to go after protesters and journalists covering the Free Trade Agreement meetings in Miami. Lots of extremely ugly wounds to the US Americans who dared to protest. . . .
AFL-CIO calls for probe of Miami police
CORALIE CARLSON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI -- The AFL-CIO asked Wednesday for federal and state investigations into police conduct at the protests outside the Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting last month.
A letter sent to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and Gov. Jeb Bush also asked the two leaders to prosecute those who abused civil liberties and called for the resignation of Miami Police Chief John Timoney.
The protests turned sporadically violent in the final days of the trade talks. Some of the thousands of demonstrators threw objects and fired slingshots at officers; police hit protesters with batons, zapped them with stun guns, and dispersed them with tear gas and pepper spray balls. More than 200 people were arrested.
Police blocked access to a union rally by "deploying armored personnel carriers, water cannons and scores of police in riot gear with clubs in front of the amphitheater entrance," according to the letter by AFL-CIO president John J. Sweeney.
A peaceful labor march of 8,000 to 10,000 demonstrators was cut off and police advanced on the protesters without provocation, the letter said. The crowd was not given a safe route to disperse, and police used pepper spray and rubber bullets on people as they tried to leave, the letter said.
"This abuse at the hands of Miami police is an insult to the American labor movement, and to all Americans who believe in the basic rights guaranteed by our Constitution," Sweeney wrote. "Not since the days of the civil rights movement have I witnessed such outrageous and inexcusable behavior by the police who are sworn to protect us."
Gov. Jeb Bush and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2003/12/04/afl-cio-calls-for-probe-of-miami-police/28777752007/
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Police Trampled Civil Rights During 2003 Free Trade Protests in Florida, ACLU Charges
Affiliate: ACLU of Florida
November 17, 2005 12:00 am
MIAMI – The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida’s Greater Miami Chapter today filed three lawsuits charging that officers of the Miami, Miami-Dade and Broward police departments used excessive force to intimidate and unlawfully arrest innocent bystanders and protesters who were exercising their free speech rights during the November 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) ministerial meetings in downtown Miami.
The three lawsuits filed today – on the two-year anniversary of the FTAA summit – are on behalf of a former Miami New Times reporter, four labor union members and a college student from Massachusetts whose skull was fractured after police hit him in the head three times with a baton. All six ACLU plaintiffs were arrested on November 20, 2003, during marches that resulted in hundreds of arrests after police used unnecessary force to disperse crowds.
“The ‘Miami Model’ was a police tactic designed to intimidate political demonstrators, silence dissent, and criminalize protest against the government policies,” said ACLU Greater Miami Chapter President Terry Coble, referring to the City of Miami’s law enforcement strategy during the FTAA meetings. “If this type of police action is allowed to continue, our country will have lost one of our most basic rights, and we will be on the road to a totalitarian government.”
The plaintiffs in today’s cases were among thousands of people who came to Miami to observe or participate in lawful demonstrations to protest FTAA trade policies. Despite the overwhelmingly peaceful nature of the gatherings, police officers arrested approximately 300 people, most of them for minor offenses such as disorderly conduct and failure to obey a lawful command. Hundreds of people were held in local jails for more than 24 hours. The charges against virtually all of those who were arrested were later dismissed, the ACLU said.
More:
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/police-trampled-civil-rights-during-2003-free-trade-protests-florida-aclu-charges
Remember that well-known police chief with the notorious reputation for brutality they brought in early to organize police oversight? They started arresting people on the street at least one night before the event started, as well.
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I just had a flashback: Remember when George W Bush started handing out military vehicles and weapons and equipment to large cities for them to use for crowd control during his "Presidency?" I can't remember if the Miami police was using any of that huge hardware handout to city police against these protesters! Just a thought.
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