More pictures from FTAA protest

 http://multimedia.realcities.com:8080/ramgen/miami/news/archive/ftaa/morningftaa2.rm

 http://multimedia.realcities.com:8080/ramgen/miami/news/archive/ftaa/afternoonftaa.rm

With $8.5 million provided from the taxpayer funds meant for Iraq, the Miami police have splurged on "non-lethal" weapons, including CS-gas sprays. Gleaming new desert-colored armored personnel carriers and bright green water-cannon trucks backed the police presence on the streets.


Newscasters embedded Iraq-style among the police provided a complementary narrative rationalizing the show of force. For example, when a young white woman holding her fingers in a V-sign was shot point blank with a rubber bullet, the local ABC commentator said without the slightest evidence, "She took a rubber bullet in the stomach, she must have done something. You wanna play, you gotta pay."


A local NBC commentator seemed to speak for official Miami when she proudly declared that, despite a few incidents, Miami "was nothing like Seattle in 1999."


No authority or pundit questioned why the protestor turnout was less than 15,000 after months of official "intelligence" warning that 20,000 to 100,000 might blight the city's blissful reputation. Here in Miami, the AFL-CIO turnout was perhaps 5,000, including steelworkers wearing T-shirts declaring "FTAA Sucks."


Two hundred forty trade unionists wearing "Wellstone Lives" T-shirts journeyed all the way from Minnesota. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney attacked the FTAA fiercely and paid a visit to the protestors' convergence center. But a comparison with Seattle four years ago, where 50,000 trade unionists marched, was never planned or considered realistic by the protest coalition.


It may be hard for most Americans to believe this was all a hoax, and of course the Miami events are not over yet. But the telling comparison that should be made is not with Seattle 1999, but with the anti-WTO protests in Cancun, Mexico, just two months ago. There a Mexican police force with a long record of human rights abuses protected the WTO Ministerial with no offensive force, no gassing, no beatings and virtually no arrests. Protestors outside the fences in Cancun were far more aggressive than in Miami today. It was the first significant de-escalation of state violence in the history of anti-globalization protests. Miami and U.S. police officials were there as observers, but chose not to repeat the non-violent peacekeeping example of Cancun.


Miami Mayor Manny Diaz called the police presence "a model for homeland defense." Two weeks ago, Miami chief John Timoney was quoted as saying his strategy would be "a failure" if tear gas was used. Tonight he actually claimed on CBS that the demonstrators and not the police used the tear gas. Anyway, he continued, it was not tear gas but "pepper spray with a capsule formula."


As to protests scheduled for Friday, "if they engage in lawful activity, we're gonna arrest them." He didn't notice the misstatement – if indeed it was a misstatement.

 http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17234

Thank you Britain for your protests against a terrible tyrant. What happens when the strongest country in the world becomes a police state? It threatens all the world.

As we have seen in Florida, dissent in now illegal in our country. We have less than a year until elections that will almost certainly be rigged. We welcome your help, and for anything that you can do to help us unseat our personal little Hitler, we are grateful.

Those cops look terrifying and the very embodiment of evil especially that fat bastard with the Schwarzenegger type uzi. Just what is that greenish gas? And what are those red things they're pointing at those poor guys on the grass.

They always say we're a few years behind you technology wise. Guess our cops'll have such vile toys quite soon.

The green gas is sulphur smoke bombs that I think were set off by protesters. The police did use pepper spray but I think most of the smoke in the pictures is from smoke bombs.

The bright colored guns shoot rubber bullets; they sting like hell and could do serious harm if used at close range or if you are hit in the neck or eye. The larger looking guns shoot larger rubber bullets, beanbags or wooden blocks. Some of the larger guns also look like tear gas guns (that shoot tear gas canisters)

The police also used something described as concussion grenades but are probably "sting-balls" they shoot out small rubber pellets when they explode and sometimes also contain pepper spray.

The most serous injuries were probably caused by police battons. The police also charged crowds with motorcycles and cars which may have seriously hurt people too.

"They always say we're a few years behind you technology wise. Guess our cops'll have such vile toys quite soon."

A lot of the equipment (especially all that expensive body armour)was paid for from the funds Congress approved to pay for the Iraq war.

 http://www.federallaboratories.com/

 http://www.mkballistics.com/lessleth.htm

 http://www.ozarkmtns.com/less-lethal/

Here is a pic of a cop in San Francisco with
one of the pellet guns (at an antiwar protest
a few months ago)

The US + UK people should stand shoulder to shoulder: against their own governments.

We will do what we can over here; please keep trying over there.

Don't let the fascists win.

SOLIDARITY

"If they engage in lawful activity, we're gonna arrest them."
Can anyone find this sound or video clip? It'd be great if someone could post it.

We are being attacked by our government here in the U$! Will somebody please form a coalition and depose this awful regime before any more life on this planet is destroyed?!?!?!?!? Maybe the EU could form a coalition and invade this place and help us set up a democracy.....
Thanks for showing the chimp what you think of him UK!
PEACE from the U$A!
T

I am the bloody girl bandaged up in the picture. I have staples in my head now but my wounds were minor compared to some that i witnessed. I am looking for video of the front lines as this happened- I was shot in the back repeatedly as were all those who came to help me- one man was shot 7 times for helping me.
I am also putting a book together of TRUE STORIES, and would like people to submit them to my email adress.  Ladygalaxy@msn.com - with or without the authors names- pictures too please. I have a friend who is a publisher! I can do this and really want to . the truth needs to be told! the whole truth! please feel free to contact me anytime. The quicker the better - I want to do this while we can still taste the blood and smell the pepper spray.
By the way - I cant recall the faces of those who helped me.... so to those of you that picked me up ( i was crawling after the first 2-3 shots) and blocked me from further bullets - THANK YOU!