For days leading up to the protest, TV and newspapers carried pictures of D.C.-area's "finest" practicing "crowd control maneuvers" and training in the use of nightsticks. These organized displays of police force have not been lost on working people in this city.

Ramsey, who is Black, came in as police chief in the wake of a corruption scandal involving the former chief and increasing incidents of police brutality. But a 1998 report in the Washington Post revealed that cops here now lead the country in incidents of shootings and brutality.

Ramsey explained that $1 million had been spent on new riot gear and $5 million on overtime pay. Throughout the downtown area of the city an increased number of cops could be seen dressed in the black helmets, bulletproof vests, and shin, chest, and arm guards.

According to a Washington Post report, Ramsey refused to say how many cops would be on the streets, only that the entire 3,500-plus department had been "activated." In addition, Ramsey enlisted cops from nearby Virginia and Maryland jurisdictions of Arlington, Prince George's, and Montgomery counties. Prince George's county cops are notorious for the number of Blacks who have been killed during an arrest or while in their custody.

By the end of the days of protest, police had arrested nearly 1,300 protesters, most on the charge of "parading without a permit." Police cleared a 10-block area surrounding the buildings of the IMF and World Bank for most of the week. At the height of the protests 90 downtown blocks were closed to traffic. In a few clashes police clubbed demonstrators, used pepper spray, smoke canisters, and threatened them with their cars and motorcycles. Police helicopters often hovered low over demonstrators.

In an early morning raid April 16, cops and city fire officials shut down the headquarters used as an organizing center for the various protests. This warehouse was located in Columbia Heights, a largely Latino and Black working class section of the city. The cops ordered as many as 200 people out of the building which also served as mass housing, cordoned off the block, and brought in bomb-sniffing dogs. But the cops only came away with puppets used in street theater, banners, and office supplies.

There were several news accounts of bystanders caught up in police arrests. Brandy Wirrer, 20, from Mahtomedi, Minnesota, was picked up in a police sweep after shopping in nearby Georgetown. She, like many others, spent 12 hours handcuffed on a bus or in a police holding room, often without water or toilet facilities.

Sam Manuel is a member of the United Transportation Union.  
 
 
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