HUNDREDS WILLINGLY ARRESTED IN PROTESTS AGAINST POLICIES OF THE WORLD BANK AND IMF

  JUBILANT PROTESTORS PEACEFULLY CROSS POLICE LINES     

  Washington D.C. - After hours of sometimes heated standoff at Pennsylvania and 20th Streets, groups of non-violent protesters began crossing the police line drawn to protect the World Bank and IMF meetings taking place downtown. Protesters were escorted to the front of the World Bank Building by police and arrested in protest of the devastating social and environmental impacts of the institution's programs. Amidst a celebratory atmosphere, well over 250 protesters peacefully submitted with dozens additional arrests expected in the coming hours. 

  These demonstrations against institutions serving corporate agendas are just a small part of a global movement for democracy," said Matthew Roberts of Mobilization for Global Justice. " We are resolved to remain vigilant in our fight against corporate globalization and our fight for global democracy and justice. We have been fighting for democracy in this country for 200 years. It didn't end at the Boston Tea Party, it didn't end with the Revolutionary War, it didn't end in Seattle, and it won't end here." This afternoon's protests cap a week of unprecedented public mobilization against the World Bank and IMF. Tens of thousands of concerned citizens traveled from around the US and more than fifty other countries around the globe to make their voices heard at the World Bank and IMF's first meetings of the 21st Century. This week's mobilization is part of a growing global movement organized to embrace community participation, worker's rights, and environmental protection. Recent months have seen protests against the financial institutions in countries as diverse as Ecuador, Bolivia and India.

  "The World Bank and the IMF are unaccountable, unelected, undemocratic institutions that have tremendous control over policies that affect people's lives throughout the globe," Said Chloe Frommer of Mobilization for Global Justice. "They are responsible for dislocating millions of people, taking water and food from local communities, and funding mega-projects that benefit corporate interests at the expense of our natural environment. The heads of these institutions have become accustomed to conducting this business in anonymity, far from the eye of public scrutiny. This week we changed that forever."

  Mobilization Media Desk

  4/15 IMF & World Bank Protests Washington DC

  POLICE INVADE IMF/WB PROTEST HEADQUARTERS

  Banners and Puppets Seized - Protesters Undeterred

  Washington, D.C. – Police harassment of nonviolent protestors escalated today with an early morning raid of protest headquarters, known as the "Convergence Space." Approximately 200 activists were preparing for morning nonviolence trainings and eating breakfast when hundreds of District and federal officers arrived on the scene, and entered on the flimsy pretense of a fire inspection shortly after 8:30 a.m. Police claimed that the warehouse was in violation of fire codes, but neither police nor fire officials provided warrants or other documentation, despite repeated requests from activists. Protesters were forced to leave the site so quickly that many had to leave their personal effects inside, including one woman who was denied access to her insulin. Police seized the vast majority of puppets, banners and other materials being prepared for Sunday's protest.

  "I think that DC is now safe from puppets," said Katya Komisaruk, a lawyer who was on site. "It took scores of police and fire officials to arrest all the protesters' art supplies. Furthermore, it is clear that the police chose Saturday deliberately as the courts are closed and its unlikely we will get justice until Monday." ACLU lawyers are currently in discussion with city attorney Donna Maraski. Deborah Thomas, head of the local Advisory Neighborhood Committee, said "Activists have been excellent neighbors and a positive presence in the community. There are other buildings in this neighborhood that should have been addressed decades ago." "This is clearly an attempt to handicap our protests – it's an outrageous example of police harassment," said Molly McCarthy of the Mobilization for Global Justice. "Tomorrow the police will see that our power does not stem from our puppets."

  Mobilization Media Desk

  [Editors Note] We are off to DC within the hour - more details when we return