Police Portraying Protesters as 'Terrorists'

TOM HAYS / AP 29jan02

NEW YORK -- Saying police were more likely to provoke violence, anti-globalization activists planning peaceful protests of the World Economic Forum said Tuesday authorities are portraying them as terrorists. "The police have been putting up a counter-campaign trying to portray the protesters as terrorists," Mac Scott said at a Manhattan news conference called by protest organizers.

Another activist, Star Hawk, accused news media of focusing on a potential clash between demonstrators and the police, rather than the protesters' message of "global justice" for the poor and for developing nations.

"There is no secret cabal of violent thugs in the movement," she said.

The comments came a day after police officials announced plans to use nearly 4,000 officers to secure several blocks around the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in midtown Manhattan. About 3,000 political and business leaders will meet there Thursday-Monday for discussions on the world economy.

Citing street violence that has erupted at similar international forums in recent years, New York authorities say they will strictly enforce order. One law, dating to 1845, bars demonstrators from wearing masks.

Leaders of labor, student and environmental groups told reporters that peaceful demonstrations were planned for each day of the conference. Some will feature giant papier-mache puppets and song and dance, including a "Radical Rockette kick line."

"For weeks, the police have been training in riot tactics," said Brooke Lehman of Direct Action Network. "We've been training in samba, puppetry and street theater."

Partly as a show of solidarity with a city stricken by terrorism, the World Economic Forum is being held in New York instead of the Swiss ski resort of Davos, where it has been held for 31 years.

Protesters call the Forum "the dining club for the ruling class." Forum organizers counter by suggesting that angry demonstrations would be inappropriate after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.