ANTI-ANTI-TERRORISM

Law enforcement meeting draws protesters (ARTURO SANTIAGO, 06/02/2003, KING 5 News)

Two protesters have reportedly been taken into custody by Seattle police during a demonstration by several hundred people who are protesting a meeting by a police association.

Northwest Cable News reports the two people were placed on the ground and put into temporary, plastic handcuffs.

According to Seattle Police, a large crowd of about 50 people got out of hand around 8:30 p.m. SPD used pepper spray.

Representatives of about 250 police and federal security agencies are meeting in Seattle with the Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit. This week's training seminar is called "Criminal Intelligence and the War on Terrorism." [...]

"We felt an opportunity to shine a spotlight on this extremely behind-the-scenes, secretive organization was extremely important," said organizer Luma Nichol of the Freedom Socialist Party.

Among the activists' concerns are post-9/11 laws such as the USA Patriot Act, which gives the government new powers to use wiretaps, electronic surveillance and other information gathering. Opponents say it violates civil liberties; supporters say it has helped fight terrorism.

"They are using government resources, they should be subject to the freedom of information act in every state," said Mickey Gendler, ACLU Committee Chair. [...]

Spokespersons with the FBI and the Seattle Police Department did not immediately return calls Sunday seeking comment on the activists' plans.

Both organizations are listed as seminar co-hosts, along with the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, the Washington State Patrol, the state Gambling Commission, the King County sheriff and prosecutor's offices, the Seattle Police Department, and a handful of city and county police agencies.

Topics to be addressed at the LEIU seminar include international terrorism, bioterrorism, threat assessment, hate groups and "criminal protest groups," according to an LEIU news release.

If you're opposed to anti-terrorism efforts, aren't you pro-terrorism? Posted by Orrin Judd at June 3, 2003 8:05 AM