This past weekend, an estimated 2,000 demonstrators descended on Washington, D.C. to protest the scheduled meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. In the weeks leading up to the protests, Washingtonians voiced their concerns about the safety and security of their city, citing rioting at previous gatherings in Seattle, Milan and here in the District. These fears were buttressed by several groups’ publicized plans to “shut down the city” as a part of their protests.
A number of protestors attempted to do just that, riding bikes on the Capital Beltway, sitting down in busy intersections and breaking the windows of a K Street Citibank branch. However, the vast majority of last weekend’s protestors did not intend to disrupt everyday life?they just wanted their voices heard. District authorities made no distinction.
On Friday morning, protestors congregated in Freedom Plaza across from the mayor’s office, where organizers had obtained a permit to gather. At 9 a.m. Metropolitan Police Department officers ordered them to move across 14th Street to Pershing Park. At this point, according to multiple accounts, the police sealed off the park, allowing no one except reporters bearing press credentials to enter or leave. Over the next two hours, police forced the crowd together as empty Metrobuses pulled up near the park. At 10:30 a.m., the first arrests were made. An hour later, more than 400 people caught within the police barricade had been arrested, including 17 reporters from organizations such as the Associated Press. Again, according to multiple accounts, at no time did police instruct the protestors to disperse?they just started to make arrests.
When protestors sit in busy intersections, break windows or otherwise interfere with our right to conduct our everyday lives, they can and should be arrested. However, peaceful protestors have every right to lawfully voice their opinions. The great irony of Friday’s events was that the Freedom Park gathering was a “low-risk” activity in the eyes of protest organizers; a place protestors could gather without having to fear arrest.
“The vast majority of people in D.C. this past weekend were part of that great tradition of passionate, but peaceful protest?of having your voice heard while respecting the rights of D.C.’s citizens,” said Police Chief Charles Ramsey in a statement. We couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately, MPD failed to uphold part of that tradition?allowing voices to be heard without police harassment.
On this page four weeks ago, we called for MPD to provide a strong presence to maintain order and the safety of protestors. Regardless of last week’s excessive arrests, these are still paramount concerns. The problem was not the presence of police officers, but the attitude of officials who wanted to pre-empt rioting without considering whether the protestors were an actual threat. Ramsey may be pleased with himself, but he only got it half right.
