Anti-IMF protests:
April 17
Back to the scene of
the crime
By
Nancy Mitchell and Sarah Sloan
Washington
After
the April 16 mass direct action and demonstration of tens of thousands of
people--the culmination of months of planning--the police and the city didn't
know what to expect at the next morning's meeting of the World Bank. But by 6
a.m. in the pouring rain that Monday they were getting a pretty good
idea.
Thousands
of protesters converged on downtown Washington, shutting down traffic, whipping
up enthusiasm, and surrounding police barricades set up to protect the
imperialist bankers. Groups formed and dispersed in several street battles with
the
cops.
Police
clubbed and pepper-sprayed protesters in the front lines, arresting 100 in the
early morning street actions and about 500 more throughout the day. At one point
police fired tear gas; they claimed afterward that it was a
"mistake."
Police
announced they had confiscated "weapons"--gas masks, vinegar and bleach used to
help counter pain and injury from tear gas. The young activists had learned in
Seattle to use this and other defense equipment against police
terror.
After
facing all this police repression, a group of several hundred led by an
International Action Center banner maneuvered their way through the streets to
join a group they had heard was massing near the Mall. Outmaneuvering cops'
attempts to surround and arrest them, they achieved their goal of meeting up
with the mass march that was
forming.
As
the rain continued, this spontaneous feeder march spilled into a group of
thousands who had just started walking. After a strategy of decentralized action
carried out by affinity groups the day before, protesters decided to pool their
strength by gathering together and marching through the streets without police
permission.
Police
watched as the protesters flooded through entire streets and intersections, at
times weaving among cars whose drivers honked in support even though their
vehicles were paralyzed by the march. Workers learned out of office windows and
from construction sites to show
support.
'Shut
it
down'
Many
demonstrators were chanting: "World Bank--shut it down, IMF--shut it down,
capitalism--shut it down, imperialism--shut it down, police brutality--shut it
down." Many had been arrested at the Saturday anti-prison-industrial complex
demonstration and came to this day with a renewed vigor for fighting against
police brutality and for Mumia Abu-Jamal.
They
shouted, "Free Mumia, jail the
bankers."
The
march stopped at the northwest corner of the police barricades at 20th Street
and Pennsylvania. Demonstrators braved arrest, massing in direct confrontation
to troops from multiple police forces--including Police Chief Charles
Ramsey--who stood armed to defend the banks.
Police
sprayed great volumes of pepper spray directly into the faces of protesters who
stood just feet away.
The
standoff at the barricades lasted for
hours.
By
the end of the day, police had arrested 600 people. That made a total of 1,300
arrests since April
15.
The
administration and media boasted that the protesters had failed to shut down the
meeting. But demonstrators explained that their goal was to draw mass attention
to the destructive role of the IMF and World Bank--and that they had succeeded,
on a worldwide scale. The actions energized people around the world, who now
have their eyes on this new movement.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
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