Corporate Media begining to question police violence in Miami

reposted from http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/12/2676.shtml

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RP , 12.02.2003 09:30

News from yesterday and today.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/columnists/jim_defede/7390910.htm

Miami Herald
Posted on Tue, Dec. 02, 2003
JIM DEFEDE/COMMENTARY

FTAA security review shouldn't be done by cops

As the number of ''isolated incidents'' of alleged police misconduct grows, it becomes increasingly clear that an independent commission should be appointed to review what occurred during last month's protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas.

Miami Police Chief John Timoney has said his department ``is undertaking a comprehensive review of the entire FTAA security operation and will produce a public report of our findings.''

Timoney's pledge is inadequate for numerous reasons.

First, there were 40 different police agencies involved in providing security for the FTAA meetings in Miami, including Hialeah, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, the Broward Sheriff's Office and the Florida Highway Patrol.

Will Timoney's report discuss the conduct of Miami-Dade officers near the jail on Nov. 21 when more than 60 protesters were arrested? Of course not.

Second, according to Miami Police Lt. Bill Schwartz, the person responsible for overseeing the department's review will be Deputy Chief Frank Fernandez -- the same official responsible for overseeing Miami's preparations for the FTAA.

How can the public possibly have confidence that Chief Fernandez would bring a critical lens to the operation he was instrumental in planning?

Third, if you read Timoney's statement carefully, he states his department ''will produce a public report of our findings.'' He is not promising to release all of the information his review uncovers.

Finally, any legitimate review must also have a mechanism for collecting and hearing testimony from the public in an open forum. It should also include a detailed review of the hours and hours of television footage. Timoney's notion of a ''comprehensive review'' does not include gathering these elements. Rather, it envisions members of the department talking among themselves and with other police agencies and reviewing internal ``after-action reports.''

That's not good enough. That's a recipe for a whitewash.

Some people have suggested the review could be conducted by Miami's Civilian Investigative Panel, which is empowered to review complaints against the department. There is merit to such a suggestion, and the CIP's findings would certainly have more credibility than anything probed by Miami police.

But again, I believe last month's events are historic for South Florida and go directly to how we want to live as a people. Do we allow the police to suspend the Constitution and then pretend it didn't occur? Or do we confront these issues now and avoid their being repeated in the future?

In their zeal to do their job, many officers and commanders lost sight of the First Amendment rights of free speech and assembly, the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure, and the Fifth Amendment guarantees against depriving a person of their property without due process of law.

These were not small or petty transgressions. These were not constitutional niceties overlooked for the greater good but serious violations that should scare us all.

The commission should include constitutional experts, outside members of law enforcement, downtown business owners, residents of Overtown and others.

The commission should review the conduct of everyone involved, including the protesters and the media.

Unfortunately, the likelihood of such a commission being established seems remote since politicians -- particularly Miami Mayor Manny Diaz and Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas -- are hoping that if they ignore this issue it will just go away.

Perhaps they need a wake-up call.

If you think an independent commission should be established, call Miami Mayor Manny Diaz at 305-250-5300 and Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas at 305-375-5071.
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http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/02/Opinion/Police_overreaction.shtml

St. Petersburg Times.
Police overreaction

Protecting the rights of peaceful citizens is a law enforcement duty just as important as keeping order. At the protests in Miami, that duty was shirked.

Editorial
Published December 2, 2003

Those responsible for law enforcement during the recent Free Trade Area of the Americas summit in Miami failed part of their duty. While the free-trade meeting was expected to draw troublemakers who oppose globalization, police also knew that thousands of peaceful protesters would be there. Law enforcement had two duties during the meetings. One was to respond to any violence or mayhem caused by the small group of anticipated "anarchists." The other was to protect the First Amendment rights of those who were there to raise their voices, not their fists.

Eyewitness accounts, however, suggest that free-speech rights were routinely trampled. Thousands of police in riot gear were dispatched to contain about 8,000 protesters. Officers allegedly responded with excessive force to mild provocations. Witnesses said rubber bullets and pepper spray pellets were indiscriminately shot into an otherwise peaceable crowd when one person threw an object at police. As a consequence, dissent was shut down, protesters were injured and harassed, and baseless arrests were made.

While politicians from the governor on down have lauded the actions of the 40 policing agencies that made up the force in Miami during the FTAA meetings, unions and civil rights groups have been vocally registering complaints. The United Steelworkers of America called for a congressional investigation into the "massive police state," that was Miami on Nov. 20. The union's international president, Leo Gerard, said police used "massive force, riot gear and armaments, including combat vehicles . . . to intimidate us and limit the exercise of our rights." The human rights organization Amnesty International also asked for an independent review, saying police used a level of force that "does not appear to have been at all justified."

Miami police Chief John Timoney, who organized the massive police response, said his department will produce a comprehensive report on the security situation and actions of police during the FTAA meetings. Any review is welcome. But Timoney is a man with a reputation for forsaking the First Amendment when confronted by large-scale demonstrations. He has obvious contempt for demonstrators, calling militant protesters "punks." And as police commissioner of Philadelphia during the Republican National Convention in 2000, he was accused of using unconstitutional tactics such as pre-emptive arrests as a means of maintaining order. An investigation into the police response to FTAA demonstrators should be conducted by an agency not associated with Timoney's department.

If Miami is to become the permanent headquarters for the FTAA, as it hopes, then last month's summit was just a dress rehearsal. An independent investigation should identify areas of overreaction - particularly the way police freely fired nonlethal weapons into crowds - and these lessons should be applied to the future. But one thing is for certain: Timoney's paramilitary response should not be a model going forward.
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http://www.click10.com/news/2674574/detail.html

Click10.com

Civilian Panel To Hear Complaints Against Police

FTAA Protesters' Complaints To be Heard By New Panel

POSTED: 6:23 PM EST December 1, 2003
MIAMI -- A new citizens' panel in Miami is about to face its first important test -- dealing with complaints of alleged police misconduct during the Free Trade Area of the Americas talks.

Miami voters approved creation of a Civilian Investigative Panel to investigate these kinds of complaints last year.

Dozens of people arrested during the FTAA summit say police violated their civil rights. Now, they can take their complaints to the CIP.

No one has lodged a complaint against Police Chief John Timoney, but CIP chairman Larry Handfield says he expects many to be filed against his officers for the way their aggressive behavior.

During the FTAA summit, the CIP handed out a thousand brochures describing how to file a complaint.

When the CIP meets late Tuesday, the main order of business will be hearing from Chief Timoney. But they also expect to hear complaints from protesters.

Those involved say the number of complaints is sure to grow. The CIP is just now gearing up with staff to handle them.
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http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/30/Columns/Miami_crowd_control_w.shtml

St. Petersburg Times.

Miami crowd control would do tyrant proud

By ROBYN E. BLUMNER, Times Perspective Columnist
Published November 30, 2003

Miami police Chief John Timoney must be mighty proud of the social order he maintained during the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit a couple of weeks ago in Miami - sort of the way Saddam Hussein was proud of quieting dissension in his country.

Timoney has a well-deserved reputation for using paramilitary tactics to turn any city where large protests are planned into a place where the Constitution has taken a holiday. During the FTAA meeting on Nov. 20, Timoney dispatched 2,500 police officers in full riot gear against a crowd estimated at 8,000 people, mostly union members and retirees.

The result was a show of force that would have made a Latin American dictator blush.

Slavish public officials such as Miami Mayor Manny Diaz touted Timoney's handiwork as "a model for homeland defense," and the Miami Police Department has responded to complaints by saying that officers demonstrated "a tremendous amount of restraint."

But this is hardly the way eyewitnesses described it. The scene was a "massive police state," according to the president of the United Steelworkers of America, who has demanded a congressional investigation. Congress gave Miami $8.5-million for security during the FTAA meetings - funds slipped inside the $87-billion measure for Iraq. The steelworkers called it money for "homeland repression."

The National Lawyers Guild, a liberal legal organization, said the day was punctuated by "indiscriminate, excessive force against hundreds of nonviolent protesters with weapons including pepper spray, tear gas, and concussion grenades and rubber bullets."

Observers said the provocation for officers to shoot rubber bullets and paint balls filled with pepper spray at the predominantly peaceable crowd was often one person lobbing an orange in the direction of police or lighting a trash can on fire.

Nikki Hartman, a 28-year-old Pinellas County resident, was shot three times with rubber bullets - once, she said, when a police officer fired point-blank at her behind after she stooped to pick up a bandanna she'd dropped. The officer had kicked it her way before shooting her. She was later shot in the back while retreating from police lines. Her friend Robert Davis was shot seven times while trying to help Hartman to her feet.

In addition to such shootings, police abandoned any legitimate basis for searching and arresting people. Miles Swanson, 25, a legal observer for the lawyers guild, was punched numerous times while being taken in by officers for pointing out undercover police dressed up as protesters. Eight of 60 guild observers were arrested that day; they wore distinctive green hats and were apparently targeted. When Swanson was grabbed off the street by three Broward County sheriff's deputies - two of whom were in ski masks - he said they told him "this is what you get when you f-- with us." Then, Swanson said, the deputies drove him around while looking for another legal observer to arrest. He ultimately pleaded no contest to one charge of obstructing justice so he could return to law school in Washington, D.C.

Celeste Fraser Delgado, a 36-year-old reporter for the Miami New Times, was interviewing protesters when she was arrested. According to an Associated Press report of her ordeal, she overheard police arguing about what to charge her with. The two misdemeanors - failure to obey a legal command and resisting arrest without violence - were dropped the next day.

The police seemed especially sensitive to having their actions photographed or taped. Sean Lidberg, who was stringing for a Minnesota paper, said his group of friends was aggressively detained and searched by police because one of them had picked up and put down a coconut found on the ground.

"We're from Minnesota and never saw coconuts growing wild," said the 20-year-old Lidberg. When he tried to take video of the police searching through his backpack, Lidberg said, "they shoved the camera down and wouldn't let me document anything said or done." Police proceeded to take most of what he had in his backpack, which included two gas masks. He doesn't expect to see his stuff again.

When contacted for comment, the Miami police first asked for case numbers. When those were provided, the public information officer said he didn't have time to comment on the incidents and hung up when his name was requested.

Ever since the melee at the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, where demonstrators blocked streets and vandalized stores, conference planners and public officials have adopted a no-holds-barred approach to potential large-scale protests. And Timoney is their man. Militant protesters, "punks" as he calls them, are anathema to Timoney. Shutting them down with Pinkerton prowess is his specialty. Rights, schmights.

Anyone who cares about civil liberties might remember Timoney as the police commissioner of Philadelphia during the 2000 Republican convention - an event marked by police making pre-emptive arrests on baseless charges and smashing heads. This led to lucrative private consulting offers for Timoney and then, this year, to the top-cop spot in Miami.

His antiprotester philosophy is a fitting sign of the times and intersects nicely with the new FBI protocols established by Attorney General John Ashcroft. Ashcroft recently junked FBI guidelines that prevented agents from monitoring groups without evidence of criminal wrongdoing, saying it was vital for antiterrorism operations. But in a J. Edgar Hoover redux, it turns out that this flexibility is being used to spy on and collect intelligence on antiwar protesters.

When men like Timoney and Ashcroft are on the A-list of the nation's law enforcers, free speech doesn't stand a chance. It is open season on dissent. A vignette reported by the Miami Herald says it all: During the FTAA action, Timoney came upon a protester who was pinned against a car being arrested; without knowing anything about the circumstances, he pointed a finger at the demonstrator's face and said, "You're bad. F-- you!" People exercising their First Amendment rights are now considered the enemy.
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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/special_packages/focus/7370084...

The Miami Herald
Posted on Sun, Nov. 30, 2003

Police: 'The AFL-CIO should look inward and question the wisdom of inviting avowed troublemakers to participate in a rally...'

By John F. Timoney
Chief of the Miami Police Department

On behalf of the Miami Police Department and our many law enforcement partners, I would like to express my appreciation for the patience, support and good spirits shown by Miamians during the recent FTAA summit. While there has been an overwhelmingly positive response to the efforts of police during the summit, it is important to address the questions and accusations raised by some, particularly by the AFL-CIO.

Earlier this year, organized labor expressed intentions to mobilize rallies and parades for thousands of union members who opposed the formation of the FTAA [Free Trade Area of the Americas]. A great deal of time was committed by the police department to meetings with the AFL-CIO. These negotiations progressed with the expressed aim on both sides of preventing a recurrence of the massive criminal mayhem that accompanied the union's protest at the World Trade Organization gathering in Seattle. After many months of meetings, all parties agreed on a parade route and the hosting of protest rallies at the Bayfront Amphitheater. Throughout the negotiations, the police department was clear that all plans were subject to change should the police be confronted with violence during the summit week.

While negotiating with the police department, AFL-CIO representatives were also negotiating with the ''Direct Action'' protest groups whose coalition of protesters includes the self-described ''anarchists'' responsible for the violence in Seattle and other cities hosting world trade events. In the days before the event, the AFL-CIO informed the police department that it had been unsuccessful in convincing the coalition groups to schedule their planned unlawful activities on a day other than Thursday [Nov. 20], when the union's own march and rallies were scheduled. One AFL-CIO representative incredibly suggested that the police should allow the coalition to tear down a portion of the security fence, implying that such action would satiate that group's appetite for violence and mayhem. Of course, the Miami Police Department immediately rejected this reckless suggestion.

On Wednesday afternoon [Nov. 19], union members engaged in a peaceful march from the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts on Flagler Street to Bayside Marketplace accompanied by bicycle officers from the Miami Police Department. Later that night, a peaceful rally was held at the amphitheater by the same union members. However, at the close of that rally, a speaker from the coalition was invited to address the crowd. This individual made clear the coalition's intention to attack the police security fence the next day and invited the participation of audience members.

On Thursday, at 7 a.m., two separate groups of protesters initiated simultaneous marches in different parts of the city. These non-sanctioned marchers were escorted to the security fence by Miami police officers with the intention of providing the marchers with a symbolic victory march to the fence. This goodwill demonstrated by police was met with a barrage of debris and a storming of police lines by protesters. Grappling hooks were attached to the security fence in an attempt to pull it down. Only the swift and courageous action of police using non-lethal tools foiled their plans and dispersed the violent crowd. At this point, the tenor of the day was changed and police were compelled to adopt a more defensive posture.

STREETS BLOCKED

The coalition marchers re-formed on Biscayne Boulevard in front of the amphitheater, interfering with the logistical preparations for the sanctioned AFL-CIO rally and march. Coalition members blocked streets, limiting the number of buses allowed onto Biscayne Boulevard. These same groups were then invited by the union into the amphitheater and to join the AFL-CIO parade. The parade was escorted without incident by Miami Police Department bicycle officers in short sleeves and short pants. Police officers wearing protective armor were moved several blocks away from the parade route in recognition of the peaceful nature of the AFL-CIO marchers.

At the conclusion of the parade, the AFL-CIO marchers and some of their coalition guests re-entered the amphitheater for a rally. At the same time, arrangements were being made to have 10 buses, escorted by bicycle officers, come to the amphitheater to pick up senior citizen marchers. At this point, without notice or provocation, hundreds of coalition protesters who remained on the street began to attack police officers located at Second Street and Biscayne Boulevard. Assorted debris, projectiles and tear gas were thrown at the police. Police immediately stationed officers at the amphitheater to prevent union protesters from exiting and becoming engulfed in the violent crowd gathered on Biscayne Boulevard. Coalition protesters continued their attack on police and started fires in the street. A separate group of police officers began dispersing the violent group. Numerous warnings and orders to disperse were issued by police with little compliance. Some force was necessary for police to overcome the assault on officers and the refusal to disperse. Within an hour, the violent group was dispersed from downtown with minimal property damage and some arrests. However, in the process, 17 police officers suffered physical injury, including six requiring hospital treatment.

REPORT UNDERWAY

I very much regret any occasion when police have to resort to force to overcome a violent attack. This is particularly true when the organized attack is mounted from within a group of law-abiding citizens. The Miami Police Department is undertaking a comprehensive review of the entire FTAA security operation and will produce a public report of our findings.

Some fingers have been pointed at the police for allegedly chilling free speech and inconveniencing AFL-CIO marchers. In fairness, the AFL-CIO should look inward and question the wisdom of inviting avowed troublemakers to participate in a rally and march alongside thousands of union members and retirees.
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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/special_packages/focus/7370083...

Miami Herald
Posted on Sun, Nov. 30, 2003

ACLU: 'In the name of maintaining order, Chief Timoney suspended the constitutional rights of law-abiding people.'

By Lida Rodriguez-Taseff
President of the Miami chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union

Innocent, law-abiding, red-blooded Americans had their rights violated during the FTAA summit: schoolteachers, steelworkers, union members, retirees, war veterans, students and journalists.

These are not the people Chief John Timoney promised to hunt down and arrest. Quite the contrary, over and over again, the chief promised that he would target the ''potentially violent 2 percent'' while protecting the rights of the law abiding and peaceful 98 percent. He promised that his officers would help protect the vigorous exercise of free speech while protecting private property and ensuring the personal safety of police officers and participants alike.

However, as the dust settles and sensationalized media reports are replaced by eye-witness accounts of the citizens of this community, the inescapable truth that emerges is that in the name of maintaining order, Chief Timoney suspended the constitutional rights of law-abiding people.

At least four downtown business owners have confirmed that they were prohibited by police from having anti-FTAA literature in their stores and were ordered to give full descriptions of the persons who gave them the literature. The business owners were not the only ones who had their legal activities monitored. The police's own documents show that police officers tracked the educational and religious activities of local churches and even made written notes of clergy who took a position against the FTAA. These tactics are not the hallmark of our democracy. Rather, they are dark examples of a ``police state.''

Reports from police officers themselves make clear that officers were trained to stop, search and arrest first and ask questions later. Downtown business owners have reported that in case after case, they saw police stop people who were simply walking down the street, push them against the wall, search them and upon finding nothing, let them go. This is not only unconstitutional, it is also un-American.

What is more, the practice spread far and wide, up and down the chain of command. In fact, in at least one instance, the chief himself, entourage in tow, stopped a completely innocent middle-aged man who was leaving a restaurant on Brickell Avenue. The chief demanded to see the man's identification (which is illegal) and actually wrote down the man's driver's license number. A Herald embedded reporter told the chief that the man, who was wearing his full press credentials around his neck, was a reporter, at which point one of the chief's men looked closely at the credentials. The chief then made a brisk exit, leaving the man with an ominous, ''We'll be seeing you,'' as he rode off on his bicycle.

MANY CASES DROPPED

Some people were not as fortunate to get off with a mere parting threat. The police made 99 misdemeanor arrests on Nov. 20. However, an unprecedented 20 of those arrests were thrown out the next day when the State Attorney's Office announced that it refused to prosecute those cases. Many more cases are likely to be dropped in the coming weeks as the flaws of the practice of arresting now and asking questions later are exposed.

The chief also broke his promise to protect private property. In fact, the costliest acts of destruction of property were all at the hands of police. In two of the incidents, police destroyed two cars after receiving unreliable tips from other police officers. Assuming that Chief Timoney's officers were acting in good faith, taxpayers are likely to be stuck with the bill because two innocent people lost their cars.

There are also countless incidents of police dumping the property of arrestees, including wallets, cell phones, purses and backpacks, in streets and gutters, leaving it behind for the not-so-innocent to cause the criminal mayhem that the chief promised to prevent.

BIKE TAKEN

And, in at least one instance, a bicycle officer was caught on tape taking a bicycle from a local disabled veteran -- telling the vet that he would not be seeing his bicycle again because it ''was nicer'' than the cop's. The bicycle has not turned up anywhere. The disabled vet needs it to get around. But somehow, the men whom this community entrusted to protect the innocent have now themselves turned into criminals.

The Fourth Amendment was suspended during the week the FTAA talks were held. Most people are prepared to accept this because they have been led to believe that it was suspended only for the people whom the chief describes as the violent anarchists, the thugs and the hoodlums. ''They'' are not ''us,'' we are told.

They may or may not be. That debate is for another day. However, the inescapable truth is that in going after ''them,'' the police came after ''us'' -- the union members, the retirees, the veterans, the steelworkers, the teachers, the students and the journalists. Who among us is next? Should we leave it to Chief Timoney to decide?
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