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Police accused of abusing demonstrators { November 26 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031126/NEWS/311260342/1004http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031126/NEWS/311260342/1004
Published Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Police Accused of Abusing Demonstrators
By RACHEL LA CORTE
The Associated Press
MIAMI -- Civil rights groups complained Tuesday that police abused demonstrators during last week's trade talks, arrested them without cause and denied them restrooms, water and phones.
Meanwhile, the national steelworkers union called for a congressional investigation and the removal of Miami police chief John Timoney over the treatment of its members during the protests, and several groups said they will sue the city.
"The city of Miami Police failed. The City of Miami failed," said Deborah Dion, campaign coordinator with AFL-CIO.
The protests turned sporadically violent Thursday, the final day of the talks. Some of the approximately 8,000 demonstrators threw objects and fired slingshots at officers outside the Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting, and officers hit protesters with batons, zapped them with stun guns and dispersed them with gas and sprays.
Miami's political leaders and law enforcement officials have praised the actions of police and have denied any abuse by officers.
But many protesters said they were peaceful and complied with officers' demands, only to be arrested anyway.
Bentley Killmon, 71, said he was trying to get back to the buses provided by the Alliance for Retired Americans when police pushed him to the ground, arrested him and handcuffed him for 12 hours.
Killmon said he was just following one set of officers' instructions to go down a street when he and an alliance organizer, Larry Winawer, encountered more riot police who screamed at them and told them to get on the ground.
"We were trying to locate where the buses were so I could get on the bus and get the heck out of there," he said. "The way I was treated, you would expect it in a Third World country, not in this country."
Killmon, who said he was denied a phone call or water, plans to sue.
Miami police spokesman Lt. Bill Schwartz said he had no direct knowledge of any arrests of senior citizens or any abusive action.
"We in law enforcement have no interest in injuring anyone, especially a senior citizen," he said.
Of the more than 200 people arrested, only two remained jailed in Miami-Dade County Tuesday, said jail spokeswoman Janelle Hall.
The American Civil Liberties Union says it is preparing to take legal action in the near future, as is the AFL-CIO and other organizations.
The United Steelworkers of America sent a letter to congressional leaders late Monday, criticizing the use of approximately 2,500 officers from more than 40 law enforcement agencies as a "massive police state" and accusing them of intimidation. The union called for all charges against peaceful protesters to be dropped.
The letter also criticized the use of federal money -- $8.5 million was alloted -- for Miami's security costs, calling it money for "homeland repression."
Monday's letter was sent to several members of Congress, including Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle and Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist, with copies to Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas and Gov. Jeb Bush, among others.
Diaz and Penelas did not immediately return phone messages Tuesday.
Bush spokeswoman Alia Faraj said the governor had not yet reviewed the letter but said the governor thinks law enforcement agencies did a "phenomenal job.".
"Sincere protesters who marched to express concerns about FTAA were afforded respect and protection, but those who broke the law and were engaged in criminal activity were arrested accordingly," she said.
Schwartz said that by the officers' actions, Miami averted the five days of rioting and millions of dollars in property damage that occurred outside the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in 1999.
"The object of the show of force was twofold: one to let the peaceful demonstrators know they could protest safely and two, to let the troublemakers know that we would not tolerate anarchy," Schwartz said. "It was successful."
One protester remained in the hospital Tuesday with head injuries he says he suffered when police pinned him to the ground last week. Edward Owaki, 19, was being treated at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Hospital officials Tuesday would not release any information about Owaki, and the line to his room was busy.
An arrest report says Owaki, a freshman at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, refused repeated police orders to disperse from a protest Thursday morning and then became "very violent." The violent behavior was not detailed.
Last modified: November 26. 2003 7:52AM
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