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Wednesday, Nov. 15
10 a.m.: Cincinnati Police Capt. Vincent Demasi tells reporters, "I feel real confident that this is a big to-do about nothing." Demasi says police do not plan a no-protest zone at the Omni Netherland Plaza Hotel.
Thursday, Nov. 16
Morning: Steve Schumacher, chairman of Coalition for a Humane Economy (CHE), announces the group has changed Friday's rally point from the Omni to Fountain Square.
"Given the atmosphere in the city, it's important to take a step back from any kind of uncomfortable situation and appreciate the gravity of what's going on in the city," he says.
Noon, Fountain Square: Susan Knight of CHE calls speakers to the stage. Officers watch from the square's edge while several dozen people move forward, including young, camouflage-clad protesters, curious workers heading to lunch and TV reporters waiting for their cue to go live. Judging by the small crowd, it doesn't look like much for the noon news.
"Our goal for these actions is to educate Cincinnati in every way possible," Knight says. "We are not against globalization. We are against globalization as it transpires today."
Knight asks reporters not to compare local protests to those in Seattle last year. But the next speakers ignore the plea.
"We had a great victory in Seattle," says Mike Dunlap, a union member from West Virginia.
Atherton Martin, former agriculture minister of the Dominican Republic, says he came to Cincinnati for one reason: Carl Lindner.
"You have a rascal, an intolerable rascal," Martin says.
He says Lindner masquerades as a philanthropist while his company's anti-labor policies devastate the economies of countries in Central America and the Caribbean.
Baldemar Velasquez of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee says he represents workers who can't afford to buy the food they pick. He calls for a march to the Kroger Building to demand the company quit selling Mt. Olive Pickles.
After the rally, a police officer says, "It was very peaceful. I think there was more of us than them."
On the opposite corner, five young people give the same assessment. "More cops than people," one says. "Surprise, surprise. I'd like to slap them all on their helmets. Klank! Klank! Klank!"
At times the protest becomes a catch-all for a variety of causes. Joining anti-TABD protesters are animal-rights activists, smash-the-state anarchists, death-penalty opponents and, most vocally, two men protesting alleged police brutality in the death of Roger Owensby.
A protester named Zada has her 18-month-old daughter Kaz with her.
"I want this planet to be our own for when my daughter gets older," she says.
Originally from Columbus, Zada, has been traveling for several years, protesting right through her pregnancy. She has 15 earrings in one ear.
"Although I would like to be involved in a more direct action, having a child I can't do that," she says.
6 p.m., Music Hall: Dozens of officers wait for a rumored "action" to greet TABD delegates attending a concert. William Kirkland, an Owensby protester, says it makes sense to simultaneously protest globalization and police brutality.
"You can't talk about changing police misconduct without talking about the economic factor," he says. "The Cincinnati Business Committee, if they wanted the police brutality to stop, they could stop it overnight."
A few dozen officers in riot gear sit in two buses behind Music Hall, and at least eight more officers on horseback gather in Washington Park. Even the horses are in riot gear, Plexiglas shields protecting their eyes.
As symphony patrons arrive, demonstrators gather.
6:17 p.m.: TABD delegates are quickly shuttled to the hall's rear entrance on three charter buses escorted by police motorcycles. Twenty riot officers march north on Central Parkway, one carrying a rubber-bullet gun.
6:24 p.m.: Protesters chant, "That's bullshit! Get off it! The enemy is profit!" Two Channel 9 reporters debate whether they can tape the word "bullshit."
6:30 p.m.: Metal barricades go up.
6:50 p.m.: A tour bus discharges about 30 symphony patrons. Cops in riot gear march single-file to block the street, billy clubs drawn. A protester shouts, "All TABD members are hereby under citizen's arrest. Please come over here." But none surrender.
7:21 p.m.: About 15 horses, with cops in riot gear, are in Washington Park.
7:28 p.m.: A band of protesters shouts, "Shostakovich, yes! TABD, no!" The program tonight includes Shostakovich's anti-Stalinist 5th Symphony.
During intermission, two protesters slip to the front of the lower balcony, briefly addressing the audience and unfurling a banner: "End Corporate Rule." Booing and jeering, the audience drowns out the protesters. Police lead the protesters out and handcuff them. A symphony employee says that the protesters hadn't disrupted the concert.
7:30 p.m., St. Peter in Chains Cathedral: CHE hosts a teach-in on globalization.
"Everyone is here, and even though we have different analyses, at the same time we all realize that all the things we've been fighting for a long time, it's all coming from the same place -- which is the increasing corporatization of the world," says Alesha Daughtrey, an organizer for Public Citizen.
Jaycat, a 24-year-old slacker from Bloomington, Ind., is wearing several layers of clothing, a woolen bandana on his head and flip-flops on his dirty feet.
"To those old men, we're just a bunch of little beatniks," he says. "We do not directly effect them. We're just a bunch of tree huggers. ... They're not betting on the people willing to put themselves on the line to make a difference."
Someone asks Dan Seligman of the Sierra Club why it endorsed Al Gore. This seems to anger Seligman.
Friday, Nov. 17
10:30 a.m., Sawyer Point: Protesters gather, ironically, at the Procter & Gamble Pavilion. CHE spokesman Sister Alice Gerdeman asks them to remove sticks from signs once they reach Fountain Square. She also asks those with masks to remove them if asked by police. Someone shouts, "Don't do it!"
Gerdeman says, "I'm asking that you walk in silence as a symbol of all the people in the world, very often ourselves included, who do not have a voice in what is happening, who have not had a say in the decisions that are being made for us."
11:15 a.m.: As the march heads north to downtown, protesters complain about the route. Some chant, "C-H-E spells snitch motherfucker!"
"If they try to keep people on the sidewalk, this shit's not going to happen," says Salim McCarron, a videographer for the Independent Media Center. "Eventually, the black bloc will take the streets."
11:20 a.m.: Police have two lanes of Fourth Street sectioned by barricades. An officer stands in front of the Omni with a shotgun.
11:45 a.m.: The march to Fountain Square hits Fourth Street. About 500 people carry signs, pounding trash-can lids and plastic buckets. The protesters prove themselves adept spellers, chanting, "T-A-B-D does not spell democracy." Their skills also include rhyming and arithmetic: "1, 2, 3, 4, we declare class war! 5, 6, 7, 8, organize and smash the state!" A clown bloc, a cheerleader bloc and a black bloc are part of the cacophony.
12:15 p.m.: A masked man dashes from building to building, scrawling in chalk, "Arm your desire." Another protester asks him to stop. Two women demonstrators follow, erasing graffiti.
12:20 p.m.: Demonstrators kick barricades at Fourth and Race.
12:23 p.m.: Passing Police Chief Tom Streicher in front of the Omni, protesters chant, "Stop killing black people!"
12:27 p.m.: A window is broken at Key Bank, 525 Vine St. Police say they think a gunshot or a ball bearing broke the glass.
At Fountain Square, Kendall Jackson of Ohio Citizen Action sings an adaptation of Merle Haggard's Okie From Muskogee: "Now we're all proud to be TABD protesters/Fighting for our freedom and our peace./We will take our message down to Main Street,/And we ain't afraid of all these damn police."
Mark Debrew, a 22-year-old African American from the University of Buffalo, laments the absence of blacks.
"Social consciousness doesn't have any particular color," Debrew says. "I wish I knew why a lot of minorities don't get involved."
1:50 p.m.: After the rally, groups of protesters roam, followed by police. Some protesters pick up barricades and carry them away. The black bloc has taken over.
Protesters go east from Fountain Square to Walnut Street, then head for the Omni. On Fourth Street, the black bloc picks up momentum. Mounted police loop around and head up one group. Police and protesters intermingle. Horses begin to get nervous.
Protesters fall into an impromptu sit-in in front of police barricades. Officers have a protester on the ground. Other protesters shout for people to photograph the arrest, which features a couple of extra punches as the suspect lies on his stomach.
2 p.m.: A group of about 20 protesters break away at Fourth and Elm streets, heading south on Elm. Halfway to Third Street, they are met with three canisters of mace from police. People run in all directions. Cars heading north on Elm Street are stuck in the confusion. Mace canisters land between vehicles, and protesters lob them back at police. Two or three rubber-bullet shots are heard. An officer launches a canister of mace that lands near Third and Elm.
The area clears, except for one protester, who is hit from the back by police. The group runs south on Elm, then east on Third. Police surround them on Third Street and herd them to Sawyer Point. There police let them leave in groups of four, photographing each group.
At Fourth and Elm, police divide other protesters into two groups, sending one east and the other west. Near Firstar Center, officers detain protesters and reporters in a parking lot, saying everyone must leave. They then say anyone seen in groups of more than two -- later raised to four -- or seen going north will be arrested.
Meanwhile, at Fifth and Vine, two barricades are erected. Cops move in with guns at the ready -- right in front of Tiffany's!
2:25 p.m.: Fifth Street between Race and Vine is lined by 78 cops in shields and helmets.
2:45 p.m.: A protester on Fountain Square announces arrests: "Please go to Third Street now and give your solidarity."
3 p.m.: Police ring demonstrators at Third and Vine. The sides are about even, 45 cops and about 45 demonstrators.
3:05 p.m.: At Third and Vine, officers begin pushing demonstrators toward Walnut, yelling at a reporter, "Move faster or you'll be sprayed."
3:12 p.m.: A mounted officer refuses to let a reporter leave a group of demonstrators police have frog-marched almost to the Ohio River. "Keep moving or you'll be arrested," the officer says.
The reporter says he wants to go to Elm Street.
"Keep moving or you'll be arrested," the officer says.
About 30 officers surround a group of protesters at Third and Broadway. One cop says, "You people get told one time. You disperse or go to jail."
People start moving out, four at a time. One man is about to open a banner when a cop on a horse says, "If you don't close that now, you're going to get kicked."
5 p.m., Union Terminal: Union members and anti-globalization demonstrators picket a TABD dinner.
7:30 p.m., St. Xavier Church: A prayer service for economic justice is one of the highlights of N16. The service includes a variety of readings from sweatshop workers, Chinese democracy leaders and even from Don DeLillo's postmodern novel White Noise. Here is the TABD protest at its most articulate, intelligent, forgiving and moving.
8 p.m., Union Terminal: Police force about 75 protesters and journalists into a tunnel. (See "Stuck in the Middle With You," page 19.). Don McKenzie of Cincinnati is among them.
"It was pretty tense," McKenzie says. "They didn't allow me to go in any direction. Another group of cops blocked the other side. For about 10 minutes, it was pretty nervous. I demanded to talk to a commanding officer. They said they couldn't have us in the tunnel because it wasn't safe. Well, we were trying to leave."
9 p.m., Old St. George Church: CHE organizes People's Party, which is poorly attended.
Saturday, Nov. 18
11:15 a.m.: Lt. Ray Ruberg says he can't guarantee officers will not again jostle journalists.
"I don't know what each officer's going to do," he says. "We've taught them what to do, to be professional." Asked how journalists can protect themselves from police, Ruberg says, "You can try to stay with me."
11:45 a.m.: Police barricade Fountain Square and search everyone who wants to attend a noon CHE rally. A protester yells for people not to consent to the search, calling it illegal.
12:20 p.m.: Police escort four protesters in handcuffs west on Fifth Street.
12:30 p.m.: People picket at Fifth and Vine streets, chanting, "We don't see no riot here! Please take off your riot gear!"
12:45 p.m. Vine Street: A group of eight demonstrators from Fort Collins, Colo., huddle after learning about searches at the square. One gets on a pay phone and says, "De-bloc! Split up!"
12:55 p.m.: Protesters head north on Vine, remaining on the sidewalk. Police follow.
1:04 p.m.: Group heads east on Court Street in front of the Kroger Building. Police form an "H," blocking protesters on each side and forming a line down the middle of Court Street. Initially, no one is allowed to leave. Then groups of twos and fours are permitted.
1:20 p.m.: Police lead a sidewalk march south on Vine, west on Fifth, south on Race, east on Fourth and north on Sycamore.
1:49 p.m.: The march ends in front of the Chiquita Center. CHE chairman Schumacher calls police behavior "totally outrageous."
1:53 p.m.: A protester announces a police-brutality protest at 4 p.m. at Lytle Park. The group disperses peacefully.
4 p.m., Lytle Park: About 150 protesters gather to march to the Hamilton County Justice Center.
4:20 p.m.: The march heads north on Sycamore, behind a banner saying, "Don't Beat Me." Officers on motorcycles escort the group. The protesters stay on the sidewalk and keep moving. They are peaceful.
4:41 p.m.: The march reaches the Hamilton County Justice Center.
4:48 p.m.: Protesters head west on Eighth Street.
4:49 p.m.: About 40 officers in riot gear exit a Metro bus. The protesters stop. Officers form a line.
4:51 p.m.: An officer tells the group they are assembling illegally and must disperse. Anyone who stays faces arrest. About a dozen officers move toward the crowd. Twelve seconds after the warning, officers begin spraying mace and arresting protesters.
By day's end, police arrest 47 protesters, bringing the three-day total to 53. Ruberg says no one was injured and no weapons found on protesters. ©
(Click here for images and complete TABD coverage.)
