Date: Fri, 03 Dec 1999 01:45:34 -0800
From: Joshua Houk <jlhouk-AT-mindspring.com>
Subject: Seattle too cold, everyone goes home


Thursday has been, well, different. Could be 'cause the cops are swiftly
running out of gas and pepper spray. They've put a rush order out to
their supplier.

The surrounding of the jail was the city's crown jewel today. I was at
work when the marchers started rolling down the street - everyone peered
out the windows on our very, very high floor. Our office building was
put under lockdown, and very shortly thereafter was evacuated. Good
excuse as any to get down there. Hung around for a couple of hours, then
decided my evening would be better spent resting up.

So I get home, and no sooner than I do does something get started in
Capitol Hill. I joined a fairly small group (mebbe 200, but I'm a bad
guesser) took to the sidewalks of the Broadway strip and made a loop,
returning back to the SCCC. Apparently the march had organizers, since
people were now gathered around a group of people passing a megaphone.
Nothing too offensive was said, despite the head guy sporting a Che
t-shirt.

Soon, a very large group of about 1000 people came up from the King
County Jail and gathered around the park. More bullhorning, and some IWW
folks had unfurled a nice banner right behind me. Those Wobs had my
sides splitting. Here's one retort:

Guy w/ megaphone speaking to crowd: "Don't you remember this morning
when you were feeling so dispirited?"

The two Wobs: "NO!"

Very cool. They had snappy comebacks to everything they disagreed with.

After a bit, we starting going down Broadway again - same route as
before, with the exception that we took the streets at this point. Very
nice 'n' festive, with the only police presence being the ever-present
helicopter. Businesses locked down, since they wimped out. We headed to
the corner with the QFC, where everything stalled. No consensus on where
to go. Some suggested reversing direction, some wanted to go to the
University District, some wanted the interstate, some promptly sat down
to have a party.

Ended up we took a right, and then an immediate left ending up back on
Broadway. More angst, but soon we were headed off north on Broadway to
the U-District passing people peering through the curtains of the homes.
After a minute, someone realized that the tail end was going *south*
back to the SCCC. Everyone in the front stood for a minute, then
followed suit.

Back at Broadway and Pine, the crowd was again plagued with uncertainty.
Stay at the campus (the "organizers'" choice)? Go south? Go north? East
was too dodgy since that led to Seattle's East Precinct, and last
night's standoff was too fresh in everyone's minds. Someone shouted
"downtown", and I liked the sound of that. Only 300 or so shared the
same aesthetics.

We got to Melrose Ave. with nary a cop in sight - only when we crossed
did we see a solitary police car facing us on the other side of Boren
Ave. -- the "No Protest Zone". Anyone entering the zone is subject to
immediate arrest. It's where you seperate the salmon from the lutefisk.
We wanted the streets back, so we swam upstream.

The cop car sees our group, and promptly reverses. We cross the line and
travel about 100 yards/meters inside the No Protest Zone, where a
hastily assembled line of Seattle PD with truncheons and gas cannisters
hits the street. Everything holds. I look behnd me... and see that 200
people chickened out! So it's about 100 people facing a now increasing
line of police, with a few National Guardsmen thrown in for good
measure. Whoops.

God bless small miracles. Turns out that nobody on the opposing team has
their gas masks with them. This presents certain problems with crowd
control - leave alone the fact that it's much too windy for any gas to
have much affect. It's detente at the Paramount Theater. More police
show up at intersections further down the street, but make no move
toward us. One APC loaded with a few gas-mask clad enforcers swings by,
but just as promptly slinks back into the shadows.

A couple people take it upon themselves to be spokespeople - with nil
results. They would negotiate with police, only to have us rebuff their
settlements. The folks eventually give up and go back to SCCC. Things
are still touchy, but not too confrontational - the cops keeping their
line, us marchers milling about.

An hour passes, and nothing much happens. The cops are a bit more
relaxed, and protestors are breaking bread. I'm cold, tired, and hungry,
so I call it a night.

At midnight, a thin line of protestors stands in front of a similarly
sized line of police. Someone chants "This is so silly! This is so
silly!"

Then the cops back off and disperse.

You read that right. This also perplexed the 20 or so protestors. They
keep their line for a minute, and then...

... disperse.

joshua h