The Miami Model

Description

The Miami model is a term used by political activists to describe the tactics employed by law enforcement agencies during demonstrations relating to the negotiations for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) trade agreement. The meeting related protests took place in Miami, Florida in November 2003. The Miami Model is also the title of a documentary film, produced by Indymedia, about the FTAA, the police action in Miami, and political organizing led by people of color in the Miami area.

This term refers to the distinctive features of crowd control technique used in Miami, which included large scale pre-emptive arrests, heavily armed sometimes unidentifiable law enforcement, the collection of intelligence from protesters, and the “embedding” of corporate media with the police.

Miami Activist Defense and National Lawyers Guild filed a federal lawsuit against the City, the Mayor, Police Chief Timoney, Homeland Defense Secretary Ridge, and Attorney General Ashcroft for rampant abuse of the constitution.

Among the groups which organized against the FTAA were the Green Bloc, United for Peace and Justice, Root Cause, several AFL-CIO affiliated unions, Midwest Unrest, Pittsburgh Organizing Group, Food Not Bombs and many others.

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