National Public Radio
All Things Considered
MICHELE NORRIS, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
I'm Robert Siegel.
In
Miami, investigators are looking into the behavior of city and county
police during an international ministerial conference there last year.
Security for the talks to establish a Free Trade Area of the Americans
virtually closed off downtown Miami. Officials also severely limited
access to planned protests nearby. Inside the yellow tape, talks went
off with a hitch. Outside, protestors said they were harassed, beaten,
even shot at without cause. As NPR's Phillip Davis reports, two civilian
panels are investigating.
PHILLIP DAVIS reporting:
Last
November, as diplomats negotiated the subtleties of trade agreements
inside the Hyatt Hotel downtown, on the streets outside it was a
different story.
(Soundbite of protests)
DAVIS: Phalanxes of police in riot gear patrolled closed streets, shouting at wayward protestors to get back.
(Soundbite of protests)
DAVIS:
Police say they were trying to keep city streets safe for citizens,
that they feared anarchists had infiltrated the ranks of union members,
retirees and young protestors who opposed a new trade treaty. The
protestors never even got close to the talks. Mayor Manny Diaz called
what happened in Miami a model for other cities facing similar protests.
But
now many are questioning the Miami model. Charges against most of the
protestors have already been dropped, and now two civilian investigative
panels are looking into allegations of police misconduct. At a recent
hearing at City Hall, the panels were inundated with stories of angry
residents and people who came to protest. Protestor Nikki Hartman said
she had nothing but prayer beads in her hands when she was shot with rubber bullets.
Ms. NIKKI HARTMAN (Protestor): I was bruised, I was humiliated. And there are actually photographs and video
which I am more than happy to turn over of me crawling, all fours,
crawling, scared, hurt, and trying to get away. And that was before they
shot me in the head.
DAVIS: Barbara Buck, a Miami resident who's
described herself as a 57-year-old working mother, said police officers
created an atmosphere of intimidation and chaos at the demonstration.
Ms.
BARBARA BUCK (Miami Resident): When the march ended, as people prepared
to leave the area, commotion started from the south. All at once, tear
gas was being fired off and the crowd ran, first north, blocked by a
wall of police, then west. I heard shots being fired and I didn't know
if they were real bullets or not. Could this be another Kent State? I
was afraid of being hit and gassed. I was running for my life.
DAVIS:
Thousands of union members who had come to protest the talks originally
cheered the police presence, said Fred Frost, an attorney with the
AFL-CIO.
Mr. FRED FROST (Attorney, AFL-CIO): They came to Miami
to peacefully protest for a better life for their children, for their
friends, for their grandchildren. And what happened? They were thrown to
the ground, rifles were pointed at their heads, they were denied
rest-room facilities. We had one individual who's paid taxes all his
life, longer than I've been alive on this Earth, fought in a war to
defend this country, and he was denied bathroom facilities and he soiled
himself. He faced the indignity of soiling himself.
DAVIS: Even
Richard Trumka, the national treasurer of the union, was stopped and
searched by police as he entered a restaurant, Frost said, adding that
the union is not going to forget how its members were treated.
Mr.
FROST: The AFL and the entire labor movement and I am personally
committed to making sure that this brutality never happens again.
DAVIS:
Though the civilian investigative panel has the power to subpoena
witnesses, it cannot levy sanctions against the police, only make
recommendations. But Janet R. McAiley, the panel's vice president, said
the hearing threw needed light on what happened during the FTAA meeting.
Mr.
JANET R. McAILEY (Vice President, Civilian Investigative Panel): I
think that was very healthy. I think we need to have that public
exchange relative to police activities with the public.
DAVIS:
Miami Police Chief John Timoney had no comment on the allegations, but
he will testify at the next hearing of the civilian panels on February
5th. Phillip Davis, NPR News, Miami.
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