tuesday . november . thirty . nineteen ninety nine i spent the day at the offices of a labor group that i'm not going to disclose here. i got there at five a.m. to field phone calls from fellow workers (fw's) out on the front lines. a couple of them had cel phones and i was acting as a kind of media watch/go between/tactics mediator. i was also the "oh shit, i've been arrested" line. here is a transcript of the notes i was taking (omitting tactical information about specific fw's): 5-9 a.m: radio coverage is brief, traffic warnings and speculation. 9:10 a.m.: protesters preventing wto delegates from getting into the convention center. threats of tear gas. some delegates sheepishly admitt to press that they agree with the protesters. 10 a.m. radio news: taiwanese delegates "politely" declined entrance to the center. "some success" in keeping delegates away from meeting place, others sneaking through. one delegate pulled a gun on the crowd who quickly backed off. some brief details of other protests at various ports on the west coast. "no big shipments were due there anyway." 10:30 a.m. radio news: pepper spray reported. overturned dumpsters. reporters stuck inside the line. police chief norm stamper says protesters are too aggressive and was forced to use gas. 10:35 a.m. phone call from "m". no warnings given before the gas. becoming clear that once the police understood that the protesters were successfully shutting down the conference, they panicked. 11 a.m. radio news: stand off. tear gas? thousands of people. wto opening services postponed over an hour so far because of lack of entrance to convention center. (anti-wto ads running on the radio.) 11 a.m. radio news: tear gas. protesters pushed back but police are on the offensive now. windows smashed, graffiti, crowd pushing back to keep delegates out. 12 p.m. radio news: rubber bullets used. officially sanctioned labor march (including afl-cio, iww, steelworkers etc.) heading down town. to reach a certain point and turn back...a labor parade, basically. (one of the radio station's reporters is almost completely pro protesters. consistently emphasizing peaceful attitude from protesters. when he throws it to the main guy, that guy tries to spin it back against the "window breaking, graffiti spraying mob.") call from "m": tear gas and rubber bullets down town. getting in touch with paul to find out where the labor march is. 12:30 p.m. radio news: cops say no rubber bullets fired-it was plastic bullets filled with pepper spray instead. 1 p.m. radio news: "anarchy breaks out." no metro busses, nordstroms closed, starbucks closed. labor march is on and peaceful. 50,000 marching toward down town hot spot. more tear gas at human chain. woman reporter coughing her guts out, puking on air.) 1:30 p.m. radio news: violence focus on the news. protesters shutting down more than cops. cops being booed. indefinite bus suspension. labor march moving slowly, demanding fair trade, not free trade. described as a mardi gras feel. "it's almost party time." speculation as to what will happen when labor march meets with the down town protesters. 2 p.m. radio news: "rowdy gangs of demonstrators". a dozen arrests, none of our fw's. widows kicked out in RESPONSE to pepper spray. mayor says no national guard. 2:30 paul calls: labor march splits at the point they were supposed to turn back. my fw's shouting "don't turn back" and head toward the convention center. cops are ready to use gas, fw's are stuck with no where to get out, we get cut off. 2:30 p.m. radio news: line of cops in riot gear keep protesters from the paramount theater. "stand off". 2:45: "a" says still threats of tear gas but police are backing off a bit because of the numbers of protesters. plan to stay until something happens. 3:15: "j" calls. stun bombs going off everywhere. gas, chaos. no warnings. "police have started a riot." a few fw's missing in action. 5 p.m.: fw's have been split up by tear gas and police. getting calls from different areas. trying to figure out how to regroup. 5:20 p.m.: police "gassing everything, says paul. fw's are trapped and trying to get the hell out of there. national guard has been called and there is now a curfew declared for the down town area. 7 p.m. to sunrise. 5:30 p.m.: word is to come back to the office. phone calls made. 6 p.m. half a dozen fw's arrive at the office. everyone is exhausted but satisfied. some confusion as to what happens tomorrow.