Frequently Asked Questions About Anarchists at the "Battle for Seattle" and N30

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How many anarchists participated in the "Battle for Seattle"?

If you read most mainstream news accounts, you'd be led to believe that there were 50 anarchists in Seattle who came just to smash windows. In fact, conservative estimates put the actual number of anarchists in Seattle during the week at around 4000. The actual number is hard to determine, since no survey was taken of Seattle participants. You also can't simply count the folks wearing black as being "the anarchists." Most of the anarchists were from the West Coast of North America, but there were also plenty from all over North America. A few came from the U.K.

What kind of activities were they involved in?

Yes, anarchists were involved in the property destruction, but that was just a small part of the anarchist involvement in N30 activities. The funny thing is, those same anarchists who have been scolded by other Leftists for breaking windows, were among the thousands of people who nonviolently blockaded the WTO conference that morning. This is evident on several videos which show black bloc anarchists helping to block access to a hotel.

The corporate media has always done a poor job of showing the hard work that activists engage in. They focus on showing the spectacular, but can't show extended footage from a meeting. Anarchists were engaged in a lot of the behind-the-scenes organizing and shit work. The activities of thousands of anarchists involved in N30 organizing helped make the overall events such a success.

Anarchists were involved in the following activities:

Media and Comunications: Anarchists in Seattle set up an "anarchist hotline" months before the event. Other anarchists were involved with the Independent Media Center and there were dozens who acted as amateur journalists. The IMC has been said to have its origins in CounterMedia, which was an anarchistic news organization that was set up for the 1996 Democratic Convention in Chicago. Anarchist videographers filmed the Seattle riots and put together a short film within 24 hours of the N30 day of actions.

Anarchists set up websites before N30 and the anti-WTO week--these websites helped people prepare for the actions, communicate, and educate themselves. Several websites provided continuous coverage of the actions and archived the media coverage. Some anarchists wrote columns for newspapers, especially Seattle's Geov Parrish, who covered N30 for the Seattle Weekly and Eat The State.

Nonviolent Training and Event Planning: Anarchists helped with nonviolence training and got some of it themselves. One of the main coordinators of the nonviolence was DAN, which has a lot of anarchist support.

Cultural: This was most evident in the many beautiful puppets that were present throughout the week in Seattle. Some of these were done by Art and Revolution Convergence, a puppet group from the Bay Area. Many folks saw the wonderful anarchist marching band.

Direct Actions: The most obvious example of this were the building that were squatted in Seattle during the week. One of these squats was featured on the U.S. network TV news. The Seattle boss media also had extensive coverage of the squats and talked about the issues raised by the direct action.

Labor March: Anarchists participated in the labor march, especially the IWW contingent. The IWW helped divert some of the ran and file from the business unions into the occupied streets, where they helped shut down the area around the convention center.

Logistics: This included work such as medics during the events and jail support.

Downtown Occupation: A lot of anarchists helped shut down the WTO meeting. They helped blockade hotels, streets, and intersections. Many were gassed and some were handcuffed while sitting in the street. More anarchists were involved in the street sit-ins than in the property destruction, a fine point that the boss (and Left) media ignores.

Property Destruction: Needless to say.

N30 around the world: There were dozens of N30 events around the world, many of which were organized by anarchists, including Memphis, Tennesse and Lousiville, Kentucky.

Weren't the anarchists doing the work of police provocateurs by damaging property?

Why did the Eugene anarchists engage in property destruction?

All kinds of motives have been ascribed to the anarchists involved in the property destruction, but few journalists or activists have taken the time to talk to them, or read their manifestos and communiques. Their most famous communique is the N30 Black Bloc Communique, which was issued by the ACME Collective the weekend after the Seattle actions. This communique even spells out that it conveys the opinions of only SOME individuals and groups within the black bloc. It spells out the corporate properties that were targeted and explains who was in the black block, saying that " we hail from all over the United States, including Seattle"

Aren't the Eugene anarchists just a bunch of teenage hooligans?

As a matter of fact, many of the Eugene anarchists who went to Seattle are in their 20s, with several being over 30.

What is a black bloc? Is this some kind of phalanx of violent anarchists?

There seems to be some mystification and confusion about what an Anarchist Black Bloc represents. Black bloc are not an ongoing organization of anarchists. They are not a terrorist cell. Black blocs are simply a temporary grouping of anarchists at an event or action. In April of 1999, several hundred anarchists formed a black bloc at Millions 4 Mumia in Philadelphia. They are manifestations of anarchist power and pride. In other words, black blocs are equivalent to a gay/queer pride march.

Why didn't the window-smashing anarchists consult with the other protesters?

The members of the Black Bloc who were involved in window smashing, etc. were very open and vocal about their plans at a large number of the planning meetings. As far as consulting the other protesters, that would not be the least bit possible because of the vast numbers and loose (but effective) organizational structure. The other problem with running your plans by a large group is that once property was beginning to be destroyed, there were groups of "pacifists" physically assaulting window smashers while yelling "This is a non-violent protest."

Aren't the anarchists just jumping on the bandwagon?

Do all anarchists support the property destruction?

No, not all anarchists are supportive of this tactic, but any educated anarchist would not consider smashing a window or any form of property damage as violent. The reason many anarchists do not support it is a question of its validity as a tactic. It can be argued (and has been far and wide) that the smashing of windows takes away from the message of an action, that it gives the police a reason to over-react (this was not the case in Seattle, thousands of protesters had been tear gassed and shot with rubber bullets well before the first window was smashed on the 30th) and use extreme violence and have it defended in the media.

Wasn't there looting at the Seattle actions?

Yes. In addition to the politically-oriented property destruction there was some looting of stores. This looting was done by folks at the street actions, including young people from Seattle. What's funny is that the anti-WTO protests have been criticized for lacking the involvement by people of color, yet the looting and property destruction was conducted by a diverse portion of the crowd. It's pretty odd to hear white middle class activists condemning young people for stealing a few trinkets that the activists can easily afford. As one anarchist has related:

"What is interesting but rarely discussed was there was one moment that saw a large number of black and hispanic youths participating at N30. After hearing of the Black Bloc actions, a number of these youths suddenly showed up downtown to do some smashing (as well as looting) of their own. When Jeffrey St. Claire started to leave town on Dec 3rd, a black youth rushed up to him and excitedly asked if this WTO thing will come back next year. Sure, the labor march and enviro's were mostly white folks. But the actions against corporate property was the one truly diverse, inclusive, festive action. Who tried to stop the youths? Medea Benjamin's peace Nazi's. Cascadia Alive has footage of Medea Benjamin and her cohorts assaulting black Seattle youth while her gang was defending Nike, Levi's and other sweatshop outlets. The smug hypocrites were chanting "non-violent protest" as their goons thumped on the youth (REAL violence against people). They also tried to hold several of them and hand them over to the pigs. Now those sorts of actions are REAL threats."

Is everyone who paints a circle-A on the side of a building an anarchist...?

Why do anarchists and other folks want to destroy property?

How much money did the property destruction cost the merchants? Were there over $10 million in lost sales?

BACKGROUND

The protests and direct action that took place in Seattle in late November and early December of 1999 were inspiring, exciting, and signaled a new optimism for the North American anti-capitalist movement. The Seattle protests on November 30th were also part of an international day of actions against capitalism, something which is neglected by most media, including the so-called "alternative" media. As the events in Seattle recede into history, finger-pointing and divisiveness continue among the groups that participated in the N30 events. It surprises us that the mainstream "boss" media was fairer to anarchists who participated in Seattle, than the pundits and writers for the Left and alternative press. One of the main focuses of the finger-pointing has been the actions of the Black Bloc and friends, specifically the trashing of store windows and spray-painting of building facades. A lot of disinformation and misinformation surrounds those actions, as well as the involvement of anarchists throughout the week in Seattle. This FAQ aims to clarify what the anarchists actually did in Seattle and N30 around the world. It will also explain their goals and desires.