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To Serve and Protect: Terrorism at Home
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Stacey Larsen, W A M M
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Mass protests in the United States are not a new thing. The First Amendment gives us the right to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right of the people to assemble peaceably. But what happens when those who are supposed to uphold the law are the ones that break it? On November 20, 2003, in the city of Miami, Florida, the police used so much force against anti-FTAA protesters that the city resembled a police state. It seems that, in the name of stamping out “terrorism,” the police are given more power than ever.
Police violence at U.S. protests is not new. It has been happening for decades. From the 1903 “Mother Jones” labor protest, to the 1965 “Bloody Sunday” march for voting rights, to the 1999 World Trade Organization protest in Seattle, protesters have been victims of overzealous police. Still, the intensity of the Miami police shocked even the most experienced protester.
One of the main strategies the Miami police used was fear. Fear and force were used as a diversionary tool, in an effort to make protesters forget their purpose: to call attention to the fact that “free trade” has caused 27,000 Salvadorans to lose their jobs.
The police effort to inculcate fear started even before the protesters arrived. In the week leading up to the march, local media reported to Floridians that thousands of people were coming to blow up cars, wreck buildings, and violently disrupt their way of life. Each night, when this did not happen, the police claimed credit for keeping Miami safe. But the violence did not occur because it was never the intent of the protest. Protesters were there to draw attention to the unjust treatment of workers by large corporations.
Where was the media when the protesters were—as has been alleged by protesters and witnesses—getting beaten, tear-gassed, and sexually assaulted? Why was the only media coverage of police violence on the BBC?
The way the police handled the protesters is now called the “Miami Model,” and it is being taught to other police departments, especially in preparation for this summer’s political conventions. The police were heavily equipped with riot gear; some of them even carried shields that were electrified. Where did they find funding for all the new gear? From the federal government. Miami was given $8.5 million in the name of “homeland security.”
The Miami police used so much unprovoked force that Amnesty International is looking into UN laws the police may have broken with indiscriminate and inappropriate use of non-lethal weapons on nonviolent protesters. Jeff Jones, a local protester, witnessed police entering the medic tents and firing tear gas on the wounded protestors and medics, including people who were being treated for injuries caused by tazers, “rubber bullets” (metal bullets covered with a thin layer of rubber), and pepper spray. Even medical tents were not safe under the “Miami Model.”
In another incident, Jones reports walking with other protesters along a street when ten police cars blocked the protesters’ path. Jones says the police ran from their cars and started to beat the protesters for no apparent reason. There are also reports coming out of the jail cells of protesters being sexually assaulted and beaten during processing. Some also report the targeting of people of color and queer activists. A veteran protester told me that even though it was a very short protest, there was more force used by police than he had ever seen.
The Miami police used “psyops” tactics to cause fear and confusion. Protesters report the police changed the march route at the last minute, even though the marchers had a permit. When protesters were walking down the street, the police would move a barricade so their path was blocked and they had to find another route. Police would tell the protesters they had minutes to disperse and then surround the protesters, beating them or firing tear gas. One local protester told me that while walking down the street, he looked up and there was a helicopter right over his head. Tanks even rolled through the streets at night for this war at home.
Miami was a different kind of protest. It opened our eyes to the way protesters are being treated by the ones that are supposed to serve and protect. The National Lawyers Guild and the AFL-CIO are taking legal action against the city of Miami.
With all the excessive violence, it is important for protesters to remember why they were protesting in the first place. Thanks in part to the protests, the trade ministers did not get the trade deal they wanted. As the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Keep your eyes on the prize.” |
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Co$t of War
The City of Miami received $8.5 million in federal funds to police the anti-FTAA demonstrations in November, 2003. The money came from the $87 billion Iraq spending bill. Law enforcement officials from several cities were on hand to observe police action against protests in what Miami Mayor Manny Diaz called “a model for homeland security.”
For additional reports on the “Miami Model,” go to www.democracynow.org/static/miamimodel.shtml.
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© 2004 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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Complete February 2004 Index - click here
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