Anarchists: They play by different rules
By Jim Brunner - Seattle Times staff reporter Authorities say the hooded youths who seized two floors of a building at Virginia Street and Ninth Avenue may be among those responsible for the spree of smashed windows and slashed tires that marred what many protesters hoped would be a week of peaceful demonstrations against the World Trade Organization. But yesterday, the anarchists, often polite and well-spoken, displayed their new home to journalists and said seizing it was a political statement about homelessness and the lack of low-income housing. They came from all over the country to protest the WTO. And now they want to stay in their new-found home long after this week. The building's owner, Wah Lui, doesn't think much of their political views - he just wants them out. The Utility company has shut off all power to the building. The utility shutdown has hurt the building's two paying tenants, small businesses that occupy the first floor and basement, directly under the anarchists' abode. "I'm not too happy about a bunch of punks taking over and putting me out of business," said John Citoli, who runs a software and book-packaging business in the building. "Ben," 20, a dreadlocked man from Minneapolis, said he feels no guilt about trespassing: "Owners get the money to buy property by employing workers and making money off the labor of others without working themselves." "I didn't come here to break things. I came here to communicate a political message," he said.My Sardonic Thoughts
- Didn't come to break anything? Ahem.
- How about breaking the backs of the hardworking businesses that are trying to make a living?
- How about breaking the bank for the building's owner?
- What are these anarchists doing for facilities? Where are they going to the restroom? Isn't that damaging the property?
