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Unions calls for police chief resign { November 25 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Unions Call For Timoney's Job Following FTAA Protests
Protesters Claim Police Harassment Of Union Members, Elderly
NBC 6 News Team
POSTED: 2:29 p.m. EST November 25, 2003
UPDATED: 7:27 p.m. EST November 25, 2003
MIAMI -- Leaders of the national steelworkers union were calling on Miami officials to fire police chief John Timoney, and demanding a federal investigation into what they call repressive tactics by Miami police during last week's protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
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.
"The city of Miami Police failed. The City of Miami failed," Deborah Dion, campaign coordinator with AFL-CIO, said at a press conference Tuesday.
And in a letter to congressional leaders signed by United Steelworkers of America (USWA) president Leo W. Gerard, the union condemned the use of federal funds allocated for the reconstruction of Iraq to finance security at the FTAA meetings, which protesters called "homeland repression."
The letter, which was Mond 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, criticized the use of approximately 2,500 officers from more than 40 law enforcement agencies as a "massive police state" and accused them of intimidation. The union called for all charges against peaceful protesters to be dropped.
The letter also called for a congressional investigation into the use of part of the $87 billion approved by congress for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this month, to finance FTAA security.
According to a USWA press release, $9 million of that allocation went to security in Miami for the event, at which trade ministers from the 34 countries in the Western Hemisphere excluding Cuba met to map out the creation of the world's largest free trade zone.
"The ... USWA is calling for a congressional investigation into 'a massive police state,' created in part with federal funds, to intimidate union members and others critical of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and limit their rights during FTAA meetings in Miami last week," the press release said, quoting Gerard's letter.
The letter claimed police violated the constitutional rights of protesters, by "systematically repress(ing) our constitutional right to free assembly with massive force, riot gear and armaments."
Gerard's letter called the Miami security arrangements a "massive police state" and cited "countless instances of humiliating repression in which the Miami police force disgraced itself."
"It is doubly condemnable," he added, "that $9 million of federal funds designated for the reconstruction of Iraq were used toward this despicable purpose. How can we hope to build democracy in Iraq while using massive force to dismantle it here at home?"
In addition to the investigation, the letter demanded that all charges against peaceful protesters be dropped, and that Miami police chief John Timoney be fired.
City officials have praised Miami police and county and city officers from other municipalities who helped with security at the FTAA meetings, saying officers used considerable restraint, even when protesters hurled bottles, liquids and even smoke bombs during sometimes frenzied protests on Thursday.
Most of the marches throughout the week were peaceful, but small pockets of violent demonstrations broke out Thursday outside the designated protest area in downtown Miami's Bayfront Park.
Of the more than 200 people arrested, including 150 taken into custody last Thursday, 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.
Some protesters charged officers used excessive force during those arrests, or humiliated protesters by tossing their belongings into dumpsters or forcing peaceful protesters to the ground before forcibly detaining them.
Among those arrested were some union members and a local reporter, who claimed they were marching peacefully when officers surrounded and arrested them.
Elderly Protesters Allege Abuse At Hands Of Police
Also on Tuesday, several groups representing seniors and union members denounced what they called harassment of protesters by police.
During sporadic unrest during the week of free trade meetings, officers hit protesters with batons, zapped them with stun guns and dispersed them with gas and sprays.
A group of seniors and retirees held a press conference to denounce what they called "repressive tactics and mistreatment" by police officers, who activists said forced seniors to the ground and gunpoint, handcuffed innocent people and in some cases, jailed protesters who were not involved in violence and who were complying with police.
The seniors groups participated in a march and rally on Thursday at Bayfront Park. They claimed police were heavy-handed in their attempts to prevent marchers from exiting the designated protest area.
The march had been sponsored in part by the Florida branch of the Alliance for Retired Americans (ARA). Participants had traveled to Miami in buses from across the state to participate in a week of protests and rallies that culminated in several union-sponsored marches Thursday.
Protesters claim some of the buses were turned away from the protest area by Miami Police officials and blocked from entering the perimeter of the protest area.
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.
The protesters argued that police violated arrangements they say were reached in "good faith" between police and leaders of the AFL-CIO, who co-sponsored the rally.
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, adding 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."
Diaz and Penelas did not immediately return phone messages Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Jeb Bush, Alia Faraj, said that the governor had not yet reviewed the letter but said the governor believes 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.
Protester Remained Hospitalized Tuesday
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 on 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.
Owaki, who said he was linking arms with other protesters, was originally charged with disorderly conduct, although that charge was changed to a lesser charge.
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