by Tula Connell, Nov 20, 2007

Members of the United Steelworkers give a big thumbs down to FTAA as part of protests against the failed agreement in 2003.

Union members attacked and unlawfully detained at a 2003 trade rally in Miami are taking action against the Bush administration-inspired Big Brother tactics.

The AFL-CIO and the Alliance for Retired Americans last week filed a lawsuit against Miami police and other law enforcement agencies over their excessive force and intimidation during the 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) protests. The suit asks for “punitive damages” and a declaration that police violated protesters First, Fourth and Fifth Amendment guarantees and names police departments in Miami, Miami-Dade, Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Hialeah and the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.

The AFL-CIO and Alliance filed the lawsuit after two independent panels held a years-long investigation, which found the police were guilty of gross civil rights violations and police misconduct. Despite the panel findings, no criminal investigations were ever launched and no one was held accountable for the brutal response.

During the 2003 rally, officers from 40 different Florida law enforcement agencies were armed with armored personnel carriers, military helicopters and state of the art “crowd suppression” equipment paid for with more than $8 million in taxpayer funds originally appropriated for the Iraq war.

By the end of the day, thousands of law-abiding people had been gassed, beaten with batons and shot with rubber bullets. More than 300 people were injured and 250 were arrested. Almost none of those arrested were ever prosecuted for any crime.

Tens of thousands of people took part in the rally to oppose the FTAA, which was modeled after the failed North American Free Trade Agreement. The FTAA was supposed to cover most of the Western Hemisphere (all 34 countries of Latin America, the Caribbean and North America, with the exception of Cuba). But deep disagreements among the participating countries led to the suspension of negotiations in 2004, and few observers think the FTAA is likely to be revived anytime soon.

Shortly after the 2003 incident, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney called on former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for a full investigation. The lack of response by the Bush regime was tragically predictable, and part of the administration’s callousness toward working people—and the U.S. Constitution.

Fred Frost, president of the South Florida AFL-CIO, put the lawsuit in its basic context:

This lawsuit is about the ability of citizens of this country to continue to speak truth to power. It is what the principles of our country was founded on. Dissent is what has shaped this great nation; it is a vital component of our democracy.

The suit says while rally participants attempted to “engage in lawful and peaceful assembly and protest,”

defendants prevented Plaintiffs and other peaceful supporters and audience members from hearing constitutionally-protected speech about the FTAA, and from associating for the purpose of publicly expressing their political views…

Defendants’ unlawful conduct not only directly caused personal injury, financial losses and suppression of Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights, but also created a hostile climate that indirectly “chilled,” and continues to chill, the exercise of constitutional rights in South Florida.

In the days after the attacks on peaceful rally participants, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney described the efforts by the AFL-CIO to ensure freedom of speech and association were respected—and the Miami Police Department’s violations of those Constitutional rights.

The AFL-CIO engaged in good-faith negotiations over several months with the Miami Police Department to ensure a safe and secure event, and we kept our promises. But the Miami police violated virtually every agreement. They blocked access to the rally and march for buses and individuals; deployed tanks and scores of officers in riot gear in front of the rally entrance; denied march organizers access to water, signs and toilets; and pointed guns at and verbally abused those seeking guidance from the police. Peaceful protestors were swept up in police cordons, shot at with rubber bullets and pepper spray, arrested and even mistreated while in police custody.

James Taylor, a master carpenter and member of the Theatrical Stage Employees locals 477 and 500 in Miami, was on the job when he was attacked at the rally. He said that after being tear-gassed and hit by a rubber bullet while taking down the stage, he experienced difficulty seeing and breathing and it took nearly three weeks for his throat to sufficiently heal before he got his voice back.

Frost and Tony Fransetta, president of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, joined dozens of fired-up retirees, union members and supporters at a press conference last week at the Miami-Dade County police station to announce the suit. After the press conference, the activists served the police chief’s office with the papers for the lawsuit. Said Fransetta of the FTAA event:

On that day, you not only denied us our freedom. You have put a page in history that will haunt your right to those freedoms you had sworn to protect.

Two months ago, the Florida Alliance won a lawsuit against the city of Fort Lauderdale, preserving the use of certain signs during protests. In October, the Miami City Commission, without admitting wrongdoing, approved a share of a settlement of about half a million dollars to 21 protesters who alleged their constitutional rights had been violated.

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