Honorable Bill Frist Senate Republican Leader S-230 Capitol Building Washington, D.C. 20510
Honorable J. Dennis Hastert Speaker of the House R-14-IL Rayburn House Office Bldg Washington, D.C.20515
Honorable Tom Daschle Senate Democratic Leader S-221 Capitol Building Washington, D.C. 20510
Honorable Nancy Pelosi House Democratic Leader H-204 Capitol Building Washington, D.C. 20515
Honorable Tom DeLay House Republican Leader H-107 Capitol Building Washington, D.C. 20515
Greetings:
Last week, the fundamental rights of thousands of Americans —
including our Union’s active members and retirees, members of other
AFL-CIO unions, our allies in the Citizens Trade Campaign and Public
Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, as well as members of United Students
Against Sweatshops — who had gathered in Miami to peacefully protest the
creation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) were blatantly
violated, sometimes violently, by the Miami police, who systematically
repressed our Constitutional right to free assembly with massive force,
riot gear and armaments, including combat vehicles.
It is condemnable enough that a massive police state was created
to prevent American citizens from directly petitioning FTAA negotiators
for redress of their grievances, for there can be no doubt that using
massive armed force to deny us the right to publicly and peacefully
confront them put the full powers of the state in the service of the
multinational corporations and financiers who singularly benefit from
the expansion of so-called "free trade."
It is doubly condemnable that $9 million of federal funds designated for the reconstruction of Iraq were used toward this despicable purpose. How can we hope to
build democracy in Iraq while using massive force to dismantle it here
at home?
The obvious purpose of the repressive police presence in Miami
was, at a minimum, to intimidate us and limit the exercise of our
rights. Phalanxes of police in riot gear stretched for blocks, as did
police cars buttressed bumper to bumper. These heavily armed forces
gratuitously instigated tensions by forcing demonstrators to pass
through narrow gauntlets merely to enter sites for which the AFL-CIO had
secured permits for rallies and parades. Indeed, a manned, armored
personnel carrier sat poised within a few yards from the entrance to the
venue.
The specter of thousands of union members, many of whom have
served the nation with great honor in combat, being forced to walk such a
gauntlet, as if they were a common enemy rather than law abiding
citizens united in common cause, was truly appalling.
Unfortunately, the exercise of unwarranted force was even worse, in many instances, than the affront created by its threat.
• When the wife of a retired Steelworker from Grantsville, Utah,
verbally protested what she considered the abusive treatment of a
student activist at the entrance of the AFL-CIO rally on Friday,
November 21, she was slammed to the ground face down by police and a gun
was aimed point blank at the back of her head. A Steelworker who
witnessed the violent repression reported that she was so terrified that
her entire body was literally vibrating.
• In a case of blatant entrapment, a secretary in our
International Headquarters in Pittsburgh, and a local Steelworker
activist from Wisconsin who had worked all day as a parade marshal and
was wearing a bright orange marshal’s vest emblazoned with the words
"AFL-CIO Peace Keeper," were returning to their hotel, when they were
directed by armed police to abandon the sidewalk and to proceed down a
set of trolley tracks. Once on the tracks, they were immediately pounced
upon by armed riot police, handcuffed and arrested. They were forced to
remain in cuffs for hours on end, even when visiting the washroom.
• The Co-Director of Citizens’ Trade Campaign was forced to the
ground and had a gun put to the back of her head while peacefully
attempting to enter the AFL-CIO rally at the Bayfront Amphitheater.
Furthermore, the headquarters of Citizens’ Trade and Global Trade Watch
were surrounded and under constant surveillance by armed riot police.
These were just some among countless instances of humiliating repression in which the Miami police force disgraced itself.
Based on these disgraceful circumstances, we believe several actions should immediately be taken.
First, Miami Police Chief John Timoney should be fired.
Second, all charges against peaceful demonstrators should be dropped.
Finally, since federal funds helped finance the violation of our members’ constitutional
right of free assembly, a Congressional investigation into the Miami
Police Department’s systematic repression should immediately be
launched.
To do less would be to endorse homeland repression in the guise of homeland security.
Respectfully,
Leo W. Gerard International President LWG/kir
c: USWA International Executive Board Manuel A. Diaz, Mayor, City of Miami Alex Penelas, Mayor, Miami-Dade County Katherine Fernandez Rundle, State Attorney Alejandro Vilarello, City Attorney Jeb Bush, Governor |