: : This just in: at the WTO Summit in Seattle, protesters chained themselves together and lay down in the road to disrupt the meetings. Illegal? Yes. Violent? No. So how did the police respond? They bombarded them with red pepper tear gas. Now maybe things will turn even more violent. Lesson: expect to be assaulted when you stand between big business and their profits.: I go to the University of Washington, in Seattle. It's not quite as bad as you make it out, in fact for most of the day things were pretty bland. This morning there was a disturbance in front of the Paramount where the opening ceremony was supposed to take place. Also a civil emergency was just declared so the police are getting a bit rougher. All around though the authorities aren't as rough as I thought they would be. The protestors did succeed in delaying the ceremony, but today is nothing compared to tomorrow when Pres. Clinton arrives. The shit will definitely hit the fan. My only complaint is that the demonstrators insist upon being totally non-violent (well most of them), which of course doesn't get anything done. Anyway, I'm watching on the news right now (6:30pm PST) and looks like the police are tightening up a bit, I'll keep you posted.
Unless it's in response to immediate violence, non-violence is the only viable tactic for demonstrations. Do you know what happens when demonstrators turn violent? 1) They get their asses kicked by superior police forces, and worse, 2) They lose the support of mainstream society, and rightfully so.
