International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union takes to the streets.
The Tear Gas Ministerial: Introduction | Previous
by Casey Nelson
Casey Nelson took these photos on November 29, 1999.
On that day, a march against the World Trade Organization Seattle Ministerial, sponsored by the AFL-CIO labor federation and many other groups, brought an estimated 50,000 people into the streets of Seattle. It was accompanied by widespread civil disobedience which spread throughout downtown and surrounding neighborhoods and continued into the evening. Police in riot gear responded with tear and pepper gas and stun grenades in an effort to clear the streets.
The march and civil disobedience actions were largely peaceful and disciplined; only a handful of protesters broke windows and trashed businesses, while many others tried to prevent the violence.
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International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union takes to the streets. |
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United Steel Workers of America members chanting. |
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Filmmaker Michael Moore (in Yankee cap) works the crowd. |
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Internationalism on parade: French demonstrators. |
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A speaker addresses marchers during the march through downtown Seattle. |
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Picketers near the Seattle Convention Center, site of the WTO meeting. |
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Seattle police in riot gear talk with demonstrators. |
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Demonstrators sit down on Pike Street a block from the Seattle Convention Center. |
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A demonstrator tears down a WTO banner. |
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Witnesses hold up a rubber bullet they said was fired by police at protesters. |
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Broken windows in downtown Seattle during the demonstration. |
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A police car in downtown Seattle the evening of the demonstration. |
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An official WTO meeting inside Bell Harbor on the Seattle waterfront. |
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Pine Street during an evening of confrontations. |
Casey Nelson lives in Bellingham, Washington.