Review: Battle in Seattle

Before the World Trade Organization met there in 1999, Seattle's central claim to fame was the Starbucks Coffee chain and seminal grunge rocker Kurt Cobain.

Shortly after the WTO meetings were disrupted by riots and violent clashes between protesters and police, the little Emerald City on Puget Sound became a case example for the new realpolitik--where ordinary people, and not a proclaimed enemy of the state, suddenly became suspect in the eyes of lawmakers and politicians.

By Norm Stamper
June 1, 2005

A Good Cop Wasted

The WTO debacle brought down Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper, one of America's most progressive cops. Now he's published a memoir offering a frank look at his rise and fall, and the challenges of reforming law enforcement. By Nina Shapiro MORE

"Snookered in Seattle: The WTO Riots" is a chapter from the book Breaking Rank, copyright © 2005 by Norm Stamper, and appears by permission of the publisher, Nation Books, a division of Avalon Publishing Group Inc. The former Seattle Police chief will speak at Town Hall Thurs., June 9, at 7:30 p.m., sponsored by Elliott Bay Book Co.

I was "out of the loop" on the decision to invite the WTO Ministerial Conference to Seattle (November 29-December 4, 1999). I'm not sure how I would have voted anyway—for all I knew, "W-T-O" were the call letters of a Cleveland radio station. I will say this, though: Having your ass kicked so completely—by protestors, politicians, the media, your own cops, colleagues from other agencies, and even a (former) friend—does give cause for pause and reflection.

We need to find ~ 175 individuals who were in Seattle during the WTO
protests in 1999.

We won an important lawsuit against the city of Seattle which violated
our rights and these folks need to contact the attorneys by AUGUST 28,
2007 if they want their portion of the settlement $$ (see below to
download claim forms.)

Sooo…. WHO DO YOU KNOW who might have been in Seattle at the WTO
protests in 1999? Please pass this along to them and to others who
might have some connections to those events. (Consider sending to your
lists or specific people, adding info to your blog, website or
announcement lists, and especially, talking to folks.)

Westlake, Dec 1, 1999? Nov 30, 1999:

Steve Herbert

Abstract

Increasingly, the expression of dissent at major events is controlled with a territorial strategy – it is banned from some areas and confined to others. One of the more notable uses of this strategy was in Seattle in 1999 during the ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization. After widespread unrest forced the cancellation of the conference's first day of events, the City of Seattle erected what it termed a “restricted access” zone, and what its critics termed a “no protest” zone. I use the Seattle events to consider what it means for the state to zone the expression of dissent in such a fashion. I extend and complicate Mitchell's notion of a “dialectic of public space” by outlining seven different perspectives from which one can view the protest-zoning state. This multiplicative nature of the state, I suggest, provides yet more reason to be skeptical of state efforts to confine dissent. Because the state is inherently a contested object, it must remain susceptible to robust discussion of its practices.

Our CrimethInc. cell is delighted to commemorate the seven-year anniversary of the historic Seattle WTO protests with the release of a new publication, N30: A Memoir and Analysis, with an Eye to the Future. This 64-page treatise draws on the perspectives of anarchist rioters and corporate think tanks alike, supplementing them with maps, forgotten archival material, and contemporary critique to present a coherent, comprehensive picture of what took place in Seattle and how that affected the course of history.

Standard PDF (1.1MB file)
(Screen quality)

For reading on your computer.

64 Page Half-Legal-size Pamphlet

Seattle

In den letzten Jahren hat die westliche Welt ein Revival des linken und anarchistischen Aktivismus erlebt. Dieser war gegen Freihandelsorganisationen und insbesondere gegen ihre Treffen gerichtet, so wie die der EU, der G8, der WTO und von IWF und Weltbank. Dies erscheint logisch, da diese Treffen der Führer der Welt von großer symbolischer Bedeutung für beide Seiten sind. Auf den ersten Blick sehen sie wie die ideale Gelegenheit aus, die etablierte Ordnung herauszufordern. Gelegentlich sind die Proteste beeindruckend. Die spektakuläre Blockade des WTO-Gipfels in Seattle hat bei vielen Leuten einen starken Eindruck gemacht. Aber ist die Euphorie völlig begründet?

In recent years the western world has witnessed a new revival of leftwing and anarchist activism. This activism has been directed at the free trade organisations and specifically at their gatherings, such as those of the European Union, the G8, the WTO and the IMF and the World Bank. This seems logical, given that these meetings of world leaders are of great symbolic importance to both sides. At first sight, they look like the perfect opportunity to call the established order into account. Occasionally, the protests are impressive. The spectacular blockade of the WTO summit in Seattle has made a great impression on a lot of people. But is the euphoria completely grounded?

(12-02) 04:00 PDT Seattle -- In police academy textbooks for years to come, Example A of how to botch the job of crowd control will probably be Seattle 1999.

The chaotic street protests and vandalism seemed to catch city authorities by surprise, leaving them helpless as huge demonstrations spun out of control Tuesday and continued on a smaller scale yesterday.

Seattle (1999)

The now infamous actions against the WTO in Seattle have taken on mythological status,
with very little actual information existing on what happened, and how. Most of the published
“information” about the actions has come from such “experts” as the editor for Spa magazine
(and no, Spa isn’t an acronym for anything…), NGO wonks, and lefty journalists. Although
there are a handful of excellent stories and articles by organizers and participants in the
direct actions, these have not received widespread attention or distribution, and for the most
part are somewhat narrow in scope. At the same time, liberals and organized labor – who
spent much of December, 1999 falling all over each other trying to disassociate themselves
from the “illegal actions” (yes, the ones which succeeded in shutting down the meetings)
have since decided that in fact, it was they who shut down the WTO meetings, presumably
with their mock tribunals, letter-writing campaigns, and impassioned speeches to the masses
from distant podiums….

Download unter www.daysofdissent.org.uk/seattle.htm