Police took a much tougher line with protesters at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) summit following a day of violence in the streets on Tuesday, which led to the declaration of a state of civil emergency and an overnight curfew.
Following yesterday's arrival of President Clinton in a downtown area where the debris of Tuesday's violence was still being cleaned up, the police announced a "very aggressive" approach towards the anarchist gang which had vandalised numerous businesses.
The police yesterday immediately arrested any protesters who tried to enter a designated zone which included the site of the WTO talks and the Westin Hotel where President Clinton is staying.
Chief Norm Stamper praised the restraint of his 1,200-strong police force during Tuesday's demonstrations, but admitted that the policy of allowing mass protests against the WTO on the opening day of the summit and keeping arrests to a minimum had been a mistake.
The AFL-CIO march by about 30,000 trade unionists, which had been authorised by the police, was well-behaved and orderly, but on the fringes there were numerous environmental groups protesting against the WTO through sit-downs and street theatre which prevented delegates getting to the ceremonial opening, later cancelled.
The afternoon plenary session of the summit was able to start in spite of efforts to block delegates getting into the convention centre. Delegates from European and Asian countries expressed amazement that the police had let the demonstrators get so close to the WTO events.
In addition to the environmental groups, there was a small, highly mobile gang, described as "anarchists" or "vandals", which went on a rampage in the business district while the police were occupied with the other largely peaceful demonstrations.
The gang smashed windows, looted, sprayed graffiti, damaged cars and boarded and vandalised buses. Its members were a frightening sight as they moved through the district, dressed in black and with faces hidden by ski masks and hoods. But by the time the police were alerted to their violence, they had merged into the larger crowds. Reporters who asked them why they were doing this were told that "property destruction is not violence".
As WTO delegates sat in frustration in their hotels, unable to get to the summit, the police tried to dislodge the environmentalists and other anti-WTO demonstrators from street intersections by firing tear gas, pepper spray and rubber pellets.
The demonstrators overturned rubbish containers and set their contents on fire. By late afternoon, the downtown area of Seattle looked like a battlefield, as clouds of tear gas mingled with black smoke and police in black riot gear with armoured personnel carriers moved menacingly towards the lines of demonstrators who drummed and shouted their slogans.
As darkness began to fall, the worried Mayor of Seattle, Mr Paul Schell, conferred with the Governor of Washington state, Mr Gary Locke, and the police. With President Clinton due to arrive by midnight, the authorities feared there could be even more chaos in the darkened streets.
By declaring a state of civil emergency and a curfew for the downtown area, the mayor was able to call in the militarised National Guard to help the hard-pressed city police, who had been dealing with protests for two days and nights. The curfew isolated the troublemakers and made it easier to deal with them.
As the curfew was lifted yesterday morning, those who still wanted to protest were confronted with a much-changed situation. As soon as they tried to block the streets, they were handcuffed and dragged away to buses. Within half an hour, some 90 - mainly young - protesters had been arrested. This compared with the 60 arrests for the whole of the previous day, which saw a huge bill for destruction of property and the cancellation of the WTO opening ceremony.
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