I'm glad you brought that up. Alex Jones did a documentary on that, and presented video evidence from local TV stations that showed most of the protestors were peaceful.
There were a few violent ones that were doing the damage. The peaceful protestors tried to get the police to stop them, but the cops just stood there doing nothing.
It was a classic case of using agent provaucotors (sp) as part of the Hegelian dialectic of problem-reaction-solution.
The desired "solution" in the Seattle case being 1) to use psyops against the American people to condition them to associate protestors against globalism/free trade with violence, and 2) to "lockdown" the city and make that SOP for future events that happen to draw a lot of protestors.
By and large, it worked. Fortunately, a few folks had video cameras and were able to get the truth out.
Did those people include the "truth" of who was behind these demonstrations? As I recall, International ANSWER and the World Workers Party were behind a majority of the protests in Seattle (and coincidentally, against the Republican Convention). I guess we should allow avowed Communists to do what they please. Because of course, in a Communist state, you would be able to protest all you want, as long as you were willing to be shot or jailed for life. Yes...communists in Seattle are a great example of free speech. Keep trying...
Am also a bit concerned about the endangerment of freedom of expression among both conservative and liberal denominations in this country, especially the apparent hatred toward people who dont agree with your views.
But anyway, I dont want to comment on anything in particular or "controversial", as apparently I've been told that unless I've something good to say, I shouldnt even express my opinions in this country, on account of being a worthless foreigner.