Miami Police Chief John Timoney had four words for the protester
pinned against a car by undercover officers: ``You're bad. F--- you!''
The remark came as Timoney himself helped secure an area behind
police lines during Thursday's demonstrations by cautioning people to
clear out or face arrests.
Timoney, the man who headed the policing of last week's protests
against the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit, wasn't sitting in an
air-conditioned office. He was displaying bravado on the streets of
Miami, riding a bicycle to get around, foregoing steel-tipped boots, a
gas mask and body armor in favor of a plastic bike helmet, a polo shirt
and shorts.
Last week, The Herald got an exclusive look at the hands-on style
that has made Timoney both a nationally respected law-enforcement
figure and a police chief widely despised by the groups that clash with
his officers.
One thing is clear: He doesn't like radical protesters, whom he
dismisses as ''punks'' and ''knuckleheads.'' He personally hunts them
like a hawk picking mice off a field.
''They look like ants scattering,'' Timoney said of the protesters after riding in a helicopter to get a bird's-eye view
Thursday afternoon. ``They are not the least bit bashful about what
their goals are. They were looking to raise hell, and they did.''
`A DANGEROUS MAN'
Protesters know Timoney all too well. During Thursday's protest,
they lifted an enlarged picture of him on a pole with the words ''Chief
Attack on Democracy Timoney'' written on it. His reaction: ``I'm better
looking than that.''
''This guy has brutalized and eviscerated constitutional rights
of peaceful protesters,'' said New York activist Bill Dobbs, a spokesman
for the Stop FTAA media team that was in town for the week. ``He's a
dangerous man.''
Timoney played a pivotal role in downtown security. He helped
coordinate a complex operation with more than 40 local, state and
federal agencies, all of it based out of his police headquarters.
Civil liberties groups and unions complained of unlawful arrests
and violations of their constitutional rights. But almost as soon as the
pepper spray settled over downtown this week, local leaders declared a
major law-enforcement victory.
They claimed that Miami authorities set a standard for how to deal with the kind of volatile protests that have scarred cities such as Seattle, Washington, Philadelphia and Cancún.
HIRED TO REFORM
Much of the credit went to Timoney, a brash Irishman and former
New York street cop hired by Miami leaders last year to reform their
troubled police force. He had experienced similar demonstrations as
police chief in Philadelphia during the 2000 Republican National
Convention before taking on a private-sector job.
''The work that was done this week was massive, and it was done
ethically, professionally,'' Miami Mayor Manny Diaz said at a news
conference Friday. Timoney and Deputy Chief Frank Fernandez ''put
together something that was unprecedented,'' Diaz said.
Timoney's constant presence on the ground, in the air and on the
water last week kept officers on their toes. Like a war general, Timoney
walked the front lines all week, patting the shoulders of officers
dressed in full riot regalia, telling them they were doing a good job.
''He set up the vision for this and put together the team,'' said
Lt. Col. Don Hollway, deputy director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission.
Timoney had come on board the high-tech Fish and Wildlife boat
Randall Wednesday night to overlook security of the water transportation
of trade ministers to Vizcaya.
At that point, the week had been peaceful and Timoney was practically daring demonstrators to test police.
''If they [anarchists] don't do anything by tomorrow night,
pardon the expression, but they look like p------,'' Timoney said after
the boat ride Wednesday night.
THE BIG DAY
By 6:30 the next morning, Timoney, a lifelong fitness buff, hit
the streets of Miami on a bicycle, joined by Assistant Chief John
Gallagher and eventually Fernandez. The first report trickled in: A
group of about 200 unpermitted protesters were heading toward Biscayne
Boulevard just after 7 a.m.
Timoney tailed them from the next block over, crouching on his
bicycle. A red pickup truck filled with undercover officers crept next
to him; they said they had seen a nearby demonstrator dressed completely
in black fill his backpack with rocks.
Timoney himself hustled toward the demonstrators and grabbed one by the arm.
''Take it easy. What's in the bag?'' Timoney said.
Two other officers rushed toward them and grabbed the demonstrator's bag, dumping its contents on the sidewalk. No rocks.
''Why are we being detained?'' one of them asked.
Timoney didn't answer. The cops released them.
''There's enough for a police officer to voice reasonable suspicion,'' Timoney said as he pedaled away.
A couple of hours later, Timoney joined Mayor Diaz and Miami City
Manager Joe Arriola, who arrived on Biscayne Boulevard and Flagler
Street in a golf cart. There were no police lines separating them from
the demonstrators.
The situation turned ugly once protesters recognized Diaz. They
surrounded him, yelling insults. Diaz braved it for a couple of minutes
before his bodyguards escorted him away in an SUV as protesters pounded
on the hood.
Timoney, who was next to Diaz, didn't flinch.
''It's street theater,'' Timoney scoffed. ``If I thought they were in danger, I would have called reinforcements in.''
ADRENALINE
By the time police began clashing with violent protesters on
Biscayne Boulevard about 3:30 p.m., adrenaline was the only thing
keeping Timoney on his feet. He had eaten only a banana and an oatmeal
cookie since 6 a.m.
He never put on a gas mask, not even as canisters filled with gas
landed around him. He fought off a gust of the acrid smoke by wiping
mucus and tears from his sunburned cheeks with a loud ``Argh!''
This is Timoney's moment. He lives for this.
CORPORATE JOB
He gave up a $300,000-a-year corporate job to get back on the
front lines, to take on another group of troublemakers as police chief
in another city.
The gas energized him. He was the first one who wanted to leap
over the police lines and tackle protesters. But he held himself back.
There was one guy in the crowd, tall, wrapped in a Brazilian flag
that Timoney wouldn't forget. He was throwing things at police and
yelling.
Later, three blocks up Southeast Third Street, which had been
marked with graffiti by retreating protesters, Timoney noticed that
undercover officers had slapped handcuffs on the man wrapped in the
Brazilian flag.
Timoney biked up to him, a stern look on his face.
''You're bad,'' the chief said, his finger pointing at the man's face. ``F--- you.''
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