FTAA Review Gets Heated; City Manager Is Heckled

[corporatewhore]

FTAA Review Gets Heated; City Manager Is Heckled

Civilian Investigative Panel Discussions Heat Up

January 16, 2004

COCONUT GROVE, Fla. -- One man decided to -- at least verbally -- take on city hall Thursday night.

Following a meeting of the Civilian Investigative Panel looking into police behavior during November's Free Trade Area of the Americas conference things got ugly.
The meeting was a heated debate that included members of the AFL-CIO accusing police of misconduct.

Fred Frost, with the AFL-CIO, said, "We had one individual who paid taxes all of his life -- longer than I've been alive on this earth -- fought in a war to defend this country, and he was denied bathroom facilities and he soiled himself!"

But the real fireworks took place outside Miami City Hall.

Miami City Manager Joe Arriola was heckled loudly by a man who was not allowed inside after allegedly threatening the mayor and his staff.
Dr. Leo Casino, a community activist, shouted, "You are not the king. We are citizens. What do you think -- this is a banana republic?"
The CIP meets again on Feb. 5, when Police Chief John Timoney is expected to be in attendance.

http://www.click10.com/news/2770561/detail.html
just on note - i find it very disturbing that John Timoney was asked to head up security for the DNC con in boston

[G_j]

1. the "Miami Model" equals

'police state'. We ignore this at our own risk.

I would also be interested in any information about who hired Timoney for the Democratic conventon if anyone has any links.

[schultzee]

2. Bushco used Miama as an experiment "in crowd control" because he

see that as some of the sleeping citizens awaken to the fact that he is indeed creating a banana republic, they will want to demonstrate and dissent. The person who asked "is this a banana republic," did not realize it, but that is what it is becomming.

[corporatewhore]

3. kick

[Judi Lynn]

4. Did you read this Miami Herald piece slavishly praising him?

Posted on Sun, Nov. 23, 2003

FREE-TRADE SUMMIT
Timoney -- Top cop on the front lines
Police Chief John Timoney -- respected nationally but despised by many who clash with him -- displayed his hands-on approach during last week's free-trade protests.
BY OSCAR CORRAL
[e-mail]

Miami Police Chief John Timoney had four words for the protester pinned against a car by undercover officers: ``You're bad. F--- you!''

The remark came as Timoney himself helped secure an area behind police lines during Thursday's demonstrations by cautioning people to clear out or face arrests.

Timoney, the man who headed the policing of last week's protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit, wasn't sitting in an air-conditioned office. He was displaying bravado on the streets of Miami, riding a bicycle to get around, foregoing steel-tipped boots, a gas mask and body armor in favor of a plastic bike helmet, a polo shirt and shorts.

Last week, The Herald got an exclusive look at the hands-on style that has made Timoney both a nationally respected law-enforcement figure and a police chief widely despised by the groups that clash with his officers.

One thing is clear: He doesn't like radical protesters, whom he dismisses as ''punks'' and ''knuckleheads.'' He personally hunts them like a hawk picking mice off a field.
(snip/...)

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/7329328.htm

Disgusting.

[G_j]

5. this is more like it,

A veteran activist finds much to fear, but also bits of hope, after being jailed in Miami.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17342
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St. Petersburg Times: Miami Crowd Control Would Do Tyrant Proud
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1130-07.htm
Miami police Chief John Timoney must be mighty proud of the social order he maintained during the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit a couple of weeks ago in Miami - sort of the way Saddam Hussein was proud of quieting dissension in his country.
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Arresting The Future
Tom Hayden, AlterNet
Even as FTAA protestors and trade ministers poured out of town in droves, the city's Robo-Cops continued to demonstrate the 'Miami model' of suppression -- with pepper spray, rubber bullets and drawn weapons.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17246
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Information Control:
The 'Miami Model' used during the anti-FTAA protests represents a new police strategy whose aim is to control not just the streets, but also the story told by the media.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17293
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www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7538538.htm
Judge: I saw police commit felonies
A judge who said he witnessed some of the anti-free trade protests complains in open court about how police handled the demonstrations.
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http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1219-08.htm
Reuters
FTAA Protests: Amnesty Says Miami Police May Have Broken UN Laws
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Starhawk's Miami Journals,
www.starhawk.org/activism/activism-writings/miami_journals.html
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photos of 'projectiles'
http://www.hulla-balloo.com/ftaapics/projectiles
photos of police:
www.hulla-balloo.com/ftaapics/cops
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