The Seattle Indy Media Center is a coalition of many independent media organizations and producers, offering live coverage of the WTO protests ignored by the corporate media.
It is time for Mayor Schell to acknoledge that many of his police officers and other law enforcement officers violated civil and criminal laws. It is also time for Police Chief Stamper to resign and for a grand jury investigation to be called.
An open letter to Mayor Paul Schell in respone to his email re: the protests.
this is insulting. you have the nerve to call this situation"fluid" and to boldly state that you are attempting to keep us informed-with what-certainly not the truth.
i am fed up with the condescending attempt to divert attention from the reality that your police department has violated major civil and criminal laws. these claims will be pursued until the resources have been depleted.
many of us were in the streets and saw first hand how these immature, rambo-style punks reacted to nonviolent citizens. the so-called violent protesters that your henchmen attacked may have broken a few windows of the multi-nationals, but in no way did any of them, let alone the many other law-abiding citizens, deserve this outrageous behavior.
your darth vader soldiers chased people down the streets like wild dogs and fired on people who had their hands in the air, were retreating or merely sitting on the ground. i hope you were weak and were merely following orders from our federal government.
many are shocked at what they saw. fewer of us already knew that this level of indiscriminate violence by our military has been going on in other countries by decades. now we got to see it first hand.
we are outraged and will no longer sit back and let you hide the truth. when the footage from the independent media center and other sources hit the court room there will be no opportunity to deflect the truth with one of your schell mail pieces or empty press conferences.
at least have the dignity to stop the condescending attitude. maybe i have missed it in the papers, but if you don\'t call for a grand jury investigation of your department in the next few days i am sure several of us will do so.
oh, by the way, when your arms are in the air thats supposed to be an international sign of surrender. your police continued to fire. i imagine the defense will be that they didn\'t understand and that they were in danger.
although you may not have been able to control these rabid animals, i would at least hope that you would have the decency to not perpetuate the lies and criminal behavior. i have sent you several emails over the past 6 months about the arrogance and immaturity of your police force. you have failed to take adequate steps and this is the result. i watched 70 of your psychotic officers treat a mentally disable citizen like a terrorist killer 2 years ago on the corner of 2nd and pike. they had several sharp shooters 30 feet from him during the entire 11 hour standoff. the dangerous weapon this poor soul had was a sword. don\'t blame us for the incompetency that permeates this relatively small number of men who believe they are above the law.
trust me, it will be a very interesting new few months.
ciao
-----Original Message-----
From: PaulSchell@MayorSchell.com [mailto:PaulSchell@MayorSchell.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 02, 1999 8:50 PM
To: Message from Paul Schell
Subject: Schell Mail #47 -- Where We Stand Now
As you know, the situation on Seattle\'s streets has been extremely fluid.
With the hope of keeping you informed, here is the latest information about
where the situation stands now.
We are still in a State of Civil Emergency. Simply put, this means that our
primary goal at this moment is to regain and maintain peace in our city.
I am reducing the boundaries of the limited curfew area in downtown Seattle
effective immediately. They will remain in effect until midnight Friday,
December 3. The boundaries are:
****Corner of Fourth Avenue and Pine Street
****South on Fourth to Seneca
****East on Seneca to the I-5 freeway
****North along I-5 to Boren Avenue
****North on Boren to Pine Street
****West on Pine Street to, and concluding at, Fourth and Pine
This has been and continues to be a city that holds the right to free speech
in very high regard. However, with the situation on our streets as volatile
as it has been, we need everyone to understand what it means to participate
in a peaceful, lawful form of protest.
****People must take personal responsibility and use their best judgment.
If you decide to participate in a protest, be prepared to cooperate with law
enforcement officials.
****Avoid aggressive confrontation with police and other enforcement
personnel.
****Comply with all curfew zones, police lines and other measures designed
to restore peace.
****If asked to disperse, comply immediately.
If protesters take this approach, and work with the police, the police will
work with them. From the way protesters have been behaving in recent hours,
it seems that this message is beginning to take hold.
I am also asking everyone - community leaders, the media, visitors and
residents - to please help get this message out as a first critical step in
restoring peace on our streets.
During the day, I met with leaders from labor, the faith-based community
environmentalists, the Direct Action Network, the Capitol Hill community,
and downtown business and residential communities to work on joining
together to help regain our city\'s true, peaceful spirit. I will continue
to work with these and other leaders to find ways to come back together as a
community and to begin the healing process for our city.
What should people expect for this evening?
****Enforcement personnel will be on the streets and working to make sure
this happens. They will be enforcing the curfew zone, asking groups to
disperse, and taking other actions with the aim of restoring peace.
****During this time citizens need to remain flexible and be willing to
adjust their plans.
****All citizens are called upon to be part of the solution, not the
problem.
How should people act?
****Be mindful of a potential for impromptu gatherings.
****Comply with enforcement personnel.
We are a strong and vibrant city. We have suffered some very deep bruises
over the past few days, but I know that we will recover, regain our sense of
balance, and enjoy our coming holidays perhaps with a heightened
appreciation for the resilient vitality of our community.
*****
For updates on ongoing events (press releases, changes in curfew status,
etc.) please visit the city\'s WTO website: www.cityofseattle.net/wto. You
can also receive updated information by calling 615-1333.
If you have questions about transit, call Metro at 553-3000 or go to their
website at http://transit.metrokc.gov
more later...paul