This is stuff culled from the net about what's going down in D. C. : i apologize for the length, but please read. We need to show any support we can for the people being assaulted in our own nation's capital for daringto stand up to the greedheads that are sacrificing everyone for their self interests. Article I (1791) Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. - 600 Artists Detained in Mass Unconstitutional Arrests - Permit for a Parade denies citizens the First Amendment Privilege of Peaceful Assembly and Protest The ordinance which requires a permit for a parade denies citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest. (See MLK) From the HIGHLY biased msnbc.com excuse for a news source: http://www.msnbc.com/news/394623.asp Police Chief Charles Ramsey said about 600 people were arrested and would be charged with "parading without a permit and refusal to disperse, among other things." Some might also be charged with blocking traffic, he added. Ramsey said it would take several hours just to get the protesters loaded, transported and processed at two locations in the city. How long they remain in custody would depend, in part, on how cooperative they are, he said. Those who provide identification will be fine $50, Ramsey said. Those who don't will be fined $300. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Mobilization Media Desk APRIL 16, 2000, 9:15AM 202/789-5419, or 202/789-1684 MASS PROTESTS AGAINST WORLD BANK AND I.M.F. KICKS OFF WITH EARLY MORNING BLOCKADES AND NON-VIOLENT CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE __________________________________________________________ EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE DAY FOCUS ON HARM CAUSED BY UNACCOUNTABLE INSTITUTION WASHINGTON, DC, -- Thousands of peaceful protesters have taken to the streets, blockading key intersections in the vicinity of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund as the opening day of the joint annual meetings of these institutions gets underway. Police on motorcycles and on foot are out in force - many of whom are in riot gear. Thus far, there have been no initial reports of arrests and protesters are honoring their commitment to nonviolence. However, police have already been viewed using clubs and pepper spray to disperse people.. Rev. Douglas Hunt of the organization Witness for Peace, was among protesters who blocked a bus carrying delegates to the meeting on 17th St, by sitting down on the ground in front the bus. According to Rev. Hunt, one of the police escorts told the bus driver, "Back up over them if you have to." "Today we are sending a loud and clear message to these unaccountable institutions that we hold them responsible for devastating the lives of poor people around the world in the name of globalization," said Chloe Frommer of the Mobilization for Global Justice. "We stand in solidarity with millions of people in the developing world who are demanding to take control of their lives out of the hands of the World Bank and IMF, and the powerful corporations that are calling the shots." http://www.cybertraveler.org/wto_pathology.html Video of Woman getting beaten by freedom-loving DC Police state http://www.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=429 http://www.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=417 D.C. Police brutality on Swedish TV news by Martin Frid 12:12pm Sun Apr 16 '00 info@konsumentsamverkan.se The Washington D.C. police brutality was shown here on Swedish national TV news at 6:00 PM Sunday April 16, 2000. The police in riot gear was attacking peaceful demonstrators with sticks held in both hands in front of them. Also shown was tear gas attacks against crowds. The coverage of motorcycle police accelerating against demonstrators already lying on the street to intimaidate them was also very disturbing. We are very glad that you people in the U.S. are putting out this independent coverage on the WWW. However, do not assume that all media in the world is run by corporate interests yet. In many countries inEurope you can still find out what is going on and get both sides of the story. http://www.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=41 cops admit to cancer agent in tear gas by si mitchell 10:58am Wed Apr 12 '00 antidote11@angelfire.com seattle PD used a known cell mutating, coma causing, carcinogen as a solvent for their cn gas used against peaceful protesters in seattle The police force responsible for containing demonstrations against the World Trade Organisation Ministerial conference in November has admitted to using a cancer causing chemical against peaceful protesters. Seattle Police Department ‘Material Safety Data Sheets', recently obtained by the Washington Toxins Coalition under the US Public Disclosure Act, reported that the tear gas and pepper spray irritants, used during the week of November 28 1999, were mixed half and half with the solvent methylene chloride. Methylene chloride, used industrially in paint stripper, is classified as a Category 1 carcinogen by the UK Health and Safety Commission. The American National Library of Medicine's Toxnet website lists symptons of exposure to the chemical as: "Lethargy, mental confusion, headache, tingling of the limbs, acoustical and optical delusions, liver and kidney damage, increase risk of spontaneous abortion, coma and death." Russell Sparks, a student from Bellingham, Washington who was tear gassed on December 1 said: " I felt like I was on fire. A middle aged man near me passed out, eyes open, shaking, dry heaving, twitching at the shoulders. I tried to help but my eyes were burning." Article 2 of the Chemical Weapons Convention specifically excludes chemicals used in domestic situations. It is legal for governments to chemically quell riots as they see fit. A Seattle Police spokesman said that aside from their handguns, "all the weapons carried by the police are non lethal". Further comment has been suspended until completion of an internal review of the week's operations. Leon Eski who travelled from Sussex to oppose the WTO, said: "I was gassed and sprayed at least four times totally unprovoked. After I gothome I was short of breath for a week or more, experienced pains in my kidneys and developed mouth ulcers." Dr Ray Jones, an Open University toxicologist, said: "Methylene chloride will go through the skin quickly and into the blood stream. It is very soluble in fat. Many carcinogens don't take effect for ten, twenty or thirty years, by which time it would be impossible to trace the cause." Jones added that the body would metabolise the chemical into formaldehyde – an even more toxic category 3 carcinogen. "Spraying methylene chloride onto someone is very irresponsible," he said. Def-Tec, the Wyoming based company, that produced many of the chemical weapons used in Seattle denied its products had any safety problems. The SPD received serious criticism over its handling of the protests. Residents of the city's Capitol Hill district complained of gas choking them in their homes. One woman was reported to have miscarried her baby, and SPD Chief Norm Stamper resigned.

So i guess whenever the KKK wants to parade peaceably without a permit, we'll have to let them. The carcinogenic tear gas thing isn't cool, though.

Just don't fight the WTO or the IMF or you will get your skull dented nevermind permits.

i am just pissed "Alien" Gonzalez is getting all of the coverage. this is important stuff. the same group of protesters are coming to LA for th Dem Natl Convention in August......count me in.

i am just pissed "Alien" Gonzalez is getting all of the coverage. this is important stuff. the same group of protesters are coming to LA for th Dem Natl Convention in August......count me in. Sem, thats interesting stuff, but it looks they are emails, the source is cloudy on that last bit about the gas. I would like the verify the source of that information...and ask why the major press hasn't latched on to that story, if ther is any validity to it.

hmmmmm. who owns major media? the same fuckers who paid for that gas!