WTO Days 7 & On: Let the Lawsuits and Resignations Begin!
(MONDAY 12/6 - 12/9)
MONDAY (12/6)
Today the Seattle City Council voted 6-3 to support Mayor Schell's "state of emergency" declaration from Tuesday night. Nick Licata, Richard Conlin and Peter Steinbrueck vote against supporting the Mayor. One Councilwoman states, had they not gone along with the decision, the City would have to drop all charges against those arrested. The Council unanimously resents being put in the position of voting on the "state of emergency" after the fact and would have preferred to be in on the decision from the start.
Nearly all of the arrested protestors are out of jail today. The only individuals still in jail for WTO-related incarcerations are those arrested for felonies and those who have prior police records.
TUESDAY (12/7)
Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper announced his retirement today. Effective in March, he will no longer be at the helm. Much speculation is underway in the media as to exactly why he chose to announce his decision now. Stamper says he had planned to retire in January and decided to announce it one month early.
WEDNESDAY (12/8)
Eight of the nine Seattle City Council members sat through seven hours of testimony from local citizens who were negatively affected by the police rampage of Tuesday and Wednesday last week. Account after account was made about the Seattle Police Department's use excessive force, over use of dangerous chemicals (some not intended for civilian use!), and inability to tell the difference between a protestor and a local citizen.
Many people showed up for the hearings and the room soon filled to overflowing. Hundreds more people lined up outside in the rain hoping to get a chance to speak. The council hastily scheduled a second testimony meeting for next Tuesday at a Seattle Center location yet to be determined. In the meantime, the City Council had PA speakers set up outside so those lined up could keep up with what was happening inside.
Three Council members left the proceedings before they were finished.
THURSDAY (12/9)
At a press conference today, Seattle PD's second in command, Assistant Chief Ed Joiner, sharply contradicted yesterday's testimony from hundreds of citizens. He said the people gathered on Capitol Hill on Wednesday (12/1) were an unruly mob that threatened the safety of police officers, going so far as to insinuate certain members of the mob were throwing "molotov cocktails" (home made incendiary bombs for those who don't know...).
Excuse me? Mr. Joiner, there were TV cameras and reporters EVERYWHERE during these protests. They were looking for violent, sensational moving pictures with which to titilate their viewers... Don't you think if there had been even one "molotov cocktail" thrown at a police officer, that we would have seen this image on our TV news? or on the front page of our newspapers? I have no doubt we would all be familiar with the imagery if such acts had occured.
When asked by a reporter if the Seattle Police had "molotov cocktails" in evidence, Joiner twice dodged the question. I suspect the Assistant Chief is either misinformed or is deliberately misleading the public in an effort to make the 36 hour rampage by Seattle Police seem somehow necessary.
