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This weekend the PBS program
Now with Bill Moyers airs a segment on the protests in Miami during the
Free Trade Area of the Americas summit in November. I haven't seen the
20-minute piece, but the producers said they were interested in
examining the protests as part of a larger theme the show has dealt with
in recent months, the criminalization of dissent.
The criminalization of dissent.
Four words that capture what I've clumsily tried to write about.
The criminalization of dissent is precisely what took place in Miami.
There is a popular view in Miami that a hemispheric trade agreement would benefit this city and create as many as 89,000 new jobs
in Florida. And all Miami had to do was avoid the mayhem Seattle
experienced when it hosted a World Trade Organization meeting in 1999.
NEW ORDINANCE PASSED
The Miami City Commission helped the police, passing an ordinance
just prior to the summit that civil liberty advocates said narrowed free
speech and the right of assembly. During a hearing earlier this month,
U.S. District Judge Donald Graham, said: ``Frankly, I think if anyone,
any judge, looks at the law and looks at the ordinance, the result is
pretty apparent. It appears as though the statute is not
constitutional.''
Of course, many folks in Miami couldn't care less if the ordinance
is unconstitutional because they assume it will never affect them.
We cherish our own rights but are cavalier about the rights of
others, especially those who are different, either because they look
different or they hold unpopular beliefs or they are considered an
outsider. It's OK if we enact laws targeting these people because we
tell ourselves those in authority will only go after bad people. We call
it a necessary evil.
UNCHECKED POWER
We've seen this debate in regard to racial profiling and the
Patriot Act. As the FTAA once again proves, the police are not very
adept at sorting out the good guys from the bad. And that unchecked
power, no matter how well intended, is the greatest threat to our
liberty.
In Miami we gave the police a club and they wielded it
indiscriminately, striking seniors and retirees, union members and
environmentalists, reporters and innocent bystanders. No matter how
legitimate your belief or your actions, if you were downtown during the
FTAA, you were viewed with suspicion, forced to walk past riot-clad
officers and treated as if you were doing something wrong.
You were made to feel un-American.
As The Herald reported Sunday, of the 234 people who were arrested,
a third have had their charges dropped, dismissed or been acquitted;
another third have had their prosecutions deferred or adjudication
withheld -- which almost always leads to the charges being dismissed --
and the final third are awaiting court dates.
Number of convictions: One.
THE COST OF CITY'S IMAGE
The police cost is now estimated at $23.9 million, most of it for overtime and to buy new equipment, including uniforms and weapons.
Here's a thought: Anyone else think the police used the FTAA hysteria to go on an unnecessary, taxpayer-financed shopping spree to buy millions of dollars in gadgets and gear?
And while you ponder that, see if this makes sense: To avoid
Seattle's $3 million in property damage, we spent $23.9 million on
security.
Angel Calzadilla, executive assistant to Miami police Chief John
Timoney, noted: ``You can't put a price tag on the damage to the city's
image that we prevented by being out there.''
Unfortunately, Miami's image took a major hit during the FTAA.
Mayor Manny Diaz's ''Miami Model'' is now synonymous with the creation
of a police state where cops in riot gear stand over bloody protesters.
But don't take my word for it, watch for yourself.
The PBS program Now with Bill Moyers airs across the country on Friday and in South Florida at 10:30 a.m. Sunday on WPBT-PBS 2.
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