Seattle, take a moment and shine. You made history last week.

The impact of last week's demonstrations, particularly the Tuesday direct action that shut down opening ceremonies for the WTO, extended far past the inconvenience to delegates. It contributed to the WTO's inability to agree on new and additionally devastating free trade negotiations. It brought together disparate constituencies (labor, environmental, student) that have now learned to work together. And the spirit of the magical nonviolent protest that infused the week will go back to cities and towns around the world, infusing social change movements with a new optimism and power. We did damn good.

We also learned that when power is threatened, it bites back. That's the most direct way to explain the inexcusable suspension of basic civil rights in Seattle for the duration of the protests.

Make no mistake: the brutal police response was not triggered by the spree of property damage Tuesday. Useful as that was to state apologists seeking to excuse the violence, police were already, without warning, lobbing tear gas and firing rubber pellets point blank into crowds as early as 10:05 AM Tuesday morning at the intersection of 6th and Union--long before any vandalism occurred.

That assault was done so that police could reclaim an intersection for no apparent reason--the spot was far from where delegates needed to be to get into a session that was being canceled anyway.

That behavior was repeated for the next two days: brutal attacks on nonviolent protesters, having nothing to do with the property destruction that briefly occurred elsewhere, for no apparent strategic reason.

It was as if Seattle police--buttressed by King County Sheriff's Dept. officers, the state patrol, police from dozens of suburban jurisdictions, and on Wednesday by the Secret Service and National Guard--were experimenting on the protesters. And, by Tuesday and Wednesday nights, on Capitol Hill residents (and any bystanders who happened to be minding their business) as well.

With a mixture of riot batons, tear gas, pepper spray, mace, three different kinds of hard plastic projectiles, and some sort of apparent nerve agent that triggered seizures in a number of protesters the following day, Seattle police were playing with all the toys at their disposal. It was a miracle that nobody, to our knowledge, was seriously injured or killed. As it was, one doctor reported on the Internet that he treated rubber bullet penetration wounds, broken bones, concussion injuries, and "...lots of damage to the eyes and skin." All of this against people who weren't fighting back--who, indeed, weren't doing anything but using what they thought were their First Amendment rights. They were, in the words of a Capitol Hill resident, "hunted down and shot like wild dogs."

By Wednesday, when hundreds were arrested for doing the exact same thing they were doing legally on Tuesday, the jail and court systems also became an issue. In the face of massive jail solidarity, jailers responded with a panoply of abuses against the arrested protesters: beatings, isolation, stripping prisoners naked, threats of rape, overcrowding, and denial of food, water, and access to lawyers.

Like the police, the jails and courts respond to political orders. Seattle Mayor Paul Schell invited scrutiny: "Start with me ... if you don't like it, don't elect me." Schell is far from the only culpable official, but let's, indeed, start not with his campaign for re-election, but with demands for his immediate resignation. His curfews and "state of civil emergency" (not martial law) came despite the obvious fact that there would be far fewer protesters on the street in the days after Tuesday--which is when many took a day off work or flew into town for the occasion. The range of abuses committed against nonviolent protesters suggest that he's too unfamiliar with the First Amendment--too incapable of coping with its expression--to be fit for public office. Get him out. Now.

The same holds for Police Chief Norm Stamper. Video captured officers under his command kicking a man in the groin, pepper-spraying bystanders on the ground, shooting fleeing protesters in the back, hurling tear gas canisters at people's faces, and other abuses too numerous to recount. Militarized SWAT teams trained to subdue killers were unleashed on our children. These are not isolated incidents; they were part of an orchestrated effort--an unsuccessful one--to intimidate and punish youthful protesters who had the temerity to allegedly ruin a couple of days of the city's holiday shopping season by their presence. By the time officers pulled back on Thursday and Friday due to international outcry, the question became: why couldn't the same accommodating approach have been used the first two days? The answer is political, and Stamper must go.

In the face of these abuses, it was remarkable that not only did anti-WTO protesters stand firm, attracting thousands to subsequent demonstrations, but that they were joined by hundreds of others who perhaps didn't care about the WTO but who cared a great deal about the Bill of Rights. The week's rallying cry--"This is what democracy looks like"--has a double meaning. The protests were not only what democracy should look like, but how the police behaved was how "democracy" responds when the halls of power sense dissatisfaction amongst the rabble. It's so important that it bears repeating: this brutal assault was unleashed before any property destruction took place. It shows a basic, abject fear of democracy, and that's grounds for demanding the immediate resignations of Seattle's highest political leaders.

Also, if you are a lawyer and would like to help defend the people who were arrested during the demonstrations, please contact one of the following: Direct Action Legal Hotline at 206-632-9842, National Lawyers Guild at 206-621-5820, or the Public Defenders Office at 206-447-3900.