Interesting People mailing list archives
IP: Another Side to the Battle of Seattle
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Wed, 08 Dec 1999 12:38:49 -0500
As I have said repeatedly I want to show all sides. Here is another that I can sympathize with djf
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 1999 09:28:14 -0800 From: Mark Boolootian <booloo () cats ucsc edu> To: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu> Subject: Another Side to the Battle of SeattleFrom: Peter Langston <psl () langston com>Date: Tue, 7 Dec 99 19:55:24 -0800 To: Fun_People () langston com Subject: Another Side to the Battle of Seattle X-Lib-of-Cong-ISSN: 1098-7649 -=[ Fun_People ]=- X-http://www.langston.com/psl-bin/Fun_People.cgi Forwarded-by: Bruce Kallick <curmudgeon () enteract com> [Peter -- There're two sides to most stories, right? This message from a member of the Seattle Police Department was forwarded today by her friend's sister to a mailing list I subscribe to. -- Bruce] ^^^^^^^^^ forwarded message begins ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I hope everyone remembers that the media does not show everything that happens before the so called "police brutality" occurs. At almost every demonstration downtown, officers had bottles, rocks and words thrown at them. We were called everything from Nazi to Bitch to stupid. The officers that I had the honor to work with used restraint and acted on orders from supervisors and command staff. This is the United States and freedom of speech is one of the most important rights that we have. In what other country could what occurred in the last week not result in serious injury or death? I read in the newspaper today that Brazil had a labor rally and one protester died and several others were injured. However, I believe in freedom of speech for everyone. The protesters seemed to believe that they were the only ones entitled to that right. Delegates and trade representatives were not given that same right. What is ironic is that several of the delegates I talked with were very pro-environment and were there to discuss the rights of their workers. African delegates from small nations were especially disappointed because this was a forum where they could actually talk with the big industrialized nations one on one. Additionally, business and property owners downtown have the right to conduct business and not have their property destroyed. The workers and citizens of downtown Seattle should be able to walk around, drive their vehicles and not be assaulted. I was embarrassed that international delegates were getting assaulted going from their hotel to convention center. Are the protesters advocating beating up people that don't agree with them??? (This was not the anarchists! On Tuesday, the delegates were being shoved and pushed by the protesters outside of the Paramount, CC and the Sheridan.) Seattle has consistently bent over backwards to support freedom of speech. I was very disappointed in the way we were reciprocated. Can you imagine what would have happened in LA, Chicago or New York?? Do you know what the worst thing was? On Tuesday and Wednesday night, my shift at the convention center ended at 1830 (6:30 pm) and we were then assigned downtown to enforce the curfew. I HATED the protesters for forcing us, out of necessity, to become a police state. We had to march down the streets asking American citizens "Where are you going? Do you have identification proving you live down here? There is a curfew you must return home." That is not RIGHT, but it was necessary, especially Tuesday night. One last thing, the claim that protesters did not have a say in WTO is false. Several environment groups, labor groups, and human rights groups were represented in the conference. In fact, in the convention center today, there was a big meeting with Greenpeace and a human rights advocate was passing out condoms saying anti-WTO slogans. Oh, the above view is not an official view of the Seattle Police Department. This is my own opinion and my freedom of speech!! ^^^^^^^^^ forwarded message ends ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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- IP: Another Side to the Battle of Seattle Dave Farber (Dec 08)