You will be subject to arrest. All of a sudden, three letters WTO became a household word. Some people say the 21st century began in Seattle and it began with a bang. [Applause] At the end of November 1999, the world came here. Came to make rules. Came also to protest and disrupt. I hear you got the closest intersection. For a week, the world watched the flames, the clouds of chemicals, the drama of the battle in Seattle. Are you a human being? You should be ashamed of yourself. Who is the commanding officer? Sometimes democracy can be messy, but we shouldn't be afraid of it. I'll always defend what we did in Seattle. [Applause] [Music] As the 20th century ended, the world economy was booming. Yet, national tariffs and local protections were often barriers to the rapid growth of commerce. Advocates of free trade and open markets hope to negotiate less restrictive rules through an entity called the World Trade Organization. Established in 1995, the WTO was little known outside business circles. When President Clinton announced that its 1999 meeting would be held in the United States, he turned around to the country and said, "Okay, who wants to bid on which city should have it?" So we convened all the players, federal, state, uh, local, um, government officials, uh, business, labor, environmental, hospitality, industry, and said, should we do this? Seattle's most prominent companies were eager for the chance. These issues were important ones. Seattle was an important trading center in the world, and then I thought we were a good place to host that conference. I think almost everybody in town did. governor lobbied, so did the the county executive and and our our business community. They saw it, first of all, as a chance for Seattle to shine nationally and globally. So, I don't think anybody really thought of it as a losing proposition. In February 1999, the decision was announced. Seattle would host the summit. City leaders were thrilled, but the prospect of unrestricted markets and capital flows also had its critics. What we've moved to is a system of extraordinarily unbalanced trade and a system in which investment capital is free to move toward the place that has the cheapest labor. You know, the most sweat shop kinds of conditions, the least environmental regulations. Supporters of the WTO argued that new agreements would spur economic expansion and job growth in all exporting countries. All of the major trading nations of the world felt it was necessary. That's why it was formed u because there wasn't any way to settle trade disputes. But critics were alarmed that a series of WTO rulings had overturned environmental and labor protections as barriers to trade. Clean air rules in the United States. A ban on beef hormones in Europe. Restrictions on shrimp harvest that killed endangered turtles. And we wanted rules protecting the environment. Uh we wanted rules for fair trade to be promoted and they wanted access to the table. Until 1999, the WTO had essentially adopted its rules behind closed doors. Its membership included 135 countries, but only the ministers from a few, the United States, Japan, and the large nations of Europe made all of the decisions. I think the secrecy of the WTO meetings was really something that resonated with people, how people could go in a room and make decisions that had such a huge impact on our lives without the people in this country being able to have any voice in that process at all. I think all of our union members here really got that. Eager to challenge what they viewed as a dangerous organization, the critics called for protests in Seattle. Where is our legal grounds to appeal these decisions? Absolutely. As soon as we heard 11 months in advance that they had chosen Seattle, we just started right away to organize and set up a steering committee for for organizing groups here in Seattle and internationally. organized labor fearful that new trade rules would lead to loss of jobs added substantial resources to the mobilization. We had uh planes, trains, automobiles, buses coming from Canada and across the US. It was really inspiring for me to see this labor wheel come together like that and just pump out what needed to happen to get these issues out there. The opposition had a powerful new tool. In many ways, the U WTO was the first illustration of the power of the internet. Twice as many people showed up as perhaps people were expected. You know, if you were reading the web, you would see that protesters were saying, "We're going to shut down Seattle." The Seattle WTO meeting was set for the week of November 29th. In the days leading up to the event, protesters carefully laid out their plans. We invited everybody who came there to take at least a non-violence training and a legal training. Got it. In camps like this one, the Direct Action Network got ready for civil disobedience and they did a lot of what they they called high angle stuff. They did uh building climbs, crane crimes, banner drops, things of that sort. By contrast, city authorities were slow to realize what was coming. Seattle had not been without its protests, but most of those demonstrations were a much much smaller scale uh with much less potential for violence or or destructive behavior. As the possibility of massive protests hit home, Seattle's small police force prepared for conflict. We undertook really the most exhaustive planning process in the in the history of the department. We spent 10,000 hours on training. We thought we were ready. I thought we were ready. We were not. Just before the meetings began, both supporters and critics tried to inform other citizens of the issues that divided them. We set up with television stations all sorts of um vignettes of people who trade so that they could use these during the week to show people um you know who are watching TV how important trade was. Critics held forums about WTO agreements that would allow patenting of plants or overturn important environmental protections. They sneak in this line biodiversity wherever it exists is the property of the state. facts filtered out to those who were listening, but they would be drowned in the coming tsunami of less reflective passion. On Monday, November 29th, the day before the main meeting began, delegates and protesters alike drifted into downtown. Seattle Mayor Paul Shell urged civility. Be firm in your message, but be gentle with my city. He was determined that delegates be guaranteed the right to meet and that critics be guaranteed an equal right to protest. The energy that is coalesed in Seattle will move out to states and cities and towns. We were trying to find the balance between giving freedom to public expression of important ideas of the day and safety. For the most part, it was restrained on all sides. And we were receiving throughout Monday lots and lots of compliments. That night, representatives of many religions marched downtown. They called for greater economic justice and forgiveness of debts that rich countries were owed by the poor. And it really feels like the beginning of a new people's movement. As morning on November 30th came with a cold drizzle, Large groups of demonstrators converged on Seattle's convention center where the WTO was meeting. I could see there was sort of anger and tension that I didn't think would be there. Please back up. Quickly, protesters gathered outside every entrance to the convention center. They were totally committed to blocking the entry to the meeting, but doing it in a nonviolent way. Just don't let it crown. We're just trying to get to the table. The idea was to shut things down. Of course, still many people found ways to get inside the building. Personally, I just walked around and found a really tall person whose hand was held up here by somebody else, and I just walked underneath. And so you could get in and out if you figured out how. Among those milling about in the convention center were observers from nonprofit organizations hoping to talk with the delegates because there were many delegates who actually agreed largely uh with the protesters positions on a number of issues. They were already angry the day they walked in to the WTO in Seattle because they had been excluded from the important negotiations within the agreement. At one point I ran into the Kenyan representative and I asked him what was happening with agricultural talks and he said, "I have no idea. I'm not allowed to walk into the room." Are you ready to rumble? About a mile away from the convention center, the biggest event of the day got going by early afternoon. Together, we will change the world. Estimates put the crowd as large as 30,000. carrying signs and banners. They left the stadium to march downtown. That was just an overwhelming scene to see people keep coming and coming out of that stadium. [Music] [Applause] And I think we got to about fourth in Lenora when we started to get reports that tear gas was being shot out in front of the convention center. [Applause] Use of tear gas actually began earlier that day. Russ Thompson was downtown with a small camera. A former television news photographer, he hoped to sell footage to the networks. I really knew very little about the issues. I was just thinking, you know, it's an opportunity to make a little money and do a few interviews. But the mood turned ugly as the police pushed through the crowd. Whose street is this? Whose street is this? And it seemed like they were randomly uh you know grabbing people that that were peacefully protesting. They were you know hitting people with batons. [Applause] Originally the police planned to arrest individuals who disobeyed the laws by blocking streets. We had probably a tenth the number of officers that we would have needed to actually set up uh lines of police officers uh to actually block access to to certain locations. Protesters use steel tubing to chain themselves together, making it hard to separate and arrest them. I think one has to recognize that the city was under enormous pressure from the White House to do something to get rid of the protesters so that the WTO meeting could go on. Seattle's police chief faced a difficult decision whether or not to use tear gas and pepper spray to clear key intersections. The cop and me said we have to do this. We have to clear that intersection. We didn't want to do it, but we felt that it was necessary. You will be subject to arrest. Chemical irritants may be used. We warned. We warned. We warned after having declared the assembly unlawful and then used chemical agents. I do believe that it that it had a uh uh the effect of of making more militant the tactics of of of many of the demonstrators and turning from nonviolent to violent. And that's on me. We should have left those demonstrators in that intersection, seated it over to them. They would eventually get up and walk away. But we didn't. And I really do wish and I will take to the grave my um profound dissatisfaction with my own decision-making on on that morning. Though stunned by the gas and the delegates got sprayed, most protesters were determined to hold their positions. It was amazing how well our nonviolence training worked. People did not run peaceful protest. But that afternoon, as the labor march neared the city center, things got crazy. [Applause] gas coming in. [Applause] And the protesters lit fire to the dumpster and there was suddenly this standoff on the street. This is a peaceful protest. This is a peaceful protest. Do not retaliate. Everything was hitting the fan. [Applause] There were rubber bullets flying, indiscriminate use really of gas. There were lots of cases of people arrested who who weren't doing anything wrong. You have every right to be here. This is a peaceful protest. One was a cab driver who got yanked out of his cab because he didn't uh respond to police commands to to pull over a certain way. And I mean, the police grabbed him, pulled him out of the cab. He was roughed up, arrested, carded off. Take your police state back. I was laying on the ground and he just came down and shot it into my eyes. Are you proud of what they did? Are they lost? On a nearby rooftop, KO TV news reporter Sabrina Register watched in horror. I was uh 2 to 3 months pregnant and they had put me up high so I had a great vantage point without being in the mix. It was almost surreal. You could see panic on a lot of people's faces. Finally, the tear gas moved towards us and it was so overwhelming. The burning in the back of your throat and the way it affects your eyes, just uncontrollable tears coming down. And the first thing I thought was, "Oh my god, what what's going to happen to my baby?" For the few protesters who were really looking for trouble, the chaos was an open door. Guys in black masks came down the street knocking over newspaper boxes one after the other, you know, and all of a sudden there's a group and they're running fast and bam, bam, bam, bam. They they were using a tactic of of emerging from the crowd and then darting back into the crowd and penetrating that crowd sufficiently that there was no way that we could get to them without breaking ranks. It was a very small group of protesters that were doing things such as breaking windows, spray painting cop cars, uh flattening tires, and they were hellbent on doing what they did. And and protesters couldn't stop them, the police couldn't stop them. A lot of my colleagues who were there even said, "Stop. This is not what the protest is about. You're you're ruining it for us." And amidst all the anger, surprising acts of kindness blossomed. You know, people would come through and rip uh uh flowers out of the the planters and other protesters would follow along and put the plants back. Now, that's Seattle. Still, by evening, the police were feeling poorly. Several reported being hit by cans or even bags of urine thrown by protesters. All were tired, hungry, hot inside their heavy uniforms. But they still had work to do. The biggest concern was pus was the president of the United States flying in to Boone Field on Tuesday night. We know now that we had federal officials yelling at the governor and others saying, "Get tough. Crack down. clear those streets. You know that if you don't get those streets moving, the president is not coming in. The president will not land. We really then needed to declare emergency and to and to and to call the the the state police and the uh national guard. One of those places where the opening session of the trade conference, President Clinton is due to address the postponed for several hours. The president did land and was whisked safely to his hotel, but on the streets, trouble had not subsided. Angry police eager to clear the area around the convention center drove protesters up to Capitol Hill, then tear gas them. The night on Capitol Hill was definitely the one that stands out and it was a turning point in the week, I think, for public opinion. Get out of here. Get your hands out of here. It turned against the police. I think at that point officials hooked the declaration of a civil emergency. Mayor Paul Shell declared a large area around the convention center off limits to protesters. They say free. So the next morning I went down and joined with a large number of people. We started down at Denny Park. They say free trade. We say fair trade. And we started marching into the downtown core to try and get close enough so that the mi the ministers could actually hear us, but they were stopped and arrested. More than 600 protesters eventually went to jail. For me, it just kind of felt like we were being hunted as citizens. And I I I still to this day don't understand the mentality behind the the need to do that. One policeman mistakenly stopped a Seattle city councilman while he was driving to a meeting. Another policeman came up and and pulled me out of the car. Had my business card in my hand and I had my cell phone in my hand and they threw them on the ground. They had pulled me out of the car and my hands behind me to hand handcuff me. Yet, Councilman McCyver holds no ill will toward the police. I think the police force did an outstanding job for as long as they stood and as long as they were on duty without food, without sleep, and with the abuse they took verbally. [Applause] In the streets, demonstrations continued for the next two days. Crowds gathered outside the jail to protest the confinement of arrested protesters. There was a really interesting negotiation that went on all day between John Sers from the Ruckus Society and a King County Sheriff's deputy. So, we've made a huge victory tonight and it ended peacefully and everybody went away. Inside the convention center, the WTO continued its meetings. at the end of the week they weren't able to come to a successful conclusion and that was disappointing. It wasn't because of what was happening on the street. Yet the talks ended when smaller countries made it clear they would not ratify the agreements. And I think the the size and scale and intensity of the protests really emboldened the delegates from Africa, Asian, Latin America to put down their foot. But tonight, to the delight of its critics, and for the first time in history, the trade talks collapsed. Tonight, the World Trade Organization meetings are being declared a failure because of two demonstrations. [Applause] Quickly, word came to the streets that the talks had collapsed without an agreement. It was a great moment. As the word passed through the cells, those of us that at least were not cordoned off um and and got the word started cheering and we were yelling out of course because we had supporters outside and and they were yelling outside and we were, you know, chanting, you know, hollering back and forth. You know, we recognized that we had succeeded. This is what democracy looks like. That is what looks like. This is what democracy looks like. In the end, the conflict cost Seattle more than $12 million in repairs and lost revenue. And I remember people saying, "I lost $20,000 today that I would have made in sales. And this is my season for making my profit. The rest of the year, I'm just breaking even. I wait for Christmas sales." Then the fingerpointing began. Small merchants were blaming the downtown Seattle association. Business owners were blaming the cops. The cops were blaming their commanders. The commanders were blaming the state. The state was blaming the feds. And everyone, it seemed, was blaming the media for its focus on the violence and chaos. Yet, for nearly a week, the whole world had turned its attention to Seattle and the WTO. It changed the debate in the US. It changed the debate around the the the world. Um, it changed the way politicians talked about trade. Um, and c it changed the protest movement and law enforcement. It really, I think, had really farreaching effects. In the years following the meeting, tempers have cooled. Many arrested protesters won victories in the courts. And we got a million dollars in a settlement um because our Fourth Amendment rights have been violated. And what about the World Trade Organization? They're continuing their work. It's just been hard in the last 10 years to to come to any real conclusion. So, but they're making some progress. Seattle altered the WTO in vital ways. It basically broke open a secret organization. I I don't think the WTO can ever be as strong as it was before. Still, the issues that tore Seattle apart in 1999, labor rights, poverty, environmental protection, and control of trade and the economy, have not gone away. The same forces that brought us the WTO are the forces that deregulated Wall Street and resulted in this concentration of banking and financial institution power that brought down the whole US economy and ultimately the whole global economy. uh the end of 2008. The events of 1999 changed ideas, changed lives. I started out as an objective journalist working in the street with press credentials and I became more of a subjective observer of what was going on. you know, all these people out there from young to old and they're sitting down on a on a kind of drizzly November day on the pavement willing to get arrested just because they believe that these are important issues and that was just very inspiring and I think I continue to be inspired by that to this day. The thing to remember about the WTO protests was citizens came together, organized and made change. Uh there are protesters who will say they did shut it down. We would contend they didn't, but they certainly truncated those meetings and and they had a huge effect on what happened there. In retrospect, those tumultuous days at the close of the last millennium seem almost benign today. The economy was booming. The tragedy of 9/11 had not yet happened. And if democracy was messy then, have recent years been better? If we give up to fear like I think we have uh and give our freedoms up then the terrorists have won. Fear will trump reason and that didn't happen in Seattle. Something to be proud of. First uh introduction to the issues of the 21st century happened in Seattle. We need to become much more sensitive to our impact on the world and the world's impact on us. Nobody wants to talk about it, but we can't maintain our standard of living at the expense of the standard of living of the rest of the world. I think we really need to rethink how much we are consuming of the world's resources. We're going to have to find our values in something other than more stuff. But I I don't have the answers. All I know is that it's time we start thinking about this. And that started at the WTO in Seattle.