MIAMI - An anti-capitalist march of 200 activists left the Convergence Center at 23rd and N. Miami Avenue at 6:30am on Thursday morning, marching behind banners proclaiming “Capitalism Cannot Be Reformed,” “Internationalism Yes! Globalization No!,” “Against All Authority! Anarchists Against the FTAA!.” The march ‘snaked’ over to Biscayne Blvd then headed south until bicycle and riot cops blocked the path at 13th and Bayshore. From there, the marchers headed west, where a long stand-off occurred at 14th Street and 1st Avenue NW.

During the stand-off in this poor, black neighborhood, Indymedia talked to Rev-Sho-Shauna of People Helping People. Sho-Shauna talked about a television program she recently saw on the School of the Americas and noted the horrors of terrorism engaged in by the US government in relation to that of other countries. “A Martin Luther King-type revolution is what is needed,” said Sho-Shauna, speculating that ‘free trade’ will likely create chaotic situations that might then move people to action.

Corey Pearson, a tow-truck driver and one of the few home owners in the neighborhood, told Indymedia, “I don’t blame the protesters at all. This country is run by ‘communists’.” Pearson said he’s never seen so many white folks “so casually walking through his neighborhood. Usually, if a white person is here, there’s something wrong, or they’re into drugs.”

While interviewing people in this neighborhood, the Baltimore IMC team lost contact with the 200 protesters. The protesters were moved further west by the police and many eventually joined the larger protest near the fence.

Meanwhile, other activists gathered at the Government Center metro stop at NW 1st Street & 1st Ave. The first anti-globalization sign, “Defend democracy, fight FTAA and WTO. Unelect world government and corporations,” popped up at 6:55 am. While various affinity groups and other protesters began to trickle in to the area from all directions, police officers formed a loose line along the south side of 1st street.

The first large burst of energy came at 7:20, when a contingent of radical cheerleaders dressed in green and black, thrusting their colorful pompoms into the air, began to chant, “We don’t want to privatize, the FTAA will privatize!” The crowd of protesters, which slowly grew, quickly began to feed off of the energy of the cheerleaders.

Police quickly reacted to the emerging scene, moving in a formation and forming a wall around the metro stop. They stood, stiff and stone faced, watching the crowd, while they in turn were watched by a group of about six legal observers. Affinity groups continued to flood the block, increasing the drum thumping, hand clapping, stomps, chants and dances.

The pagan cluster arrived and broke out into a ritualistic song and dance. Members of the eco-bloc emerged soon after and quickly jumped into the action. Feet away from the pagan dancing, the radical cheerleaders continued their efforts of pepping the crowd.

Just as protesters arrived, so did the cops. Easily, 200 of them were present on all sides of the block and three police choppers hovered overhead while Miami locals trailed in and out of the metro stop on their way to work. Direct action people seemed to be prepared for the worst, as the wind carried the smell of vinegar through the air.

“I’m here because of my care for my son and because I want to voice my conscience,” said Mickey, who is running for City Council in Oakland, CA and was in Miami with about 500 ‘Gapatistas’ and ‘Killer Tomatoes.’ “We have to make them realize that they can’t go on exploiting people without the people fighting back--they make these rules without any thought for human consequences and we must make them realize that people should be put before profit.”

At 7:50, a Ryder truck pulled in, carrying bicycles, puppets and signs for the march. Police photographers moved close to the truck to snap photos of the objects being unloaded.

By 8:05, the puppetistas and protesters began to march east on N 1st St., moving toward the fence. A police representative quickly told organizers that the protest had to first go north on 1st Avenue for two blocks and only then would be allowed to move east. Organizers responded by stating that the protesters were going to move directly east and when negotiations broke down after about 1 minute the activists started marching directly east. Headed by radical cheerleaders and large puppets, the march began with the chant, “FTAA, No Way!”

The march moved east along N. 1st street then turned south onto E. 2nd Ave. After just a few blocks, the march turned east again, quickly met by a riot police blockade. The protesters, spread over a several-block area, were unable to move further towards the Intercontinental Hotel and the march came to a standstill. Flagler, 2nd and 3rd streets NE all had police blockades and by 8:27 the march had been almost completely boxed in. The chanting continued, “This is what democracy looks like.”

On E. Flagler and 3rd Ave., a small contingent of protesters attempted to engage the riot cops at the front of the blockade. In chalk at their feet, someone wrote in blue chalk: “Police are workers.” Some protesters flashed peace signs and others chanted, “Who are you protecting?” One unidentified woman told the police, “We love you, come join us.” The cops did not lock eyes with the woman. Meanwhile, the majority of the march stayed a half block back.

With everything at a standstill, a group of about 25, led by black bloc, shot south on 2nd Ave. They were quickly met by opposition: another riot squad blockade had sealed of the perimeter. More activists filled into 2nd Ave. with drums banging, activists chanting, puppets bobbing.

At 9:01, the police began to press forward into the crowd. A line of protesters formed to prevent the forward motion of the police and the police responded with the use of their batons to jab and push protesters. Some people were forced to their knees, but quickly recovered. The police stopped about halfway up the block, but started pushing forward about five minutes later, chanting “Move, move, move” and marching in synch.

Protester drums beat a response to the police cadence, all the while being forced toward the riot blockades on the other end of the block. The eco-block danced in a circular formation, chanting “This is our space.”

At about 9:20, the police began using pepper spray in addition to their batons to force the line of arm-linked protesters around the corner onto Biscayne Boulevard from N 3rd Street and street medics quickly stepped up to assist people.

By 9:30, the police had pushed all protesters onto Biscayne. The crowd responded to the escalation by chanting, “This is a peaceful protest.” Others chanted: “This is what a police state looks like.” Between 9 and 9:30, the protesters had been physically pushed by the police a distance of about four blocks, with each forward push of the police coming seemingly without provocation by the protesters.

Here’s where the puppets were congregating--a large ‘indigenous’ head saying “Indigenous Rights. No Corporate Globalization. No FTAA/ALCA,” another whose brow had the words “People over Profits” painted on it, with eyes reading “Corporate Globalization,” nose “War” and cheeks “Growth” and Consume.”

The police tactics seemed to be to periodically move the protesters east. There were many tense moments, but also a few moments of light when the Radical Cheerleaders performed a “dance-off” in front of the riot-gear clad police. Protesters claimed that the police would push. Media observers tended to see the same. Some protesters linked arms in front of the police line. All periodically experienced the smell and burning sensation of a gas the police would occasionally spray. At these moments, the protesters chanted “Whose Streets, Our Streets,” “This is a Peaceful Protest” and “Tell Me What Democracy Looks Like? This is What Democracy Looks Like” under the watchful eye of a puppet-image of Chief Timoney saying “Chief Attack on Democracy Timoney.”

Some time after 10:00am on Biscayne Boulevard, the police fired one or two tear-gas canisters into the crowd of mostly youthful protesters and began pushing them further north on Biscayne Boulevard towards the AFL/CIO permitted rallying point. During pushing by riot gear-clad police and leaning back by protesters, three or four protesters were grabbed by police, pulled behind police lines and onto the ground, and arrested.

At 10:32am, a dark-haired officer with sunglasses came out with a bullhorn declaring “This is an unlawful assembly. You’re being asked to move immediately.” The police began to move forward more frequently. Another arrest occurred which included police violence. Officers were observed kicking one protester between the legs and hitting another on his helmeted head. A protester was grabbed by police and a friend, “Will Power,” tried to pull him back, ripping his shirt off in the process. In the encounter, “Power” was hit on the head, causing him to bleed.

Eventually, Lt. Bill Schwartz appeared to address the press. According to Schwartz, the police would only push the protesters back in response to protesters pushing first. The Miami Police Department’s objective was “to let the vast majority present to protest peacefully,” according to Schwartz. The police tactics were to “show lots of force in a very coordinated team effort,” said the Lieutenant. Then, Democracy Now/New York Indymedia video journalist Ana Nogueira said, “Excuse me. I have been in the front lines since the beginning and I saw no protesters push police. Only officers have pushed.” [Baltimore Indymedia observations of the interactions support Nogueira’s claims]. “Some of your officers are going crazy. What do you say about this?” asked Nogueira. Lt. Schwartz responded by saying “I haven’t been here.” Nogueira pressed the Lieutenant further, noting that officers have been observed hitting protesters and asking “Do you condone that?” Schwartz answered “I don’t condone hitting.”

In a later incident at 2nd and Biscayne, two undercover cops in plain civilian clothes “kipnapped” a protester and dragged him across the police lines, according to witnesses who wished to be unnamed.

At 3:45pm, a contingent of 100 direct action activists, many of which had been hanging out on Biyscane since the morning actions, walked up to confront the police line. The permitted march/rally was nearing its end. Baltimore Indymedia spoke to three informants about what happened. Jeff, a community organizer from Rochester, NY described the confrontation at Biscayne and 1st. According to Jeff, the direct actionists confronted the police. Then, the police shot gas canisters. Some activists set fire to trash cans and concussion canisters were aimed at the activists in response. Some activists responded by throwing rocks, according to Jeff. The police moved to the use of tasers and rubber bullets as well as a tactic which might be described as ‘leap-frogging’---a contingent of officers closed off an intersection while another contingent moved forward to prepare closing off another intersection further north and east of Biscayne, forced the activists to sprint to escape the ‘trap.’ (Running on Injuries: The Tale of One Protester Struck by Rubber Bullets)

The basic outline of this account was confirmed by Katherine, an activist from Lancaster, PA. Katherine, however, reports that she saw some activists throw water bottles, not rocks. Nick, a member of the group SUDDS {Students United Democratically for a Sustainable Society) from Minneapolis, also reported that the thrown objects were water bottles. Nick added that, approximately 30 seconds before the first canister was thrown into the crowd, a police rep. reported over the loud speaker, “You can protest, but if it gets violent, it ends.” Nick reported that the riot cops’ quick show of force resulted in a ‘ripple effect’ amongst the crowd of protesters. “It startled the activists and that’s why they started throwing stuff back,” reported Nick. The police moved protesters north and east to 5th Street and 1st Ave. NE, to 9th and 1st, to 12th and 1st, then west along 13th street.

The calls for direct actions in the early morning of November 20 had the goal of reaching ‘The Fence.’ No group of protesters got close. [In a later interview with a direct action participant, Indymedia learned that a group did get two grappling hooks with regular rope on 'The Fence', but the police quickly responded with tear gas and rubber bullets]. According to police, 126 were arrested Thursday. The geography surrounding the meetings clearly gave the Miami Police an advantage. Two sides of the International Continental were surrounded by water. Thus, much less police person power was required to create a perimeter barrier than in a city like Washington DC or New York City. And, the FTAA meetings closed early with some sort of agreement among the 34 countries with serious details yet to be discussed and negotiated.

See also the Democracy Now reports "Live in Miami" which includes interview with Walden Bello: www.democracynow.org/article.pl and "Mayhem in Miami": www.democracynow.org/article.pl