From the Dec 2 – Dec 8, 1999 issue

News

Wild in the Streets

Thousands of protesters convened in Seattle and did just what they promised they'd do: They shut down the WTO opening ceremony. Early in the day, they gathered in the blocks around the Convention Center, blocking the entry of many WTO delegates and causing Tuesday's agenda to skid off course. Protesters then moved to the downtown core, where they chanted, broke windows, and blocked streets. Anti-corporate sentiment was focused on Gap, Niketown, and Starbucks stores, among others, which were thoroughly trashed and graffitied (with slogans like "That's Sweatshop").

Throughout the day, police employed a range of crowd- control techniques including tear gas bombs, thrusts with nightsticks, rubber bullets, and stun grenades. Some arrests were made. By sundown, Mayor Paul Schell had declared a state of civil emergency and issued a 7 pm downtown curfew. As The Stranger goes to press, the harried police are pushing the remaining protesters away from downtown and up Capitol Hill, towards makeshift protest headquarters on Denny Way and Olive Way. Choppers buzz overhead and tear gas clouds linger.

Editors

Thousands of protesters convened in Seattle and did just what they promised they'd do: They shut down the WTO opening ceremony. Early in the day, they gathered in the blocks around the Convention Center, blocking the entry of many WTO delegates and causing Tuesday's agenda to skid off course. Protesters then moved to the downtown core, where they chanted, broke windows, and blocked streets. Anti-corporate sentiment was focused on Gap, Niketown, and Starbucks stores, among others, which were thoroughly trashed and graffitied (with slogans like "That's Sweatshop").

Throughout the day, police employed a range of crowd- control techniques including tear gas bombs, thrusts with nightsticks, rubber bullets, and stun grenades. Some arrests were made. By sundown, Mayor Paul Schell had declared a state of civil emergency and issued a 7 pm downtown curfew. As The Stranger goes to press, the harried police are pushing the remaining protesters away from downtown and up Capitol Hill, towards makeshift protest headquarters on Denny Way and Olive Way. Choppers buzz overhead and tear gas clouds linger.

Editors