is calming down, as they have been challenged in court and in the Senate. There are legal limits to extremism in this country, and a history of using them. It may take time while emotions and public hysteria is riled up, but there are appeals.
More Information on NGOs
More Information on the Movement for Global Justice
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
