Chief Timoney Sets the Record Straight with the AFL-CIO

author: Submitted by Jeffrey Keating

Nov. 25 letter to Fred Frost, President of the South Florida AFL-CIO, from Police Chief Timoney to, in his words, set the record straight about the events leading up to the FTAA.

November 25, 2003

City of Miami
John F. Timoney
Chief of Police

Mr. Fred Frost
South Florida AFL-CIO
7910 NW 25th Street , #201
Miami, FL 33122

Dear Mr. Frost,

Given the accusatory tome and selective recollection displayed in recent comments made by certain members of the AFL-CIO, it is important to set the record straight about the events leading up to last week�s Free Trade Area of the Americas Summit in Miami.

The Miami Police Department engaged in many months of dialog with the AFL-CIO to agree on an appropriate forum in which the union could express its opposition to the FTAA. The City of Miami�s independent Community Relations Board facilitated the discussions witch included numerous face-to-face meetings and site visits. All parties agreed that the AFL-CIO should have a forum that permitted a vigorous exercise of free speech while protecting private property and, more importantly, ensuring the personal safety of all participants including police officers, union members and other protestors. The negotiations progressed with the express aim of preventing a reoccurrence of the massive criminal mayhem that accompanied the AFL-CIO�s protest at the World Trade Organization in Seattle in 1999.

During our pre-Summit discussions, the AFL-CIO�s representatives made clear their intention to seek negotiations with the "Direct Action" groups whose coalition of protestors includes the self-described "anarchists" responsible for the violence in Seattle and multiple subsequent cities hosting the world trade events. These anarchists had long promised that they would repeat their violent behavior in Miami during the FTAA. Nevertheless, the AFL-CIO did not hide its desire to reach an arrangement with these Direct Action groups that would permit the coalition participants to achieve whatever goals they set for themselves in Miami provided that they promised not to cause disruption during the union�s own protest activities. The police Department expressed its concern and doubt that any concessions or support provided by the AFL-CIO to the coalition groups would produce a reliable promise for non-interference from those in the groups expressing their intention to commit violence. On the contrary, the Police Department maintained that any accommodations permitting these groups to participate in the AFL-CIO�s lawful and sanctioned protest events would only serve to increase the opportunity for these groups to engage in unlawful and violent behavior from within the cover of the union�s events.

The City of Miami approached the negotiations with the AFL-CIO in good faith. The Police Department made a number of concessions at the union�s request including permitting the AFL-CIO parade to start and finish at the Bayfront Park Amphitheater and authorizing a parade route that included the vulnerable commercial district of Flagler Street. In the weeks preceding the FTAA Summit, all parties were agreed on the parade route and on the hosting by the union of several rallies at the Amphitheater. Throughout the months of negotiation, the Police Department was clear that all plans were subject to change should the police be confronted with violence during the actual Summit week.

On Monday, the very day that the Summit commenced , the AFL-CIO introduced a new participant to the dialog with the Miami Police Department, Mr. Ron Judd. Mr. Judd identified himself as a Seattle regional leader of the AFL-CIO. He boasted of his primary role in coordinating the disastrous Seattle protest in 1999. Mr. Judd explained that the AFL-CIO had been unsuccessful in convincing coalition groups to schedule their unlawful activities on a day other than Thursday when the union�s own march was scheduled. This stance should not have been a surprise to Mr. Judd given the past history of these groups. Mr.. Judd indicated that he was personally aware of specific plans for attacking the police line but claimed he was not at liberty to share these plans with the police. Mr. Judd did suggest that the Police Department should make certain concessions to those groups expected to engage in unlawful and disruptive behavior. He also suggested that the police should allow the coalition groups to tear down a portion of the security fence in the hope that such a bloodletting would appease their desire to make an aggressive statement. Of course, the Miami Police Department rejected this suggestion and repeated its firm belief that those individuals and groups determined to commit violence would use any concessions by the union or the police as an opportunity for even greater violence and mayhem.

The first days of the FTAA Summit week saw alternating periods of tension and celebration amongst protestors. The forty-plus police agencies deployed for the event made independent decisions as to what protective gear and levels of preparedness were appropriate in their respective geographical areas of responsibility at any given time. After two days of relative calm, most agencies had selected "soft" uniforms and the Miami Police Department had negotiated the reopening of the Bayside Marketplace for patronization by union members attending the Wednesday night labor rally at the Amphitheater. Unfortunately. The calm was disrupted early on Thursday morning.

The AFL-CIO and police were both aware that coalition protestors vowed unlawful direct actions against police lines starting a 7 AM on Thursday. This vow was broadcast in television interviews, on the internet and even from the stage of the Amphitheater during the labor rally on Wednesday night. There was little doubt that this promise would be kept. The Police Department, however, doubted the additional promise secured by the AFL-CIO that those protests would end at 9 AM in advance of the union�s planned activities.

Two separate groups of coalition protestors initiated simultaneous marches throughout downtown Miami on Thursday morning. One group of several hundred protestors proceeded to the police security fence at Biscayne Boulevard and Flagler Street, directly in front of the Intercontinental Hotel. Police officers escorted these marchers despite their lack of a parade permit. Police also permitted the protestors to reach the security fence despite our public vow to prevent such an approach. The goodwill shown by police in attempting to provide the protestors with such symbolic victories was in vain. Police cooperation was met with a barrage of debris and the storming of officers by the protestors. Grappling hooks were attached to the security fence in an attempt to pull it down. Only the swift and courageous action of police using non-lethal tools foiled their plans and dispersed the violent crowd. At this point, the tenor of the day as changed and police were compelled to adopt a more defensive posture.

Following the morning�s violence, the biggest challenge to policing the AFL-CIO�s events was created by the union�s insistence on opening those events to non-union members despite police concerns. This decision placed thousands of union members and retirees together with hundreds of non-union protestors including those who had resorted to violence only hours earlier. Sadly, this invitation proved to be one last failed attempt to buy peace.

During the union�s parade and rallies, the presence of outside protestors laid waste to several logistic plans. Police and AFL-CIO representatives had agreed to allow a very limited number of buses to transport some protestors to the Amphitheater while requiring the other buses to disembark in the vicinity of the Miami Arena a few short blocks away. However, despite assurances of non-interference given to the AFL-CIO by the coalition groups, crowds from the morning protests caused traffic congestion that prevented any buses from reaching the Amphitheater. All the buses were able to reach the Miami Arena staging area. AFL-CIO Marshals then publicly announced that the rallies at the Amphitheater would be open to all. The union decided that these same Marshals, along with private security guards provided by the Amphitheater, would search the bags of all those seeking entry to the venue. The volume of overfilled backpacks to be searched resulted in long delays, increased tensions and even physical confrontations on the access lines. Despite these obstacles, police continued to accommodate union requests whenever possible. Marshals were escorted through police lines on multiple trips for food and water. The AFL-CIO parade wad escorted without incident by Miami Police Department bicycle officers in short sleeves and short pants. Police officers wearing protective armor were moved several blocks away form the parade route in recognition of the peaceful mature of the AFL-CIO marchers. Towards the close of the final rally, I was personally arranging the arrival of buses to the Amphitheater for the transport of seniors to their hotels. At this point, anarchist protestors leaving the AFL-CIO rally and others congregating in front of the Amphitheater began attacking police officers.

The Miami Police Department and its law enforcement partners, in training for the FTAA, placed primary emphasis on avoiding the use of force. This goal was impossible to achieve due to the violent actions of unaffiliated protestors using labor events and membership as cover. As these criminals exited the Amphitheater, they attacked police lined up one block to the South between the protestors and the Intercontinental Hotel. As had occurred in the morning attack, officers were pummeled with projectiles including rocks, bottles, slingshot-fired marbles and steel bolts, paint, unidentified white powder, unidentified liquids feared to be human excrement, powerful fireworks and ignited road flares. Protestors set fires and erected roadblocks. A firm, rapid response was necessary to prevent severe injuries and significant property damage.

Officers were called in from reserve positions. Police prevented union protestors from exiting the Amphitheater in order to protect them from becoming engulfed in the violent crowd gathered on Biscayne Boulevard. Scores of violent protestors refused multiple dispersion orders broadcast by police. Non-lethal equipment was deployed to target specific individuals engaged in acts of violence and provocation. Unlike their anarchist adversaries, police did not use wide-dispersing tear gas on the crowd die to the presence of members of the press and other non-combatants. Instead, police deployed pepper spray balls and other equipment designed to target specific individuals as opposed to entire crowds. In minutes, officers succeeded in separating the violent and non-complying individuals from Biscayne Boulevard where a number of union members and other lawful protestors were located when the anarchists initiated their attack from within the union�s ranks.

I very much regret every occasion when police have to resort to force to overcome a violent attack. This is particularly true when the organized attack is mounted from within a group of law-abiding citizens. The Miami Police Department is undertaking a comprehensive review of the entire FTAA security operation and will produce a public report of our findings. We hope that your organization will undertake a similar review to assess the effect of its failed efforts to appease and welcome those who have publicly declared it as their intention to use violence as both the means and the ends of their protest.

Sincerely,
John F. Timoney
Chief of Police

Cc: Honorable Mayor Manny Diaz, City of Miami
Joe Arriola, Chief Administrator/City Manager, City of Miami
John Sweeney, President, AFL-CIO
Jack Blumenfeld, Vice Chairperson, Community Relations Board, City of Miami
George Wysong, III, Police Legal Counsel
Editor, Miami Herald

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Add a comment on this article

One Question

25.Dec.2003 01:59

marco

Dear Interim Chief John Fascist Timoney,

You checked each and every one of those lies with your attorneys
to make sure you were right within the border of slander and libel,
right?

That's all I can say for now,
marco

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Chief Timoney Sets the Record Straight with the AFL-CIO