Police Repression and Civil Liberties News and Updates

Riot police are shown firing rubber bullets at protesters after firing tear gas during a protest in Miami November 20.
Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Click here to view photos: FTAA protests in Miami.

For more information and latest news, visit Save Our Civil Liberties

FTAA Protesters Settle Suit Over Strip Searches in Miami Jail, Associated Press, February 15, 2005
Report Stalled as Police Hold Back on Plans, Miami Herald, January 3, 2005
Producer Sues City Over Lead Ball Fired by Miami Police, Associated Press, September 23, 2004
Lock and Load: The Protests May Be Peaceful, But the Cops Are Ready For War, The Gadflyer, August 30, 2004
Grandmother’s Arrest: No Prosecution, No Apologies, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, August 24, 2004
Treating Protesters Like Terrorists, The New Republic, July 22, 2004
Police Deny FTAA Report, Miami Herald, June 24, 2004
Miami Police Refuse to Give FTAA Plan to Oversight Board, Miami Sun Post, June 18, 2004
Infamous ‘Miami Model’ of Protest Clampdown, Coming to a Town Near You, New Standard, June 8, 2004
Panel Rips Police Conduct at Trade Talks, Palm Beach Post, June 4, 2004
Panel: Police Trampled Protesters’ Rights, Associated Press, June 3, 2004
Oppressive Bureaucracy, Daily Business Review, May 21, 2004
Public Records Still Secret, Daily Business Review, May 18, 2004
Panel Examines Weapons Police Used in Protests, Miami Herald, May 11, 2004

FTAA Scorecard: 283 Arrested / 0 Convictions
Read the press release by the Save Our Civil Liberties Campaign, May 4, 2004
The Truth Is Out, Says Man Cleared in Timoney Case, Miami Herald, April 11, 2004
Timoney Testifies in Philadelphia, Miami Herald, April 7, 2004
Activist Organizations File Suit Against Local Officials Over FTAA-related Arrests, Miami Sun Post, April 4, 2004

Killmon vs. City of Miami
Read the federal lawsuit filed by the National Lawyers Guild Mass Defense Committee, March 25, 2004

Federal Lawsuit Challenges the ‘Miami Model’ and Hundreds of FTAA-Related Criminal Cases
Read the press release by Miami Activist Defense, March 25, 2004
Women Arrested in FTAA Protests Sue over Miami-Dade Strip Search, Associated Press, March 12, 2004
Panelas Addresses Critics over Police Tactics at FTAA Talks, Associated Press, March 11, 2004
Miami Commissioners Repeal Protest Law, Miami Herald, March 11, 2004

Stopping the “Miami Model” in its Tracks
Read the AFL-CIO Executive Council Resolution, March 10, 2004
3 Women Sue Miami-Dade, Say They Were Strip-Searched, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, March 6, 2004
Miami Commissioners Move Toward Rescinding Demonstration Ordinance, Miami Sun Post, March 4, 2004
No Rest for the Weary Agitator, Miami New Times, March 4, 2004
Panel Hears of Police Violence, Miami Herald, March 2, 2004
AFL-CIO Demands Apology, Chief’s Resignation, WPLG Local 10 News, March 1, 2004

Federal Court Ruling on FTAA Ordinance and Miami’s Permit Scheme is a Clear First Amendment Victory
Read the press release by Miami Activist Defense, March 1, 2004
Threat to Liberty at FTAA Worth a Second Look, Miami Herald, February 26, 2004
Cost of Trade Talks Security Pegged at Nearly $24 Million, NBC-6 News, February 23, 2004
Chief’s Trusted Aide has a Past Worth Noting, Miami Herald, February 22, 2004
Summit Security Costs Public Millions, Miami Herald, February 22, 2004
Judge says Miami anti-protest law has ‘serious constitutional problems’, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, February 6, 2004
Lawsuit challenges FTAA protest arrest ordinances, Associated Press, February 5, 2004

Lawsuit Filed Attacking Miami Ordinance Used During FTAA Protests
Read the Miami Activist Defense Press Release, February 4, 2004

Letter from Members of Congress Calling for Investigations into Rights Violations by Police during FTAA Protests and FBI Surveillance of Protesters
Read the letter
Non-Protesting Filmmaker Wonders Why He Was Shot?, Miami Herald, February 1, 2004
Protester=Criminal?, The Progressive, February 2004
Miami judge dismisses charges in first FTAA-related jury trial, Associated Press, January 29, 2004

NPR: Miami Probes FTAA Protest Response
Listen to the report from National Public Radio’s All Things Considered
Charge Against Free Trade Protester Dropped After Cop Fails to Show in Court, Associated Press, January 20, 2004

First Trial of FTAA-related Arrests to Occur Tuesday, January 20 at 10:00am
Read the press advisory by Miami Activist Defense, January 19, 2004
Making the right to counsel vanish, St. Petersburg Times, January 18, 2004
Hail to the king of the tirade: Joe Arriola, Miami Herald, January 18, 2004
Member of police oversight board resigns after criticism, Miami Herald, January 17, 2004
Miami probes police crushing of trade protests, Reuters, January 16, 2004
Find truth about police, panel told, Miami Herald, January 16,2004
‘Bulletin’ Worries Church, Miami Herald, January 15, 2004
Panel to open FTAA police probe, Miami Herald, January 15, 2004
Feeling Violated, Daily Business Review, January 5, 2004
Panels Will Look into Allegations of Abuse by Police During FTAA Protests in Miami, Sun-Sentinel, December 27, 2003
Prosecutors won’t seek jail time, denying defendants the use of public defenders, Daily Business Review, December 23, 2003
Model student recounts horrors of FTAA arrest, Miami Herald, December 21, 2003
Judge: “I saw police commit felonies”, Miami Herald, December 20, 2003
Amnesty Says Miami Police May Have Broken UN Laws, Reuters, December 18, 2004
FTAA Fallout Finds Chief Timoney, MSNBC, December 18, 2003
‘Miami Model’ of FTAA security is lightning rod, Miami Herald, December 18, 2003
Groups air gripes about police actions, Miami Herald, December 17, 2003

Amnesty International Condemns Police Violence at FTAA Protests, Calls for Independent Investigation
Read the letter from Amnesty International to Florida Governor Jeb Bush, December 16, 2003
“This is not America”, Salon.com, December 16, 2003
Commentary: Fear and Loathing in Miami, Daily Business Review, December 15, 2003
Criminalizing Dissent, The Free Press, December 15, 2003
Demonstrators Vow to Sue Miami for Police Action During FTAA, Union Prez Demands Miami Chief’s Resignation, Miami Sun Post, December 12, 2003
Headbangers Ball: Claims that police didn’t aim at FTAA protesters’ upper bodies get a black eye, Miami New Times, December 11, 2003
Whose Streets? What It Looked Like In Miami, Ripsaw News, December 10, 2003
Militarized Miami: Is this the ‘new model’ for making global trade deals while squashing democratic dissent?, Polaris Institute’s Tony Clarke, December 2003
FTAA takes stage in Senate race, Miami Herald, December 8, 2003
Groups plan to sue city over FTAA actions by police, Miami Herald, December 8, 2003
Activists scold Penelas for role in policing trade protests, Sun Sentinel, December 7, 2003
Goons Over Miami, In These Times, December 5, 2003
Police, Legal Observers Clash In Miami, American Bar Association Journal, December 5, 2003
Filmmaker Says FTAA Pictures Show Police Violence, click10 News, December 3, 2003
Police overreaction, St. Petersburg Times, December 2, 2003
Miami crowd control would do tyrant proud, St. Petersburg Times, November 30, 2003
ACLU: ‘In the name of maintaining order, Chief Timoney suspended the constitutional rights of law-abiding people.’, Miami Herald, November 30, 2003

Allegations of excessive use of force and ill-treatment of protestors in Miami
Read the Press Release from Amnesty International, November 26, 2003

Police Repression during the negotiations on a Free Trade Area of the Americas
Read the Citizens Trade Campaign Press Release, November 26, 2003

Criminalizing Dissent: What Miami Means
Read the analysis by Chris Jones of the Resource Center of the Americas, November 26, 2003

On Miami Police Conduct During FTAA Ministerial Meeting Protests
Read the Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, November 26, 2003

Union condemns use of federal Iraq reconstruction funds to subsidize “homeland repression” at FTAA meetings
Read the USWA Press Release, November 24, 2003

Unprecedented levels of Police Violence Malign Protestors Rights
Read the Miami Activist Defense Press Release, November 23, 2003