International Monetary Fund/World Bank/Pro-choice demos April 23-25: Article on 2002 demos

Come to DC April 23-25, 2004 for International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World bank/Pro-choice demos:

Article about police misconduct, hundreds unfairly arrested at 2002 IMF & World Bank demos

The below is belatedly printed so as to entice folks to join us in DC April 23-25, 2004 for the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank/Pro-choice demos.
Contact me (Chris Powers) at 342-6851 for ride info.
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D.C. police round up activists, media
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Global economic justice advocates converged on Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27, 2002 to affect the restructuring or abolishment of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, institutions that are part of a system that exploits the earth and its inhabitants.

The police also converged on Washington, stomping on the rights of free speech and the right to peaceably assemble to seek redress of grievances. “Over 650 people were arrested in the People's Strike on Friday, Sept. 27 and at the World Bank and IMF Quarantine on Saturday, Sept. 28. Most activists and journalists were arrested when police surrounded Pershing Park and Freedom Plaza Friday morning, preventing people from leaving the area” (http://www.indymedia.org). Luckily, independent media were present to document the authorities’ misdeeds, as the mainstream press allies itself in a biased way with the establishment.

Rochester sent about 40 activists to Washington. Of course, once at a protest, one links with strangers forming ever-changing cohorts. The affinity group (a small group of like-minded individuals uniting for safety and camaraderie), which I was a part of, stayed at a Mexican-American household that possesses two strong women who are struggling for immigrants’ dignity; against xenophobia that limits immigration; and for sufficient means for all humans to not only survive, but also flourish.

Three Rochester Institute of Technology students were arrested, as well as a SUNY Brockport alumnus who was part of the pagan cluster (a cluster is a collection of affinity groups) that was arrested en masse. Another SUNY Brockport student attended the demonstrations, staying at the Community for Creative Non-Violence, which is the operator of the largest full-service homeless shelter of its kind in America.

Friday morning, at Dupont Circle, two groups converged. One was the Pagan Cluster and the other was a pro-Palestine group. My two friends and I joined the latter. After a while of holding signs along the roadway, the pro-Palestine group moved down the sidewalk. We proceeded to block traffic for about three minutes, a symbolic gesture. There was no property destruction or vandalism as our opponents often falsely claim. We simply picked up the remaining belongings of a group who had just been arrested.

Fifteen minutes after leaving the intersection, as we attempted to use a crosswalk, police moved in and ordered us back onto the sidewalk. It was obvious that we were crossing at the designated crosswalk since some of our group had already made it to the opposite side of the street, and that we were not intending to conduct another act of civil disobedience. The police shouted orders and pressed their batons against our backs and shoulders to speed us in the direction they chose. Complaints were met with police assertions that they were only performing their jobs. When a few protesters tried to convey the fact that we were not blocking the sidewalk the police vociferously reiterated that we move.

Keep in mind that the police had their motorcycles ON the sidewalk at our heels. When one of our brethren fell the police yelled for him to get up. Out of fear and for his own protection, he curled up in the fetal position. This was not an act of cowardice; this past April in Washington I witnessed the police riding their motorcycles on sidewalks and actually striking people with them. No one was actually run over, but they were run into, causing injury. The police pushed our group into Freedom Plaza where mass arrests had just concluded.

Those who had been at Freedom Plaza just to listen to speakers, and hadn’t even had the chance to block any streets, were arrested alongside those who had been herded into the plaza. This was a deliberate effort to allow the police to state the need to arrest everyone, since at that point the guilty could no longer be identified.

The policy of forcibly mixing and arresting the entire group to clear the streets of all protesters was apparent. The mindset of the police was epitomized by one officer’s off-the-cuff remark:
“It’s like rounding up cattle for the slaughter.”