Works In Progress - July 2003 - LEIU

On June 2nd, around 700 people gathered in Westlake Center to protest the Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit, which held a conference in Seattle for the week of June 2-6th 2003. In response to the published plans for the protest, the Seattle Police Department mobilized 120 riot police in full armor, some armed with AR-15 assault rifles. In addition to the armored police, Seattle PD deployed approximately 65 bicycle police, four horsemen, several vans, and an undetermined number of undercover police officers within the march itself. The overwhelming amount of force shown on the streets of Seattle was too much to be wasted; it had to be used.

Twelve people were arrested for various charges during the march, and several were injured seriously. A legal observer, Attorney Larry Hildes of Bellingham, was shot in the back with some kind of so-called "non-lethal" projectile and had to be hospitalized when his back seized up. Early reports indicated it might have been a dowel rod or a flash-bang grenade.

Mr. Hildes was not arrested. He was wearing a bright green hat, shirt, and pants.

Laurel Smith, an Olympia activist, was also injured during her arrest by officers who beat her head against the pavement until she lost consciousness. A woman named Bridget O'Brien was also arrested, after being run down by a squad of bicycle police for no reason early in the march.

Her friend was arrested as well; his name was unavailable at press time.

Both Laurel and Bridget reported having their belongings "lost" by police, and being released from King County Jail around 3am.

Police along the route of the march blocked all exits out of the immediate area of the hotel, locking the crowd of protesters into a three-street area to the East, South, and West of the Red Lion Inn on 5th downtown. At the corner of Pine and 5th, the police concentrated a line of riot police, bicycles and horses which was eventually used as a plunger to chase the crowd south around the hotel and back to Westlake Center, a half-block to the North of the Hotel on 4th.

The spark for the crackdown seemed to be the arrest of a young flag-smoldering person who climbed upon the plexiglass awning above the retail space to the North of the Red Lion on 5th. For around 40 minutes the person stood on the awning out of reach of officers, at one time trying to ignite the nylon flag with a lighter. When the person decended, an undercover officer in the crowd grabbed the person and threw them over the riot fence toward the Red Lion entrance. Another undercover officer in the crowd began punching random people nearby. Pepper spray (in 40-ounce pressurized bottles) was unleashed by several bicycle police, and flash grenades were thrown into the crowd. The gathering surged toward 5th and Union, and a tense standoff held there for a few minutes.

The arrest and assault of Laurel Smith at 5th and Union apparently set off the next round of explosions and again, the crowd fled down the only avenue open - West down Union toward the corner at 4th, and back North to Westlake.

This time the crowd was not allowed to stop.

Once the group reached Westlake, bicycle police surrounded the East exit and riot police formed a loose line across the opposite side of Pike toward the retail shops there. Apparently they thought we might go "shopping."

For a few tense minutes it seemed that the entire group would be swept and many more arrests would be made. Then the East end of Westlake was unplugged and small groups of people filtered out of the area to go home, as medics tended eyes and faces, backs and skulls for blunt and chemical trauma.

Later, many people picked up pieces of the projectiles which had been used; plastic round shot frired from grenade launcers like oversized shotgun shells; Flash-bang grenade handles with serial number tags; little rubber shot from "stinger" grenades; wooden dowels about 1.5 inches in diameter, and 2 inches long.