1999 Seattle WTO protests

Series of anti-globalization demonstrations Battle of Seattle February 2026 February 2022 February 2022 1999 Seattle WTO protests the anti-globalization movement WTO protests in Seattle November 30 1999.jpg A police officer sprays pepper spray at the crowd November 30 – December 3, 1999 Seattle, Washington, United States Resignation of Seattle police chief Norm Stamper;Increased exposure of the WTO in US media;157 individuals arrested but released for lack of probable cause or hard evidence;$250,000 paid to the arrested by the city of Seattle;Creation of the Independent Media Center Anti-globalization movementAnarchist movementDirect Action NetworkNGOsLabor unionsStudent and religious groups Washington State of Washington Washington Washington State Patrol City of Seattle Seattle Police Department King County, Washington King County Sheriff's Office Washington Army National Guard 81st Brigade ~40,000 Unknown history The 1999 Seattle WTO protests, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Seattle,http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/WTO-riots-in-Seattle-15-years-ago-5915088.php November 29, 2014 WTO riots in Seattle: 15 years ago May 4, 2015 May 5, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150505021023/http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/WTO-riots-in-Seattle-15-years-ago-5915088.php live were a series of anti-globalization protests surrounding the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, where members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) convened at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington on November 30, 1999. The Conference was to be the launch of a new millennial round of trade negotiations. The negotiations were quickly overshadowed by massive street protests outside the hotels and the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. The protests were nicknamed "N30", akin to J18 and similar mobilizations. The large scale of the demonstrations, estimated at no fewer than 40,000 protesters, dwarfed any previous demonstration in the United States against a world meeting of any of the organizations generally associated with economic globalization, such as the WTO, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.Seattle Police Department: The Seattle Police Department After Action Report: World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference Seattle, Washington November 29 – December 3, 1999. p. 41."Police estimated the size of this march [the labor march] in excess of 40,000." The protests marked the reappearance of anarchism as a significant force within the Western far left, influenced subsequent social movements by spreading the black bloc strategy and drew widespread international attention to the anti-globalization movement. Locally, they led to the resignation of Norm Stamper, Seattle's police chief. History Background: Fall of the USSR, rebirth of anarchism, birth of anti-globalization From the 1970s onward, and even more so following the fall of the USSR and the 1990s, the anarchist movement underwent a rebirth in the West.Beswick 2022 38-40Jourdain 2023 81-82 Several factors drove this resurgence, including the evolution of capitalism at the end of the 20th century (offshoring, etc.), the end of state-communist support for Marxist–Leninist parties, and the fact that state-socialist and communist movements were increasingly discredited within the far left.Beswick 2022 38-40Jourdain 2023 81-82 The anti-globalization movement formed during the same period and was influenced by the anarchists who joined it from the very beginning.Beswick 2022 38-40Jourdain 2023 81-82Dupuis-Déri 2019 10-14Juris Jeffrey 2009-01-01 Jeffrey S. Juris, Anarchism, or the Cultural Logic of Networking https://www.academia.edu/7958678/Jeffrey_S_Juris_Anarchism_or_the_Cultural_Logic_of_Networking Contemporary Anarchist Studies 213–215 Although not all anti-globalists were anarchists, the two movements largely converged; this resulted in the anti-globalization movement adopting anarchist political procedures and practices.Beswick 2022 38-40Jourdain 2023 81-82Dupuis-Déri 2019 10-14 Previous mass demonstrations had taken place in Australia in December 1997, in which newly formed grass-roots organizations blockaded Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, and Darwin city centers.Seattle Explosion: 2 Years Too Late, Rhoderick Gates, Our Time, November 30, 1999. Premises Planning Planning for the actions began months in advance and included local, national, and international organizations. Among the most notable participants were national and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) such as Global ExchangeBogardus, Keven (September 22, 2004). Venezuela Head Polishes Image With Oil Dollars: President Hugo Chavez takes his case to America's streets. https://web.archive.org/web/20111004222044/http://projects.publicintegrity.org/oil//report.aspx?aid=383 October 4, 2011 Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved February 22, 2010. (especially those concerned with labor issues, the environment, and consumer protection), labor unions (including the AFL–CIO), student groups, religion-based groups (Jubilee 2000), and anarchists (some of whom formed a black bloc).Anarchism: Two Kinds https://web.archive.org/web/20100130031658/http://mises.org/story/348 January 30, 2010, Wendy McElroy. About market, violence, and anarchist reject to WTO. The protests also drew support from some political conservatives, such as American presidential candidate and commentator Pat Buchanan.Koppel Naomi 1 December 1999 Buchanan Praises WTO Protesters Associated Press https://apnews.com/article/65c38548b2c76a6d8c773ffe75e4015f live 11 November 2021 AP https://web.archive.org/web/20201116221933/https://apnews.com/article/65c38548b2c76a6d8c773ffe75e4015f November 16, 2020 The coalition was loose, with some opponent groups focused on opposition to WTO policies (especially those related to free trade), with others motivated by prolabor, anticapitalist, or environmental agendas. Many of the NGOs represented at the protests came with credentials to participate in the official meetings, while also planning various educational and press events. The AFL–CIO, with cooperation from its member unions, organized a large permitted rally and march from Seattle Center to downtown.February 2026 thumb|The "turtles": environmentalist protestors in sea turtle costumes thumb|WTO protest sign depicting the organization trampling on three environmental laws However, others were more interested in taking direct action, including both civil disobedience and acts of vandalism and property destruction to disrupt the meeting. Several groups were loosely organized together under the Direct Action Network (DAN), with a plan to disrupt the meetings by blocking streets and intersections downtown to prevent delegates from reaching the convention center, where the meeting was to be held. The black bloc was not affiliated with DAN, but was responding to the original call for autonomous resistance actions on November 30 issued by People's Global Action.http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/seattle/n30/n30callen.htm People's Global Action "November 30th, 1999-A Global Day of Action, Resistance, and Carnival Against the Capitalist System" www.nadir.org November 19, 2013 May 9, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130509232249/http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/seattle/n30/n30callen.htm live Of the different coalitions that aligned in protest were the "teamsters and turtles" – a blue–green alliance consisting of the teamsters (trade unions) and environmentalists.Berg, John C. 2003, Teamsters and Turtles?: U.S. Progressive Political Movements in the 21st Century, Rowman & Littlefield Corporations targeted Certain activists, including locals and an additional group of anarchists from Eugene, Oregonhttp://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1000411-1,00.html https://web.archive.org/web/20071019060126/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1000411-1,00.html dead October 19, 2007 In Oregon, Anarchists Act Locally TIME February 28, 2008 Roosevelt Margot July 23, 2001 (where they had gathered that summer for a music festival),https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-166506496.html https://web.archive.org/web/20180906124548/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-166506496.html usurped September 6, 2018 Local unrest followed cycle of social movements The Register-Guard June 13, 2024 HighBeam Research subscription Eugene, OR July 1, 2007 advocated more confrontational tactics, and conducted vandalism of corporate properties in downtown Seattle. In a subsequent communique, they listed the particular corporations targeted, which they considered to have committed corporate crime.https://www.salon.com/1999/12/10/anarchists/ Who were those masked anarchists in Seattle? 1999-12-10 Salon 2018-10-17 en-US October 17, 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20181017163131/https://www.salon.com/1999/12/10/anarchists/ live Lead-up months On July 12, the Financial Times reported that the latest United Nations Human Development report advocated "principles of performance for multinationals on labour standards, fair trade and environmental protection ... needed to counter the negative effects of globalisation on the poorest nations". The report itself argued, "An essential aspect of global governance is responsibility to people—to equity, to justice, to enlarging the choices of all".Globalization with a Human Face https://web.archive.org/web/20080703061954/http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr1999/ July 3, 2008 UNHDR, 1999 On July 16, Helene Cooper of The Wall Street Journal warned of an impending "massive mobilization against globalization" being planned for the end-of-year Seattle WTO conference.http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/wto/wsj071699.html Globalization Foes Plan to Protest WTO's Seattle Round Trade Talks Globalexchange.org July 17, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090804174410/http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/wto/wsj071699.html August 4, 2009 dead mdy-all Next day, the London Independent newspaper savaged the WTO and appeared to side with the organizers of the rapidly developing storm of protest: The way it has used [its] powers is leading to a growing suspicion that its initials should really stand for World Take Over. In a series of rulings it has struck down measures to help the world's poor, protect the environment, and safeguard health in the interests of private—usually American—companies. "The WTO seems to be on a crusade to increase private profit at the expense of all other considerations, including the well-being and quality of life of the mass of the world's people," says Ronnie Hall, trade campaigner at Friends of the Earth International. "It seems to have a relentless drive to extend its power."https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/focus-trade-wars-the-hidden-tentacles-of-the-worlds-most-secret-body-1107215.html Focus: Trade Wars - The hidden tentacles of the world's most secret body Sunday Independent July 18, 1999 Apr 27, 2026 Jul 8, 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220708042606/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/focus-trade-wars-the-hidden-tentacles-of-the-worlds-most-secret-body-1107215.html live On November 16, two weeks before the conference, President Bill Clinton issued Executive Order 13141—Environmental Review of Trade Agreements,http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=56947 Presidential Executive Order 13141 Presidency.ucsb.edu November 16, 1999 July 17, 2009 August 4, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090804164915/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=56947 live which committed the United States to a policy of "assessment and consideration of the environmental impacts of trade agreements" and stated, "Trade agreements should contribute to the broader goal of sustainable development." thumbnail|upright=1.2|Black bloc organizing during WTO protests Activists staged a spoof of Seattle daily newspaper the Post-Intelligencer on Wednesday November 24, inserting thousands of hoax editions of a four-page front-page wrap-around into piles of newspapers awaiting distribution to hundreds of street boxes and retail outlets. The spoof front-page stories were "Boeing to move overseas" (to Indonesia) and "Clinton pledges help for poorest nations".Parvaz D "P-I executives not amused by protesters' parody" Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 25, 1999 The byline on the Boeing story attributed it to Joe Hill (a union organizer who had been executed by firing squad in Utah in 1915). On the same day, the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development reported: developing countries have remained steadfast in their demand that developed countries honour Uruguay Round commitments before moving forward full force with new trade negotiations. Specifically, developing countries are concerned over developed countries' compliance with agreements on market access for textiles, their use of antidumping measures against developing countries' exports, and over-implementation of the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs).No New Issues Without Redress Of Uruguay Round Imbalances https://web.archive.org/web/20220221185029/https://greendot208.org/ February 21, 2022 ICTSD Bridges Weekly Seattle 99, Vol 3 No 46, November 24, 1999 N30 or the 'Battle' thumb|Protesters march against the World Trade Organization, Seattle, November 29, 1999. On the morning of Tuesday, November 30, 1999, the DAN's plan was put into effect. Several hundred activists arrived in the deserted streets near the convention center and began to take control of key intersections. Over the next few hours, a number of marchers began to converge on the area from different directions. These included a student march from the north, a march of citizens of the developing world who marched in from the south and, beginning around 9:00, militant anarchists (in a formation known as a black bloc) marching down Pike Street from 6th Avenue, blockading the streets with newspaper boxes and smashing windows.http://depts.washington.edu/wtohist/day2.htm Day 2: November 30, 1999 depts.washington.edu November 19, 2013 September 24, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130924070731/http://depts.washington.edu/wtohist/day2.htm live Some demonstrators held rallies, others held teach-ins and at least one group staged an early-morning street party. Meanwhile, a number of protesters still controlled the intersections using lockdown formations.February 2026 An AFL-CIO rally began at 10:00.Press Alex N. 2026-02-22 When Protesters Shut Down the World Trade Organization https://jacobin.com/2026/02/documentary-wto-seattle-protest-policing 2026-04-21 Jacobin en-US thumb|Seattle police on Union Street, during the protests That morning, the King County Sheriff's Office and Seattle Police Department fired pepper spray, tear gas canisters, and stun grenadesReynolds Paul Eyewitness: The Battle of Seattle https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/547581.stm April 4, 2017 BBC News December 2, 1999 April 4, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170404131844/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/547581.stm live at protesters at several intersections in an attempt to reopen the blocked streets and allow as many WTO delegates as possible through the blockade.Seattle Police Department, After-Action Report, pp. 39–40Draft King Country Sheriff's Office Final Report, II.H.2.WTO Accountability Review Committee, Combined Timeline of Events During the WTO Ministerial, 1999, Tuesday, Nov. 30: 9:09 am & 10 am.A recording of the Seattle Police Department radio channel command-5 is also available, but has a gap from 0836 to 0840.Highleyman, Liz, Scenes from the Battle of Seattle.St. Clair, Jeffrey, Seattle Diary.Gillham, Patrick F., and Marx, Gary T., Complexity and Irony in Policing: The World Trade Organization in Seattle.de Armond, Paul, Netwar in the Emerald City: WTO Protest Strategy and Tactics, pp. 216–217. At 6th Avenue and Union Street, the crowd threw objects back at the police.Oldham Kit Wilma David Essay 2142 http://www.historylink.org/File/2142 HistoryLink.org April 4, 2017 October 20, 2009 April 4, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170404131150/http://www.historylink.org/File/2142 live By late morning, the black bloc had swelled to 200 people and smashed dozens of shops and police cars. This seems to have set off a chain reaction of sorts, with previously nonviolent protesters throwing bottles at police and joining in the vandalism shortly before noon. The police were eventually overwhelmed by the mass of protesters downtown, including many who had chained themselves together and were blocking intersections. Meanwhile, the late-morning labor-organized rally and march drew tens of thousands; though the intended march route had them turning back before they reached the convention center, some ignored the marshals and joined what had become a chaotic scene downtown.February 2026 At noon, the opening ceremony at the convention center was officially canceled. It took police much of the afternoon and evening to clear the streets. Seattle mayor Paul Schell declared a state of emergency, imposed a curfew, and a 50-block "no-protest zone."February 2026 December 1 Overnight, the governor of Washington, Gary Locke, called in two battalions of Army National Guardsmen, other law enforcement agencies sent support, and before daylight on Wednesday, troops and officers lined the perimeter of the no-protest zone. Police surrounded and arrested several groups of would-be protesters (and more than one bystander). Beginning at 21:00, a major clash took place on Broadway in the vicinity of Denny Way, involving rocks, bottles, and police concussion grenades. It did not involve a black bloc, but appears to have included local residents, although it is known that many local residents were treated as protesters, even being teargassed, despite having no part in the protests. Police called in from other cities mistook the typically crowded streets of Capitol Hill as groups of protesters.Alex Tizon, "Monday, Nov. 29 – Saturday, Dec. 4: WTO Week" Seattle Times, December 5, 1999;http://depts.washington.edu/wtohist/day3.htm Day 3: December 1, 1999 depts.washington.edu November 22, 2013 May 9, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130509051722/http://depts.washington.edu/wtohist/day3.htm live More than 500 people were jailed on Wednesday. Throughout the day, police used tear gas to disperse crowds downtown, although a permitted demonstration organized by the Steelworkers Union was held along the waterfront.http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=9213 WTO Meeting and Protests in Seattle (1999) -- Part 2 - HistoryLink.org www.historylink.org November 10, 2012 October 26, 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20121026065745/http://historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=9213 live thumbnail|left|Army National Guardsmen marching to their next assignment December 2–3 Protests continued the following days. Thousands demonstrated outside the Seattle Police Department protesting their tactics and arrests of peaceful protestors. President Clinton arrived and attended the conference. On December 3 the conference ended as delegations were unable to reach agreements, partly in response to the protests.Four Days in Seattle The 1999 WTO Riots plus news stories one week later May 2, 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFamvR9CpYw https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/pFamvR9CpYw 2021-11-18 live KIRO7 en 2019-12-07https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/11/99/battle_for_free_trade/544769.stm BBC News BATTLE FOR FREE TRADE Seattle trade talks timeline news.bbc.co.uk 2019-12-07 December 7, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20191207050333/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1999/11/99/battle_for_free_trade/544769.stm live Confrontations with the police continued, albeit at a lower intensity. The primary goal of disrupting the trade talks achieved, some sought the horizons of possibility; it was determined quickly that the necessary ambition to achieve the broader goals of various anarchist factions was not sufficient.Breaking the Spell https://crimethinc.com/videos/breaking-the-spell 2022-01-10 January 11, 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220111045653/https://crimethinc.com/videos/breaking-the-spell live Media response The New York Times published false reports that protesters threw Molotov cocktails at police.Christian Nichole M. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/04/us/police-brace-for-protests-in-windsor-and-detroit.html?emc=rss&partner=rssnyt Police Brace For Protests In Windsor And Detroit The New York Times June 4, 2000 July 17, 2009 July 27, 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180727115331/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/04/us/police-brace-for-protests-in-windsor-and-detroit.html?emc=rss&partner=rssnyt live Two days later, the Times printed a correction saying that the protest was mostly peaceful and no protesters were accused of throwing objects at delegates or the police, but the original error persisted in later accounts in the mainstream media.http://www.de-fact-o.com/fact_read.php?id=12 Origins of the Molotov Myth De-Fact-o.com July 17, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090804145722/http://www.de-fact-o.com/fact_read.php?id=12 August 4, 2009 dead mdy-all The Seattle City Council dispelled the reports with its own investigation findings: The level of panic among police is evident from radio communication and from their inflated crowd estimates, which exceed the numbers shown on news videotapes. ARC investigators found the rumors of "Molotov cocktails" and sale of flammables from a supermarket had no basis in fact. But, rumors were important in contributing to the police sense of being besieged and in considerable danger.http://www.cityofseattle.net/wtocommittee/arcfinal.pdf Seattle City Council findings 17 July 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20060107103808/http://www.cityofseattle.net/wtocommittee/arcfinal.pdf January 7, 2006 usurped mdy-all An article in the magazine The Nation disputed that Molotov cocktails have ever been thrown at an antiglobalization protest within the United States.The Myth of Protest Violence https://web.archive.org/web/20090409102657/http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/08/295733.shtml April 9, 2009 , David Graeber. The Nation. Media coverage of the protests condemned the violence of some of the protesters, particularly anarchists, who carried out "symbolic" acts of property damage.DeLuca Peeples 2002 138 Though many denounced the violent tactics used by protesters, this violence resulted in increased media coverage of the event. The WTO meeting had an increase in evening news airtime from 10 minutes and 40 seconds on the first day of the meeting to 17 minutes on the first day of violence. In addition, WTO coverage was the lead or second story on CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC after violence was reported. Two days after the start of violence, the meeting remained the top story on three of the four networks.DeLuca Peeples 2002 140 In contrast, the media coverage of subsequent World Bank/International Monetary Fund (WB/IMF) meetings in the spring, which did not involve violence by protests, showed a "pattern that was almost the reverse of that in Seattle"; according to scholars Kevin Michael DeLuca and Jennifer Peeples, this "suggests the crucial role of violence in garnering time on the public screen." The 2001 WTO meeting in Doha, Qatar, also included no reports of violence. As a result, "there was absolutely no TV evening news coverage by the four major networks."DeLuca Peeples 2002 140 This coverage did not center exclusively on the violence. Instead, details of the protesters' message and antiglobalization campaign were included along with the discussions of symbolic violence taking place. DeLuca and Peeples reported that the violence served as a "dense surface" that opened viewers' and readers' minds to a whole new way of thinking about globalization and corporations' operations.DeLuca Peeples 2002 143-145 Legacy A landmark for the rebirth of anarchism in the United States To many in North American anarchist and radical circles, the Seattle WTO riots, protests, and demonstrations were viewed as a success.Seattle WTO Shutdown ’99 to Occupy: Organizing to Win 12 Years Later https://web.archive.org/web/20120810073644/http://www.indypendent.org/2011/12/05/seattle-wto-shutdown-99-to-occupy/ August 10, 2012 , DAVID SOLNIT, The Indypendant, Jul 26 – September 4, 2012. Prior to the "Battle of Seattle", almost no mention was made of "antiglobalization" in the US media, while the protests were seen as having forced the media to report on 'why' anybody would oppose the WTO.Owens, Lynn, and Palmer, L. Kendall: Making the News: Anarchist Counter Public Relations on the World Wide Web, p. 9.They state that "[t]he protests in Seattle brought attention not only to the WTO and its policies, but also to the widespread organized opposition to those policies." While anarchism was already reconstituting and growing in the United States in the years leading up to the Seattle protests, this event thrusted the political movement back onto the national and international political and media stage.Jourdain 2023 81-82Dupuis-Déri 2019 10-14Beswick 2022 31-33 According to historian Spencer Beswick, the media at the time focused on the role played by black blocs without realizing the underlying and central work anarchists performed to organize the protests and mobilize the population.Beswick 2022 31-33 Exportation of the black bloc strategy The black bloc strategy, which predated the Seattle protests, gained new significance following the event.Jourdain 2023 81-82Dupuis-Déri 2019 10-14Dupuis-Déri 2016 66-67 It was subsequently adopted and exported, a similar protest occurred in Prague in September 2000.BBC News EUROPE Prague IMF summit ends early https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/944341.stm 2023-09-18 news.bbc.co.ukDupuis-Déri 2016 66-67 Around 12,000 activists gathered to protest during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank summit on September 27, 2000.ČTK 2000-12-10 Anarchisté demonstrovali proti zásahu policie při MMF https://www.idnes.cz/zpravy/domaci/anarchiste-demonstrovali-proti-zasahu-policie-pri-mmf.A001210_155947_praha_lin 2023-09-18 iDNES.cz cs The black bloc strategy was notably replicated later during the 2001 G8 riots in Genoa.Dupuis-Déri 2016 66-67 Reflecting on the influence, at least symbolic, of these riots, Francis Dupuis-Déri writes:Dupuis-Déri 2016 66-67For many, the 'Battle of Seattle' marks the simultaneous birth of both the 'anti-globalization' movement and 'black blocs'. Local politics Controversy over the city's response to the protests resulted in the resignation of the police chief of Seattle, Norm Stamper,Kimberly A.C. Wilson, Embattled police chief resigns https://web.archive.org/web/20081120085930/http://www.seattlepi.com/local/cops071.shtml November 20, 2008 , Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 7, 1999. Accessed online May 19, 2008. and arguably played a role in Schell's loss to Greg Nickels in the 2001 mayoral primary election.Dan Savage, Paul is Dead: Norm's Resignation Ain't Gonna Save Schell's Butt https://web.archive.org/web/20090814002608/http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=2736 August 14, 2009 , The Stranger, issue of December 9–15, 1999. Accessed online May 19, 2008.Rick Anderson, Whatever Happened to 'Hippie Bitch' Forman? https://web.archive.org/web/20090804155821/http://www.seattleweekly.com/2004-11-24/news/whatever-happened-to-hippie-bitch-forman.php August 4, 2009 , Seattle Weekly, November 24, 2004. Accessed online May 19, 2008. The massive size of the protest added $3 million to the city's estimated meeting budget of $6 million, partly due to city cleanup and police overtime bills. In addition, the damage to commercial businesses from vandalism and lost sales has been estimated at $20 million.WTO protests hit Seattle in the pocketbook https://web.archive.org/web/20191214070914/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/wto-protests-hit-seattle-in-the-pocketbook-1.245428 December 14, 2019 , CBC News, January 6, 2000 On January 16, 2004, the city of Seattle settled with 157 individuals arrested outside of the no-protest zone during the WTO events, agreeing to pay them a total of $250,000.City to pay protesters $250,000 to settle WTO suit Seattle Times, January 17, 2004 On January 30, 2007, a federal jury found that the city had violated protesters' Fourth Amendment constitutional rights by arresting them without probable cause or evidence.http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070130/D8MVTIIG0.html MyWay apnews.myway.com January 31, 2007 February 24, 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070224044322/http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070130/D8MVTIIG0.html livehttp://www.seattlepi.com/local/301732_wto30ww.html Colin McDonald Jury says Seattle violated WTO protesters' rights January 30, 2007 Seattle Post Intelligencer December 27, 2007 February 21, 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220221185013/https://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Jury-says-Seattle-violated-WTO-protesters-rights-1226824.php live An Ipsos poll taken in the aftermath of the protests indicated that they had little impact on public perception of the WTO within the United States. 19% of respondents said that the protests made them more opposed to the WTO, 11% said the protests made them support the WTO more, and 67% said the protests had no effect on their opinion.Reid Angus Angus Reid (entrepreneur) 2000-04-19 Seattle Protests Against Globalization Changed Few Minds, But Opposition To World Trade Organization May Be Hardening https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/seattle-protests-against-globalization-changed-few-minds-opposition-world-trade-organization-may-be 2026-02-28 Ipsos en-us See also 1988 IMF/World Bank protests, anti-globalization precursor protest a decade earlier in West Berlin 27th G8 summit, a 2001 summit that resulted in anti-globalization protests and similar controversies about police and government response Battle in Seattle, a 2007 film loosely based on the protests. Electrohippies, an international group of internet activists involved in action against the WTO List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States Multilateral Agreement on Investment, a draft agreement that failed in 1998 Showdown in Seattle, a 1999 documentary film about the protests 30 Frames a Second: The WTO in Seattle 2000, a 2000 documentary shot during the protests Via Campesina, an international movement of peasants' organizations Anti-globalization protests in Prague, anti-capitalist protest in Prague (2000) Occupy Wall Street WTO/99, a 2025 archival documentary film about the protests References Footnotes Bibliography 30em yes Beswick Spencer From the Ashes of the Old: Anarchism Reborn in a Counterrevolutionary Age (1970s-1990s) 2022 Anarchist Studies 30 2 31‑54 https://journals.lwbooks.co.uk/anarchiststudies/vol-30-issue-2/abstract-9598/ Anarchist Studies Dupuis-Déri Francis Les nouveaux anarchistes: De l'altermondialisme au zadisme 2019 The new anarchists: from alter-globalization to zadism Paris Textuel fr 978-2845977501 Dupuis-Déri Francis Communiqués de black blocs 2016 Manifestos of Black Blocs https://www.luxediteur.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Communiques-de-black-blocks.pdf Paris Lux fr March 5, 2026 July 15, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200715073902/https://www.luxediteur.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Communiques-de-black-blocks.pdf bot: unknown DeLuca Kevin Michael Peeples Jennifer From Public Sphere to Public Screen: Democracy, Activism, and the 'Violence' of Seattle Critical Studies in Media Communication 19 2 125–151 June 2002 10.1080/07393180216559 19438793 1529-5036 2023 Édouard 979-1031805856 Jourdain Paris Cavalier Bleu Géopolitique de l'anarchisme: Vers un nouveau moment libertaire Further reading 30em yes Adler Paul No Globalization Without Representation: U.S. Activists and World Inequality 2021 978-0-8122-5317-7 University of Pennsylvania Press mdy-all Cockburn Alexander St. Clair Jeffrey Sekula Allan Five Days That Shook the World: Seattle and Beyond 2000 English 978-1-85984-779-4 Verso London; New York mdy-all De Armond Paul Arquilla John Ronfeldt David Netwar in the Emerald City: WTO Protest Strategy and Tactics Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy 201–235 2001 978-0-8330-3030-6 Rand Santa Monica https://books.google.com/books?id=cL_3CsUvxMMC&pg=PA201 mdy-all September 5, 2017 March 21, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200321152602/https://books.google.com/books?id=cL_3CsUvxMMC&pg=PA201 live Gibson D. W. One Week to Change the World: An Oral History of the 1999 WTO Protests 2024 English 978-1797177311 Simon & Schuster Goodman Amy Gonzalez Juan The Battle of Seattle 10 Years Later: Organizers Reflect on 1999 Shutdown of WTO Talks and the Birth of a Movement Democracy Now! 2009-11-30 http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/30/the_battle_of_seattle_10_years 2017-09-05 mdy-all December 4, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20091204130756/http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/30/the_battle_of_seattle_10_years live Khagram Sanjeev Riker James V. Sikkink Kathryn From Santiago to Seattle: Transnational Advocacy Groups Restructuring World Politics Restructuring World Politics: Transnational Social Movements, Networks, and Norms 3–23 2002 978-0-8166-3906-9 University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis Social Movements, Protest, and Contention 14 mdy-all Levi Margaret Murphy Gillian H. Coalitions of Contention: The Case of the WTO Protests in Seattle Political Studies 54 4 651–670 December 2006 en 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2006.00629.x 143299140 0032-3217 mdy-all Noakes John Gillham Patrick Police and Protester Innovation Since Seattle Mobilization: An International Quarterly 12 4 335–340 December 2007 10.17813/maiq.12.4.hk88jk1mw3036302 1086-671X mdy-all Parrish Geov The New Anarchists Seattle Weekly 2006-10-09 http://archive.seattleweekly.com/1999-09-01/news/the-new-anarchists/ 2017-09-05 mdy-all September 5, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170905094837/http://archive.seattleweekly.com/1999-09-01/news/the-new-anarchists/ dead Peck John E. The Prefiguration of Seattle: A Battle Many Years in the Making Socialism and Democracy 34 1 66–85 2020-01-02 10.1080/08854300.2020.1763067 219504918 0885-4300 Sharp Rob Charlize now faces her own battle of Seattle The Observer 2006-09-03 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/sep/03/film.wto en-GB 0029-7712 mdy-all February 21, 2022 January 19, 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210119000008/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/sep/03/film.wto live Smith Jackie Globalizing Resistance: The Battle of Seattle and the Future of Social Movements Mobilization: An International Quarterly 6 1 1–19 2001 10.17813/maiq.6.1.y63133434t8vq608 1086-671X http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/20593/1/Battle_in_Seattle_Smith_Mobilization_2000.pdf mdy-all Solnit David Solnit Rebecca The Battle of the Story of the Battle of Seattle 2009 978-1-904859-63-5 AK Press mdy-all Thomas Janet The Battle in Seattle: The Story Behind and Beyond the Wto Demonstrations 2000 English 978-1-55591-108-9 Fulcrum Pub. Golden, Colo. mdy-all Wood Lesley Breaking the Wave: Repression, Identity, and Seattle Tactics Mobilization: An International Quarterly 12 4 377–388 2007 10.17813/maiq.12.4.a38x78203j3502q0 1086-671X mdy-all Wood Lesley J. Direct Action, Deliberation, and Diffusion: Collective Action After the Wto Protests in Seattle 2012 English 978-1-107-02071-9 Cambridge University Press Cambridge mdy-all Sunil Yapa's debut novel, 'Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist (2016) is a fictional account of a young man who gets involved in Seattle WTO protests. External links Protests against the 1999 World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference University of Washington WTO History Project, interviews and documentation of the protest Raw video footage of the protests, organized by day and street intersection Storming Seattle by Paul De Armond, an account of the protest in multiple parts The World Trade Organization 1999 Seattle Ministerial Conference Protest collection, 1993–2011. 45.63 cubic feet. At the Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections. Also see digital collections. N30 Black Bloc Communiqué by ACME Collective on The Anarchist Library Category:1990s political riots Category:1999 in Seattle Category:1999 in Washington (state) Category:1999 protests Category:1999 riots Category:Anarchism in Washington (state) Category:Anti-capitalism Category:Anti-globalization protests Category:Autonomism Category:Communism in the United States Category:Political riots in the United States Category:Protests in Seattle Category:Riots and civil disorder in Washington (state) Category:Socialism in the United States Category:Socialism in Washington (state) Category:World Trade Organization Category:November 1999 in the United States Category:December 1999 in the United States