File spoon-archives/anarchy-list.archive/anarchy-list_2000/anarchy-list.0002, message 97


Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2000 22:56:45 -0500
From: Chuck0 <chuck-AT-tao.ca>
Subject: Fwd: One arrest as protest group marches on Microsoft




-------- Original Message --------
Subject: One arrest as protest group marches on Microsoft
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 22:47:26 -0500


One arrest as protest group marches on Microsoft

(REUTERS) Police in riot gear arrested one man among a group of about 60
protesters marching to Microsoft Corp. headquarters Monday, a police
spokeswoman said.

The man, whose name has not been released, was booked for disorderly
conduct, after he stepped off the sidewalk and into the street during
the
march, Redmond police said.

The protesters, led by the Direct Action Network (DAN), marched along
city
sidewalks that extend inside the sprawling Microsoft campus carrying
signs
protesting corporate greed and an effigy of Microsoft Chairman Bill
Gates.

Eyewitnesses said the suspect was dressed in the black garb worn by a
small
group of anarchists blamed for rioting and looting as tens of thousands
peacefully protested World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle last
November.

Some two dozen heavily armed police arrived as the march began but the
protest was peaceful, aside from the lone arrest, eyewitnesses said.

Microsoft spokesman Dan Leach said the software giant had beefed up
security
after consulting with police and after protesters failed to respond to
e-mails to discuss their plans and their concerns.

"Obviously, we respect everyone's right to express their views
peacefully,"
Leach said. "We're proud of the economic success we've had and the
ability
to create family wage jobs. I don't think that's an issue for us."

DAN activists last week said Microsoft's growing stable of millionaires
had
driven up Seattle-area property values, crowding out working-class
families.

Gates, whose Microsoft stock has made him the richest man in the world,
has
pledged to ultimately give away his vast fortune and has already donated
over $20 billion to his charitable fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation.

   

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