Authorities in Seattle cracked down indiscriminately on WTO protesters Wednesday, as the arrests of hundreds of demonstrators brought the two-day arrest total to more than 500. In contrast to Tuesday, when police claimed they arrested only persons destroying property, the Observer received numerous reports of peaceful demonstrators who were taken into custody or even ambushed by police without warning or provocation.

In late afternoon, police said they had arrested at least 450 people Wednesday and predicted the arrests of hundreds more Wednesday night. Police said 68 people were arrested Tuesday, when a small gang of lawbreakers -- most of whom had no connection to the WTO protests -- took advantage of the non-violent demonstrations by 50,000 protesters to go on a rampage of vandalism and looting. In the aftermath of what authorities labeled a "riot," Mayor Paul Schell and Gov. Gary Locke called in the National Guard, some of whom patrolled the streets in police uniforms or plainclothes.

Those arrested for no apparent reason included Victor Menotti of the International Forum on Globalization, organizers of the anti-WTO teach-ins last weekend. Menotti, who is a credentialed observer of the WTO meeting, had just left one of the plenary sessions inside the convention center, and had stopped to give an impromptu report to other activists outside.

Witnesses said that as Menotti spoke, police broke through the surrounding circle of people, seized and arrested him. They reportedly said they had identified him as one of the "ringleaders" of Tuesday’s melee -- an absurd claim, as IFG’s campaign against the WTO has been conducted with serious, reasoned analysis and debate.

Also singled out as a "ringleader" was John Sellers of the Ruckus Society, a group that trains activists in the skills of peaceful civil disobedience in the tradition of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mohandis Gandhi. Sellers, who was among the activists who helped hang a large protest banner north of downtown on Monday, reported that he was attacked and beaten by police on the street Wednesday, although he was not arrested.

Wednesday’s demonstrations and the sometimes brutal police response began early. At 7 a.m., a group of about 200 protesters from groups including the Direct Action Network and Rainforest Action Network marched from Denny Park, north of downtown, toward the convention center where WTO delegates were meeting. At Fourth and Pine, the group was met by police in riot gear, who forced them to the sidewalk in front of Westlake Plaza.

As the group stood singing patriotic songs -- "America the Beautiful," "My Country, ‘Tis of Thee" -- the police gave an order to disperse, and directed those who did not want to be arrested to line up against a wall. Protesters who had planned to be arrested sat on the sidewalk, and according to Kelly Quirke of Rainforest Action Network, were dragged "rather forcibly" away. Then, without warning, the officers surrounded those standing against the wall and arrested them.

"We had no intention of being arrested," said Quirke. "The police lied."

About 70 people in all were arrested at the scene and charged with failure to disperse. They were loaded onto city buses and taken to Sand Point, a former military base converted to a holding facility. Legal observers were on hand to document the arrests, but according to witnesses, police seized their notes.

According to RAN spokesman Mark Westlund, at Sand Point the arrestees were cuffed hand and foot and shackled together with chains. Even after they were inside the facility, he said, some of were sprayed with pepper gas directly into their eyes. The arrestees were being processed by authorities Wednesday night, and it was unclear how many, if any, would spend the night in custody.

Westlund also reported that three RAN staff members, Shannon Wright, Mike Brune and Jeremy Pastor, were walking legally on a downtown street Wednesday when they were suddenly tackled from behind by plainclothes officers and arrested for alleged failure to disperse.

In response, RAN’s president, Randy Hayes, issued an open letter to President Clinton, who arrived in Seattle early Wednesday and addressed the WTO at a noon luncheon. Hayes said that just as those who marched in the streets of Seattle had taken the only means available to make their voices heard, he was issuing a plea for Clinton to realize that the protests were evidence that an open debate is needed on the future of the WTO.

"We are proud of the 50,000-plus Americans and others around the world who mobilized on Tuesday to shut down the opening day of the WTO," Hayes said. "They were acting on their responsibility as citizens to debate not only the damage the WTO is doing to the causes of democracy, human rights and environmental sustainability, but the underlying assumption that corporate profits and economic expansion are the answers to the world’s problems.

"In the wake of the public uprisings in Seattle and elsewhere, history is handing you an enormous opportunity. Mr. President, put your legacy on the line and join us in calling for a debate that will demonstrate that we still live in a free and democratic society."

Bill Walker

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