forward by bayou at blarg.net From: Mike Fekula <fmtico3 at latino.com> Subject: POLICE RAID AND SHUT DOWN RALLY HEADQUARTERS!! Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 10:28:20 -0700 Reply-To: Content-Type; text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
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Published 9:50 AM Saturday, April 15, 2000 by AP Protesters' Headquarters Raided, Shut Down By Alice Ann Love
WASHINGTON –– Police raided and closed down the headquarters of world finance protesters today after fire officials declared the old warehouse building unsafe. The demonstrators, who used the warehouse for training and making demonstration materials, said the officers ordered the "convergence center" evacuated.
"We're simply concerned about their safety, and we want to make sure there are no fire hazards," District of Columbia Police Chief Charles Ramsey said.
Ramsey said police will be "as gentle or forceful as we need to be with the demonstrators. ... But at the same time, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have a constitutional right to meet."
"We probably saved their lives," Ramsey said, when asked why fire officials ordered protesters to vacate the building set up as demonstration headquarters.
Ramsey, who has gone onto the streets in recent days to mingle with protesters, was shown on television videotape talking with a demonstrator who asked if police would use tear gas against unruly crowds.
"We could light this town up if we had to, but we don't intend to do that," Ramsey said.
Patrick Reinsborough of San Francisco, who was in the warehouse, said two police officers and two fire officials came to center unannounced and began inspecting the facility.
Several of the protesters demanded a search warrant, but the fire officials said they didn't need one for a fire inspection
"The police said they found things that were a fire hazard," Reinsborough said. "As soon as they claimed they found a fire hazard, a large number of police were in the area. They demanded the space be evacuated."
Late Friday, police raided a house where they found a large supply of tools and equipment that protesters apparently planned to use to thwart police efforts to break up human blockades. It was the second time this week that officers seized equipment.
Police arrested three people and confiscated hollow plastic tubes called "sleeping dragons," along with chains, chicken wire and gas masks.
"We're very pleased that we're taking these instruments of crime off the street, and this will make the weekend much safer," said executive assistant chief Terry Gainer.
Shortly before police moved into the headquarters this morning, about 20 demonstrators from 10 countries appeared at the home of World Bank President James Wolfensohn and handed him a letter protesting the institution's lending policies.
Wolfensohn, on his way to work, listened quietly as Dr. Vineeta Gupta, an Indian physician, read part of the letter. The demonstrators sang quietly in the street, drawing a squad of motorcycle officers, and held signs saying, "Wake up Wolfensohn" and "Wake Up World Bank."
There were no arrests.
"Good morning. Well, thank you very much. You got up very early," Wolfensohn said he told the group before he got into his chauffeur- driven car.
The letter demanded an international boycott of the bonds that are the main funding source for the World Bank. "We call on governments of all member nations of the World Bank to cease further funding ... until all destructive World Bank lending has ended and the World Bank has canceled all debts owed to it by Third World countries," the letter said.
Thousands of demonstrators have vowed to disrupt Sunday and Monday's spring meetings of the World Bank and its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund. Washington police are ready and waiting, but demonstrators say they may yet pull a surprise with creative tactics that will succeed in disrupting the sessions.
"I've been completely amazed by the creativity by my colleagues," said Njoki Njehu, an organizer with the coalition sponsoring the protests, the Mobilization for Global Justice. "The message is getting out and that is already a victory."
Protesters raised a stink outside the World Bank on Friday by dumping cow manure on Pennsylvania Avenue.
A truck festooned with signs saying "World Bank: Meat Stinks," deposited the manure on the avenue known as "America's Main Street," upwind of the White House. Two protesters were arrested.
The city's Department of Public Works carted away the pile in a city vehicle escorted by a police van with siren blaring and lights flashing.
Later in the day, police completely, though respectfully, surrounded a small knot of demonstrators gathered in front of the Mexican Embassy, across the street from World Bank and IMF buildings.
The mostly young and almost silent crowd, protesting treatment of indigenous Mexicans, was led by an older man looking the part of a grizzled veteran activist, with a red bandanna tied around his head and beating a drum.
Although the rest of the neighborhood remained quiet, several businesses prepared to board up windows as workers left for the weekend, including a Citibank branch in a corner suite with floor-to- ceiling glass.
The protesters plan to disrupt Sunday and Monday's spring meetings at the World Bank and the IMF, but most have pledged not to be violent. Still, some downtown offices closed Friday in anticipation of trouble.
Police also closed more and more roadways in advance of mass gatherings. Streets swarmed with officers wearing dark uniforms.
Others in riot helmets and visors were scattered across the White House lawn. They spent much of their day watching tourists who unknowingly scheduled trips to Washington at a time of potentially massive protests.
The World Bank and IMF were given temporary diplomatic status, allowing the Secret Service to assist the 3,500-member Metropolitan Police Department, which has placed officers on 12-hour shifts. The U.S. Park Police also had a full complement of officers protecting federal parkland, including the Ellipse behind the White House, where a major demonstration is planned Sunday.
An array of organizations hold the World Bank and IMF responsible for destroying rain forests, allowing factory sweatshops and holding down social spending by poor nations saddled with large foreign debts.
"We like to liken the IMF to ... a medieval doctor who only has one cure, which is to put a leech on the country and drain it," said John Cavanagh, director of the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington think tank.
The driver and passenger in the manure truck were from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which is protesting World Bank agricultural policies. One was charged with crossing a police line, the other with illegal dumping.
© Copyright 2000 The Associated Press
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