At 9:13 AM PST on Tuesday, November 30th, 1999, [hereinafter "N30"] our battalion was stationed at three outposts along 6th between Pine and Seneca streets.

Our objective was to clear 6th Street.

Beginning at approximately 10 AM on N30, tear gas was employed as a tactical tool to disperse crowds and secure positions on the street.

Tear gas is believed to be a safer and more efficient means (in terms of risk assessment for collateral damage as well as staff exertion) than physical advances by officers armed with batons.

For the purposes of crowd control and compliance enforcement, the 3-foot wooden riot baton can be wielded in one of several ways: Held stiff-arm at chest height, a row of batons adds strength to an advancing police line. In one-to-one confrontations, the baton can be used to wedge a non-compliant to the ground. Its uses as a debilitating offensive and defensive tool (to the temple, to the back of the skull, to the eyes, to the abdomen) are evident.

The drawbacks of the riot baton in attempting dispersal of a non-compliant crowd which so clearly outnumbers police forces are also evident.

The concussion grenade and the rubber pellet, similarly...

Seattle police authorities had received reports that "anarchist elements," trained for surveillance-evasion and insurgency, armed with crowbars, etc., and equipped with a change of clothing to further escape identification, were circulating in the crowds during the N30 incidents, targeting well-known chain outlet storefronts in the downtown shopping district (e.g., Nike-Town, Starbuck's, Planet Hollywood, McDonald's, etc.).

Detecting and apprehending specified perpetrators in incidents of property damage thus became nearly impossible.

It was noted that areas of conflagration and confrontation with authorities (6th and Pike, 6th and Pine) co-existed in close proximity with a "street party" atmosphere (8th Street, and near the Paramount Theatre), complete with dancers and amplified music.

At approximately 7 PM PST, curfew was declared and the no-protest zone delineated. Police forces performed "mop-up and triage" in a square-mile area around the Convention Center. National guard units were deployed throughout the evening and into the following morning, co-inciding with the arrival of the President.

On December 1st and 2nd, our battalion was stationed around the convention center and saw little or no action.

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