DC!!! - CNN Report: 233 people arrested by 9:30 a.m.

CNN Report: 233 people arrested by 9:30 a.m.
by CNN 10:42am Fri Sep 27 '02


Hundreds of protesters targeting a meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank clashed with police on the rainy streets of Washington on Friday, with at least 233 people arrested by 9:30 a.m. EDT, according to District of Columbia law enforcement sources.


Hundreds of protesters targeting a meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank clashed with police on the rainy streets of Washington on Friday, with at least 233 people arrested by 9:30 a.m. EDT, according to District of Columbia law enforcement sources.

D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey said additional people were taken into custody without formal arrest, including 40 picked up for blocking a sidewalk on Connecticut Avenue.

The protesters object to what they see as unfair IMF policies that benefit wealthier nations at the expense of developing nations. The IMF disagrees, saying it is the poor of the world who are benefited by its policies.

District of Columbia police arrested 21 people when they tried to block the intersection of 14th Street at Independence near the IMF meeting site. Another 40 people were arrested nearby in a skirmish with police that included rock throwing and smoke bombs.

In the first incident, 25 people sat down in the middle of the intersection, four of them chained together. Police gave the protesters two minutes to move, and only four complied.

Police sawed the chains of the four who were chained together. All 21 will be charged with failing to obey police order, said D.C. Metropolitan Police Capt. Ralph McLein.

In the second incident, police clashed with about 150 protesters at a Citibank branch at the intersection of Vermont and K Streets.


Police cruisers escort a shuttle bus carrying participants to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund buildings in early-morning light.


Between 200 and 300 protesters gathered in a park near the site of the IMF meeting, but police said there had been no problems there.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/South/09/27/imf.prot...