http://www.interlog.com/~cjazz/seattle.htm All out Chemical Warfare was used on protesters at World Trade Org demo in Seattle. Before police and military personnel got out of control in Seattle a tense meeting took place among federal, state and city officials in a command center at Seattle police headquarters. The decisions made in that meeting led to the creation of a "no protest" zone and downtown curfew, and the decision to use chemical weapons and extreme violence to create such a zone. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Attorney General Janet Reno were active in pressuring Seattle officials to crack down on the protests. -------- CNN confirmed the presence of active US military chemical warfare specialists in Seattle for the WTO meeting. They were there as "anti-terrorism" advisors. Weapons used by police in Seattle on protesters include rubber bullets, tear gas grenades,hand-held pepper-spray canisters, flash-bang grenades, an armored personnel carrier, and an attack helicopter are all part of the department's crowd-control arsenal. Paint balls filled with pepper spray were fired from a high speed hopper gun to torture and mark protestors. Police dressed all in black used nightsticks the size of baseball bats shot plastic bullets, pepper spray. They fired heavy canisters of gas over protestors' heads. One flying grenade struck a woman between the eyes. Forces included the Seattle Police Department N, the King County Sheriff, the U.S. Secret Service, the Port of Seattle Police, the Federal Protective Service, and at least one other agency that police spokesman refused to identify. The tear gases used were OC, widely known as pepper spray, and deadly CS. Police fired tear gas and pepper spray indiscriminately without provocation or warning. Flash-bang grenades were fired high in the air where to explode with a brilliant light and a very loud explosion. Helicopters with a spotlight moved in on protestors and on Capitol Hill, police used a brilliant spotlight while simultaneously firing tear gas grenades over the heads of protesters. An armored personnel carrier was used as a platform from which to launch tear-gas, flash-bang, and rubber bullet attacks. Evidence of Nerve Gas KIRK JAMES MURPHY, MD: Individuals exposed to chemical weapons in the late afternoon and evening of December 1st at two locations downtown blocks adjacent to Pike Place Market and the Seattle neighborhood of Capitol Hill evinced and reported a pattern of symptoms which is inconsistent with the pattern of symptoms which may be ascribed to irritating agents. This "atypical" pattern of symptoms includes the rapid onset of: mydriasis (pupillary dilation) with resultant impairment of visual acuity; tachycardia (rapid heart rate) with some palpitations; new-onset hypertension (high blood pressure) in one individual; nausea, vomiting, diarrhea (persisting for days after exposure); abrupt or immediate onset of menstruation (asynchronous with usual menstrual cycle); muscular fasciculation (twitches); muscular dyscoordination; lethargy, confusion, disorientation, diminished concentration, nocturnal hallucinations. Moreover, some casualties reported an abrupt experience of loss of muscular tone and strength that sometimes (but not always) immediately preceded a loss of consciousness; one observer of these affected individuals reported uncontrolled, spasmodic movements in those affected. Some individuals exposed in the Pike Place Market area reported that the aforementioned symptoms came immediately after exposure to a non-irritating agent which was did not cause pain, lacrimation, or burning on mucous membranes. . . . The pattern of symptoms is not consistent with known mechanisms of action of the irritant chemical weapons OC, CS, or CN. The pattern, however, is consistent with disruption of neurotransmitter activity. Lamentably, the single most compelling explanation for the observed findings is the (deliberate or accidental) inclusion of "incapacitating agents" which disrupt neuronal function in the chemical munitions discharged by law enforcement agencies in Seattle during the WTO protest. While direct cholinergic effects or indirect (inhibition of acetylcholinesterase) effects arising from synergistic combinations (of OC, CS, and CN) cannot be ruled out at this time, the experience and observations Medical Collective members, together with the aforementioned information, appears to most robustly support the hypothesis that the casualties described above resulted from exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors used as chemical weapons in crowd control. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported on December 4 that the Seattle Police Department had to replenish its chemical weapons stocks by going to outside sources. Various individuals have reported being told by individual law enforcement officers that chemical weapons in addition to OC, CS, and CN were deployed by various entities; these anecdotal accounts are not yet confirmed. Any information regarding the use of chemical munitions in addition to OC, CS or CN, as well as information regarding the discharge of chemical weapons by agencies other than the Seattle Police Department would be helpful. . . If you were exposed to chemical weapons during the WTO protests and have the pattern of "atypical" symptoms discussed below, please make a written, signed, and dated account of your exposure, including details such as the (approximate) location in which you were exposed and the date and part of the day (morning, midday, afternoon, evening) of your exposure, as well as the nature of your symptoms. Please send such accounts to the email above and to the ACLU unit investigating law enforcement actions in Seattle during the WTO protests. KIRK JAMES MURPHY, MD: mailto:kmurphy@ucla.edu =========== Questions on force and chemical weapons - Dec/99 A small number of Special Forces troops, were sent to Seattle by the Defense Department for the meeting of the World Trade Organization. The military mission, according to the Pentagon, was to provide support to the FBI, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Secret Service and other government agencies responsible for security there. Four special forces troops from the Joint Special Operations Task Force were deployed to Seattle to be on hand to advise FBI "crisis support" agents. Fifty-five military Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams, along with 25 explosive-detecting dogs and their handlers, were sent. The soldiers wore civilian attire -- keeping a low presence, Defense Department documents say. Troops from the U.S. Army Biological-Chemical Command and many other US military outfits were there. Six members of the Wyoming Air National Guard lent a hand by flying 3,300 pounds of civilian riot control munitions from Casper, Wyo., to Seattle. This leads many people to wonder exactly who really was in command of all police and military personnel once the city went into a state of "Civil Emergency"? It also raises the very serious question as to why police were allowed to roam the streets with authority to use deadly force if necessary without proper identification? Were some of these unidentifiable police in actuality military personnel and is this the reason they refused to give proper identification when asked? In light of allegations of various "strange symptoms" not normally associated with the effects of tear gas on people and the possible harm to the environment, a disclosure of the exact contents of the 3,300 pounds of civilian control munitions from Casper, Wyo., to Seattle is indeed in order. Were neurotoxins part of this dispatch (or any dispatch) of "civilian control munitions"? -------- Some Facts on the Policing and Chemical Weapons Use * Seattle cops worked closely with Feds who in turn were advised by active US military including Special Forces * Federal agents spread rumors among local police: "Expect five to six officers deaths" * Panicked Seattle cops armed themselves with gas including some provided by Federal agents in Wyoming --------- "We had some follow-up meetings and an officer whose brother works for King County said there was FBI and Secret Service in their riot training sessions and they were told to fully anticipate that five to six officers would be lost during the protests, either seriously injured or killed." - Brett Smith, 10 year veteran of the Seattle Police Posted to alt.law-enforcement from article in SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER Also from P-I: "A handful of officers took matters into their own hands, getting permission to empty the munitions stores of police departments in Auburn, Renton and Tukwila, the King County Jail and the Department of Corrections. In addition, some drove around in a sport-utility vehicle to buy chemical agents from a local law enforcement supply business. Meanwhile, a police captain flew to Casper, Wyo., to pick up a stock of gas from federal agents." * Local chief says he does not know how his loaned officers were trained Source: http://www.seattle-pi.com/local/cops09.shtml "The image is shocking: A SWAT officer on riot duty last week during the World Trade Organization protests kicks an unarmed man in the groin. Then he fires a beanbag round from his rifle at close range while the man retreats, hands high above his head. Today, the Tukwila police officer returns to desk duty after a week's suspension from the Valley Emergency Services Unit as his supervisors look into the Dec. 1 incident." "We need to understand what the circumstances were; what they were instructed to do," the chief said. Brass Check - http://www.brasscheck.com --------