Posted on 11/20/2003 10:10:58 AM PST by finnman69
It's like the 'stereotypical gunowner'.
Most protestors have been peaceful and well-behaved.
The exception is the self-identified anarchist group. The 'anarchists' have no clue what they are protesting, but they have home-made weapons and love to provoke and attack the cops.
Downtown Miami has been shut down since last Saturday; there are many more cops than demonstrators in the streets near the convention hotels.
There will be no Seatle-type riots in Miami. The typical Miami macho cops have shown incredible restraint and professionalism.
Kudos to Miami Chief of Police.
The local news shows have been running interviews with the protestors, and you won't believe the BS these protestors are spewing.
My favorite response comes from the anarchists. When asked what they are protesting, one anarchist said "Duh!" and laughed like a person high on pot. Another anarchist answered the same question with a very insightful response, "Uhh, that's b-a-d!"
My second favorite response came from a union teacher who claimed that the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas will threaten her job, because the school system will be privatized.
Free speech in a public venue, such as the streets is constitutionally protected.
Gee, that really looks like the exercising of 'free speech'.
America's middle class will be forced to sink to the lowest common denominator of 3rd world pissholes with respect to wages, hours and working conditions as corporations are forced to offshore in order to remain competetive.
These meetings will determine the trade laws, and through them, employment laws in this country and they aren't open to the public, or public scrutiny in any way shape or form.
Among rules being debated is one that allows foreign companies to sue the US if any of our laws infringe upon their profits. This is an intolerable infringement upon our sovereignty.
Yes, the protesters are stupid looking and many of them are leftists and even disruptors. I don't care - this trade agreement is a sellout of the US.
There have been little infringement on the free speech of marchers and protestors. As a matter of fact, the police and business owners have gone out of their way to allow free speech in Miami.
When the anarchists threatened publicly to break windows and destroy business properties, the local business owners closed their shops and businesses in downtown Miami, boarded up their glass doors and windows, and let the protestors have the streets since last Saturday.
The anarchists have publicly taunted the police with threats of violence, some violent demonstrators have broken into for-sale houses to set up training camps and drug parties, and several protestors have been caught with dangerous illegal weapons.
Nevertheless, the cops have not overreacted. They have continued to protect these punks from themselves.
I expect the officers to act like thuggish slobs at all times, regardless of whether one is breaking the law or not.
Thank you for your opinion about the agreement; IMHO, the way to improve the agreement does not involve throwing feces to the local cops and using chains to beat up cops.
Of course, destroying property while cooking drugs is not a very effective way to convince me to accept any of the anti-free-trade tirades.
As the demonstrators gathered in greater numbers on Thursday, the police began aggressively declaring the demonstration an "unlawful assembly" and assaulting the participants with physical attack, including hitting them with batons and bicycles, with chemical weapons, including what seemed to be tear gas, pepper spray, and an unknown chemical, as well as tazer (electric devices that cause pain and unconsciousness) and rubber bullet attacks. At 14th and 2nd St., police "ran over a cyclist" according to reports from demonstrators.
Demonstrators challenged commercial media reports that they were attacking police officers. One woman struck over the head by the police was insistent that "this was a peaceful demonstration" as she was taken away by medics.
There were many reports of police intimidation, including a report that some demonstrators were followed by men (apparently police officers) dressed as protestors (including an anti-FTAA t-shirt) who carried a 9mm pistol on his lap and told the demonstrators "you don't want to ____ with us."
The police blocked streets, denying the movement of the early morning march as well as blocking union vans attempting to join the AFL-CIO march later in the day. Throughout the day, the police have herded demonstrators into contained areas on the streets, where they then proceeded to demand the demonstrators disperse, as well as fire tear gas, water cannons, and physically attack protesters with batons. There are reports of up to 185 buses that have been stopped enroute to Miami, or right outside of Miami, on their way to peaceably march against the FTAA. While the AFL-CIO has invited other demonstrators to join their march, the police are demanding identification at times to enter the amphitheater where they are assembling and speaking."
Look, I don't personally care for these protesters either, but the right to protest must be preserved. We're going to need it!
Agreed. The disruptive portion of protesters gives their own cause a bad name and distracts from the real issue, and gives police a convenient excuse to deny free assembly to law-abiding (even though weird looking) protesters.
They're just too young and stupid to know it.
I live in South Florida, I go to downtown Miami for business at least once a week, and I have plenty of friends and business associates who live near downtown.
I have kept abreast of the local developments, and my friends contradict your "Indymedia" sources. Eyewitness accounts and video tapes have shown the demonstrators attacking the cops, and the cops acting only defensively.
I don't expect to get an unbiased opinion from Indymedia anymore than I expect to get one from CNN. I want to hear everyone's side of the story and decide for myself. If you have eye-witness accounts, by all means post them.
This is the beauty of the internet - unfiltered news.
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