THE BREAKDOWN
Wednesday, December 1
KATE JONCAS
Downtown Seattle Association
We got back Wednesday and were completely overwhelmed. Hundreds of windows were broken and almost every surface downtown was covered in graffiti, including the bricks in the plaza at Westlake. We were concerned because we had a hundred-year-old historic carousel there. We put the tarp over it, and every square inch of the tarp got covered in graffiti.
We had hundreds and hundreds of people who wanted to help, from Mormon church groups to individual residents. Contractors were constantly showing up at Westlake when they could get in with pickup trucks full of plywood saying, Does anybody need it?
FOUR WATERS
Earth First!
Only the people in the black bloc destroyed property. Their numbers were fairly small, probably 30 in the entire process. Percentage-wise, that’s infinitesimal. But there was a lot of internal dialogue at our morning meetings about what to do with them.
The first three days we felt like the media was just beating us up. People were being injured in jail—one woman had had her hands cuffed behind her back and her face pushed into the concrete. And we were having a very difficult time getting the media interested. The issues weren’t being discussed. The focus was on the black bloc.
JOHN SELLERS
Ruckus Society
The black bloc are young kids, probably from upper-middle-class suburban backgrounds, who come into cities and hijack People Power–type protests, and endanger people in the process. The Eugene anarchists, the Brickthrowers Local 666 or whatever their cool nom de guerre is, they really hated Ruckus. They thought we were total sellouts commodifying activism and revolutionary thought, just reformist, weak-kneed little nonviolent posers. And that real revolution starts when you destroy corporate property, make a big mess, and no one under-stands what the hell you’re talking about.
I think the black bloc wanted to be scary. It’s almost like pornography—you don’t have a hard and fast definition. But if you look scary, you sound scary, and you endanger regular people with your actions, there’s a good chance you’re being violent.
BRIAN DERDOWSKI
King County Council
I had conversations with a lot of the anarchists, and I could have left my wallet in the room and it would still be there the next day. I certainly didn’t agree with their approach, but they were dealing from a point of conviction.
At one point I was with a friend walking down the street and saw six or seven people were getting pretty agitated, middle of the night, probably the second day. I heard a window break, and before you knew it a few people were marauding through Starbucks downtown, turning things over. Then they left the store. I saw one young guy with a pound of coffee in his hand and I said, You know, you don’t need that coffee. All it does is discredit what you’re trying to do. He said, “You know something, man? You’re right.” And he dropped that coffee on the spot.
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Published: November 2009
Lots of insight in this entertaining story. Good job Eric and team!
You captured the inside story better than most other story I’ve seen. Pretty good ten years after the fact!
Maybe readers will be moved to learn more about how corporate dominated globalism is negatively affecting all of our lives. The corporate dominated WTO is still promoting its agenda of profits over people. These policies are largely responsible for the current global economic crisis that is still unfolding.
Fortunately, a growing world-wide grassroots movement is still at work promoting sustainable economics, democracy, and justice. That movement expressed itself in Seattle ten years ago, however imperfectly. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we are all in debt to a relatively small group of people who worked together to change the trajectory of history.
Great work, thanks.
600 people were arrested and jailed during WTO; how many were convicted?
zbz
“we are all in debt to a relatively small group of people”
yes, yes you are — to the same globalist financiers who funded the protestors through foundations only so they could be hung out to dry afterwards as the globalization juggernaut became further insulated. See Soros, George: Open Society.
Good reporting!
I was in the streets that entire week, and the only violence I personally witnessed was from the police. I encourage everyone who cares about what really happened in Seattle that week to read David and Rebecca Solnit’s book which is just days from being released: “The Battle of the Story of the Battle of Seattle”. David was one of many early visionaries in making this event such a huge success.
I’m also thrilled that the ex-police-chief ended up working for the reform of marijuana laws. The existing laws are a disgrace in this so-called democratic society.
Thanks again, Eric Scigliano!
I was in the streets that entire week, and the only violence I personally witnessed was from the police. I encourage everyone who cares about what really happened in Seattle that week to read David and Rebecca Solnit’s book which is just days from being released: “The Battle of the Story of the Battle of Seattle”. David was one of many early visionaries in making this event such a huge success.
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Got some great information here. I think that if more people thought about it that way, theyd have a better time understanding the issue. Your view is definitely something Id like to see more of. Thanks for this blog. Its fantastic and so is what youve got to say.You make a great point.
More than 20 years and we are in the same point, maybe worst in term of unequality of tradings between reach & poors. The crisis haven’t changed the rules…
I’ve seen. Pretty good ten years after the fact!