Eyewitness account from Annie Goeke
Co-chair of the International Committee of the Green Party of the United States
Cell phone: 717-468-1880

[Thursday evening] "Tensions were building up between protesters and police the past few days as more areas were blocked off.  There were early morning police attacks on small groups throughout the entire city. Anyone who looked like a suspect was picked up, beaten, or escorted away from the area.

Chris Doran [organizer of www.PressurePoint.org]  was attacked by police, thrown to ground, and a tear gas gun was held to his head.  He later said that he felt the police were way over nervous and were scared of protesters.  He was all right in the end and let go. 

Protesters were targeted all day, especially young people.  AFSC protesters and observers often surrounded the younger protesters to shield them from the police.  All the people who were able to attend the rally place inside the arena were contained for hours so as not to join the others outside confronting the police who were using tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, and other tactics.

Media avoided content about the purpose of the protests against the FTAA and were only interested in covering conflict and security matters.  Reporters never really questioned why people were there. Protesters were portrayed as evil-doers on TV, with no information about why they were protesting.

280 buses carrying protesters were denied access to the area.  It's like a police state, with the entire downtown area and all public transportation closed, making it very difficult for groups to get together, especially Greens.

Delegates from Brazil, Venezuela, and Argentina met up with Marta Benavides of El Salvador and others this morning to say that the U.S. was annoyed that the negotiations were going too slowly.  The reason was because other nations wanted the opportunity to go into further details and get their issues on the table."

[Friday at noon]  Some of the protesters have been charged with felonies.  At 2 p.m., Greens and others will rally in front of the Miami courthouse, when protesters charged with felonies will be released on bail, to show support for those arrested and for those injured by the police.  We're not sure what the felony charges are yet.  Miami is still closed, and downtown Miami seems to be under martial law.

Eyewitness account from
Ben Manski
Wisconsin Green
and
Co-chair of the Green Party of the United
States

"At the end of the permitted march today [Thursday, November 20], about 4 p.m., people were gathered at a permitted rally and concert.  Police announced that if the event remained peaceful it could continue, but within a minute of this announcement, police moved into the area immediately outside the amphitheater swinging batons and striking participants.  Within five minutes, the police forced everyone back, using pepper spray, concussion grenades, rubber bullets, and tear gas.

For the next two hours, the police suppressed every gathering that they could find, dispersing people in the street.  Throughout, there was little resistance to the police and most of the crowd was peaceful; the police used violence regardless of the behavior of people in the street.  At least four people ended up in the hospital; dozens of others were injured, many with head wounds from the rubber bullets.

People who remained in the amphitheater were trapped there for over two hours; anyone who tried to leave was assaulted or gassed by police.

It was clear that a decision was made by police commanders to suppress the protesters, and to use whatever violent means they found necessary.

Efforts by city officials and police to put the fear of God into Miami residents seems not to have worked; all the Miamians we met were very friendly and welcoming, and were curious about the issues involved
in the protests.  Meeting us was their first
opportunity to hear what the demonstrations were
actually about.

It was obvious that the majority of people demonstrating knew that the FTAA was the tip of the iceberg, and that George W. Bush is only the latest in the line of recent presidents who have sought to enshrine the power of corporations in international law.  Personally, I blame Bill Clinton for setting American trade policy on this destructive course, beginning with the first FTAA ministerial in Miami in 1994."