Washington A16, 2000
{{Infobox civil conflict
| title = Washington A16, 2000
| partof = the anti-globalization movement
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| date = April 15–16, 2000
| place = Washington D.C.
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| arrests =More than 678
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File:April 16th, 2000, Washington DC, 17th & E Sts. 10.jpg
Washington A16, 2000 was a series of protests in Washington, D.C. against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, that occurred in April 2000.{{Cite magazine|last=Karon|first=Tony|date=2000-04-14|title=The Story Behind the Washington Protests|language=en-US|magazine=Time|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,43134,00.html|url-access=subscription|access-date=2020-10-19|issn=0040-781X}}{{Cite magazine|last=Pooley|first=Eric|date=2000-04-24|title=The IMF: Dr. Death?|language=en-US|magazine=Time|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,996693,00.html|url-access=subscription|access-date=2020-10-19|issn=0040-781X}} The annual IMF and World Bank meetings were the scene for follow-on protests of the 1999 WTO protests. In April 2000, between 10,000 and 15,000{{cite news| url=http://www.socialismtoday.org/47/a16.html| title=A16, Washington DC| issue= 47| date=May 2000| work=Socialism Today}} protesters demonstrated at the IMF, and World Bank meeting (official numbers are not tallied).{{Cite web|url = http://www.workers.org/ww/2000/diary0427.php|title = In the streets around the IMF|date = April 16, 2000|access-date = September 12, 2014|website = Workers World|publisher = workers.org|last = Griswold|first = Deirdre|archive-date = July 27, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140727030210/http://www.workers.org/ww/2000/diary0427.php|url-status = dead}}{{Cite web|url = https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/international-jan-june00-protesters_4-14/|title = Protesting Globalism|date = April 14, 2000|access-date = September 12, 2014|website = KQED, PBS NewsHour|publisher = PBS NewsHour|last = WARNER|first = MARGARET|archive-date = September 13, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140913101431/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/international-jan-june00-protesters_4-14/|url-status = dead}}
Planning
The International Forum on Globalization held non-violent civil disobedience training at Foundry United Methodist Church.{{Cite web |url=http://nova.wpunj.edu/newpolitics/issue29/lemisc29.htm |title="A Movement Begins: The Washington Protests Against IMF/World Bank", New Politics, Jesse Lemisch, vol. 8, no. 1, Summer 2000 |access-date=2017-07-24 |archive-date=2013-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217141509/http://nova.wpunj.edu/newpolitics/issue29/lemisc29.htm |url-status=dead }} The Convergence Center at 1328 Florida Avenue was an activists’ meeting hall where the nonviolence training and prop making occurred (such as signs and puppets). The protests were planned for April 16 and 17, concurrent dates as the planned meetings between the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.{{Cite web|last=Suellentrop|first=Chris|date=2000-04-12|title=The Battle of Washington.com|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2000/04/the-battle-of-washington-com.html|access-date=2020-10-19|website=Slate Magazine|language=en}} Many of the protesters wanted to see accountability put in place for the globalization process.{{Cite book|last=Sarkar|first=Rumu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVLZDwAAQBAJ|title=International Development Law: Rule of Law, Human Rights & Global Finance|date=2020-03-26|publisher=Springer Nature|isbn=978-3-030-40071-2|pages=79–80|language=en}}
The United Steelworkers of America president George Becker was a participant at the protest, alongside environmental activists Julia Butterfly Hill and Mike Roselle.{{Cite web|last=Lindsey|first=Daryl|date=2000-04-18|title=Labor Meets the Granola Crunchers|url=https://www.salon.com/2000/04/18/blue_green/|access-date=2020-11-13|website=Salon|publisher=Associated Press|language=en}}
April 15, 2000
File:Manhattan Laundry, DC.jpg on Florida Avenue]]
On April 15 the Washington D.C. Police preemptively raided (without a search warrant) the Convergence Center, citing fire safety. This police action was cited as an 'unconstitutional raid' during the subsequent class action lawsuit.
The day before the larger protest scheduled on April 16, a smaller group of protesters demonstration against the Prison-Industrial Complex in the District of Columbia.{{Cite web|url=http://www.justiceonline.org/april-2000-imf-mass-false|title=April 2000 IMF Mass False Arrests, Becker, et al. v. District of Columbia, et al.|website=The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund|access-date=September 12, 2014}} Mass arrests were conducted; 678 people were arrested,{{cite news| url=http://www.workers.org/ww/2000/dc0504.php| title=Broad condemnation of police repression| author=Sarah Sloan| work=Workers World| date=May 4, 2000| access-date=January 14, 2010| archive-date=August 19, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819082800/https://www.workers.org/ww/2000/dc0504.php| url-status=dead}} including bystanders, journalists and tourists when the police did a sweep of the block. Majority of the arrests on April 15 occurred at 20th Street NW between I and K streets.{{Cite web|url = http://www2.justiceonline.org/site/DocServer/Becker_Transcript_Fairness_Hearing.pdf?docID=1641|title = Benjamin Becker et al. vs. District of Columbia et al. Transcript of Fairness Hearing|date = June 30, 2010|access-date = September 12, 2014|work = justiceonline.org}} Three-time Pulitzer Prize winning, Washington Post photographer Carol Guzy was detained by police and arrested on April 15, and two journalists for the Associated Press also reported being struck by police with batons.{{cite web|url=http://www.rcfp.org/news/mag/24-2/pah-anderson.html|title=Reporters arrested covering violence in D.C., Miami, war in Chechnya - Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press|date=31 October 2011|access-date=24 February 2017}}
These arrests on April 15 were accused of being false and later spurred a class action lawsuit called 'Becker, et al. v. District of Columbia, et al..'.
April 16, 2000
Lawsuits
File:April 16th, 2000, Washington DC, 17th & I Sts. 17.jpg
In June 2010, the class-action lawsuit for the April 15th events called Becker, et al. v. District of Columbia, et al were settled, with $13.7 million damages awarded.{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/06/AR2010010604625.html?sub=AR| title=D.C. mass arrest settlement offers needed reminder of rights| author= Robert McCartney| date= January 7, 2010| newspaper=The Washington Post }}{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/30/AR2010063005200.html| title=D.C. agrees to $13.7 million settlement in 2000 mass arrest| newspaper=The Washington Post| date=July 1, 2010| author=Maria Glod}}
Other, similar lawsuits have stemmed from mass arrests in the District of Columbia in recent years. In 2009, the city agreed to pay $8.25 million to almost 400 protesters and bystanders to end a class-action lawsuit over mass arrests in Pershing Park during 2002 World Bank protests, according to the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, which also represented those plaintiffs.
See also
References
{{reflist|3}}
External links
- [http://www.ifg.org/analysis/imf/IMFteach-in.html "Beyond Seattle ~ Focus on the International Monetary Fund & the World Bank teachin", International Forum on Globalization]
- [http://tech.mit.edu/V120/N17/col17plaro.17c.html "In Protest of the IMF and World Bank", Philippe C. Larochelle]
- [http://www.wesleyan.edu/hermes/prev/may00/12A.htm "A 16 and Beyond", Hermes, May 2000, Adam Hurter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106013757/http://www.wesleyan.edu/hermes/prev/may00/12A.htm |date=2011-01-06 }}
- [https://www.salon.com/2000/04/18/blue_green/ "Labor meets the granola crunchers"] interview with United Steelworkers boss George Becker about the A16 protests (April 18, 2000) from Salon.com
- Video: [https://www.c-span.org/video/?156637-1/imfworld-bank-protests IMF/World Bank Protests] (April 16, 2000) from CSPAN
{{Anti-globalization}}
Category:Anti-globalization protests
Category:Protests in Washington, D.C.
Category:Riots and civil disorder in Washington, D.C.
Category:Political violence in the United States
Category:International Monetary Fund