[Onthebarricades] US: Anti-IMF protests in Georgetown

[Andy]

http://tinyurl.com/3df5fu
Scuffle but No Arrests at Protest
Small Crowd Gathers Day After Violence in Georgetown
By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 21, 2007; C03

White-helmeted D.C. police briefly scuffled with protesters yesterday 
during a demonstration outside the World Bank, but no one was seriously 
injured or arrested, officials and protesters said.

The confrontation came after violence erupted Friday during a protest in 
Georgetown. Objects were thrown at store windows, newspaper boxes were 
overturned and a police officer was pushed from a scooter, authorities 
said. Yesterday was quieter.

About 500 demonstrators marched from Franklin Square, near the White 
House, to World Bank headquarters, at 18th and H streets NW. The 
protesters, a mix of students, community activists and black-clad 
anarchists, denounced the policies of the World Bank and International 
Monetary Fund, which are holding meetings this weekend.

The event was peaceful except for a tense moment in Edward R. Murrow 
Park, across from the bank, where the march ended. As delegates arrived 
for the meetings mid-afternoon, several anarchists charged the police 
line, according to officials and two demonstrators. Baton-wielding 
police raced in, shoving protesters and snatching their signs. A crowd 
massed, shouting "Our streets! Our streets!"

"They charged the police line," said D.C. Assistant Police Chief Patrick 
Burke, head of the homeland security bureau. "Police lines cannot be 
broken."

A protester who identified himself as Bob Exe, 20, said police struck 
him on the shoulder and nose with batons. The District resident, who had 
stuck a tissue into his bloodied nose, said no one charged the line but 
there "might have been some pushing." He acknowledged that the 
demonstrators had been trying to block delegates from reaching the World 
Bank.

Yesterday's event was a faint echo of the anti-globalization protests 
that brought huge crowds to the city in past years. In 2000, about 
20,000 demonstrators converged on Washington, disrupting parts of 
downtown and clashing with police.

At protests two years later, D.C. police came under strong criticism for 
arresting hundreds of peaceful demonstrators without warning. The 
District has since paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal 
settlements and adopted new protocols to prevent abuse of police power.

Two protesters were arrested Friday night and charged with assaulting 
police officers.

Hundreds of D.C. police were on the streets for yesterday's protests, 
including SWAT teams. Some protesters yelled insults at police, but 
others said they had decided not to use violence.

"We've got immigrants and others we don't want to put in danger," said 
Luke Kuhn, 42, a self-described anarchist from Montgomery County.

Other protesters warily eyed the anarchists, who wore bandannas over 
their faces and waved black flags.

"This is not the usual environment to see us in, surrounded by people in 
balaclavas," said Ben Margolis, 27, a British demonstrator with the 
group Global Call to Action Against Poverty. "We're here to demonstrate 
the passion of civil society. We call on the Bank and Fund to become 
more transparent and promote good governance and end the negative 
conditions they put on their loans."

This weekend's demonstrations were organized by the loose-knit October 
Coalition and drew people critical not only of the international 
institutions but also of gentrification, U.S. immigration policies, D.C. 
school vouchers and consumption of meat.

An organizer, Sameer Dossani, acknowledged that the crowd was small 
compared with past years. He attributed the turnout to the scheduling of 
a variety of antiwar and other demonstrations this month in the District 
and other cities.

"It's good a lot of things are happening. But we do take away from one 
another a little bit," he said.
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