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Seattle Community Network |
Saturday
July 15, 2000 |
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July 15
"On Saturday night, Sept. 10, about 100 people gathered at reservoir park to protest police harassment. Homeless youth, who had called the meeting, were by far the majority there. ... After many homeless people spoke about what had happened to them, the group decided to march down Broadway." ... "After having marched up and down Broadway the police eventually assembled in riot gear. The order to disperse was announced. A bottle broke about 10 feet in front of a line of riot police as they approached waving mace and billy clubs." "Without hesitation, police maced and clubbed not only the line of demonstrators but also mere observers and people coming out of the restaurants and bars. Both were arrested in approximately equal proportion. Most of the 'normal' people, the non 'street-trash,' were maced and clubbed for just being in the way." ... "One such witness... recounted how a young woman was clubbed and arrested for demanding the badge number of an officer who was beating a young kid, and how another couple was arrested for trying to stop a similar beating. ... A 16 year old girl was beaten as onlookers screamed at the cops that she was pregnant. "The only people to get hurt were demonstrators and bystanders at the hands of the police. In their defense the police say they were protecting the public safety. "There were, of course, lies printed and spread in the media. 'Bricks and bottles' were reported to have been thrown. No bricks, and only three bottles were thrown, no one was hurt by them." ... "Some people have been wondering why these marches happened in the first place. ... The fact that half the people arrested were observers shocked and horrified by the violence of the police, and even driven to intervene, demonstrates not only the truth about who was violent and the reality of police harassment, but also that a lot of the people that the homeless were reaching out to really care about them, and want to see things change for the better too." ... "A lot has happened since then, but the needs are essentially the same, and so are the problems." .... "For two nights the police came through the park (Bobby Morris Playfield/Reservoir Park) late at night and gave a total of 19 $500 tickets for allegedly camping (ie. sleeping). Last night cops came by every 20 minutes or so between 12 midnight and 4am. just to make sure no one was sleeping." ... "Although it is not against the law, cops have been threatening to give tickets to people for sleeping during the day."
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July 9 - 15
Seattle Site of the Week:  Community Coalition for Police Accountability Community Forum Thursday, July 20 at 7:00 p.m. Mt. Zion Baptist Church 1634 19th Ave at Madison St. Directions to Mt. Zion Baptist Church A community forum to educate residents on the procedures necessary for establishing an effective Independent Police Review Board. A dialogue between the community and two national experts who have set up successful review boards in other cities. Help us figure out how we might improve community relations between the Seattle and King County Police Departments and the people they serve, particularly those who reside in ethnic minority communities. Topics include: Should citizen representatives be appointed or elected? For more information, call the Urban League at (206) 461-3792. Sponsored by:
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