Troublemakers Trounce Trade Protests in Seattle -- American Politics Journal

Troublemakers Trounce Trade Protests in Seattle

by David J. Gonzo

Thursday, Dec. 2, 1999 -- NEW YORK (APJNS) -- For the third day in a row, news TV was dominated by tape footage of a small handful of vandals stealing the limelight from well over ten thousand concerned individuals protesting the World Trade Organization as the secretive body meets in Seattle.

Late Tuesday night, a group of about three dozen so-called "anarchists" went on a spree of window-breaking, looting, trash-can arson and spray paint vandalism in one of Seattle's shopping districts following a day of peaceful protest.

I say "so-called" anarchists because real anarchists respect property rights but oppose governmental structure. These self-proclaimed -- and entirely fake -- "anarchists" are nothing but a mob of destructive crooks using the opportunity of a large and wholly legitimate protest campaign to infiltrate Seattle and engage in a spree of wilding.

The mob of troublemakers wore black sweat suits and matching ski masks to conceal their identities -- certainly not as thoroughly as, say, a member of the Klan, but enough to prevent most from being easily identified. Their overall age, however, was relatively easy to discern -- most looked to be teenagers or kids in their early twenties at most. And their actions of destruction seemed to almost gleeful at times -- picture Beavis and Butthead all grown up and ready to do some serious damage.

Some commentators have echoed the feeling I had late Tuesday night as I watched news reports on CNN and the BBC -- that these so-called "anarchists'" goals were so at odds with those of the peaceful protesters that one could justifiably entertain the possibility that these vandals were in fact stooges out to discredit and quash protesters concerned about labor rights, environmental concerns, trade imbalances, American job concerns, the secrecy of the WTO, and a myriad of other issues.

And the press has largely been an unindicted co-conspirator in misreporting this story -- focusing on the "camera candy" the troublemakers were providing while all but ignoring the fact that a small band of people were responsible for the problems of Tuesday night, not to mention the many issues that protesters are trying to bring before the WTO -- and concerned members of the general public.

Some of the major newspapers did give a bit more attention to these issues this morning -- along with coverage of Seattle's overzealous use of rubber bullets and pepper gas Tuesday evening, followed by a "crackdown" on protesters and general curfew. But few made mention of one black-masked miscreant's admission that the "anarchists" had organized and planned for months to incite trouble and provoke the protesters and law enforcement.

And they succeeded -- in making it less possible to voice dissent against the WTO as the "masters of the trade universe" meet.

Nice going, punks.