UPDATE: More than 2500 march in protest against TABD. Reports: 1 | 2
Photo Galleries: [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ]

At a Wednesday news conference, TABD opponents reiterated that today's march would be peaceful. While the protests aim to focus attention on the issues around TABD, police and local corporate media outlets have consistently focused on potential street conflict, instead. In a rare exception, today on Chicago public radio's "Worldview" show, protest organizers offered sharp critiques of the un-democratic TABD summit and of the narrow focus of corporate media coverage.

Protesters are assembling today beginning at 4:30 at Boeing headquarters -- which is cohosting the TABD -- at Washington and Canal, for a 5:00 pm rally and march to the Tribune Plaza at Michigan Ave., north of the Chicago River. Activists are also planning peaceful autonomous actions on Friday, and an Alternative Economic Summit on Saturday, November 9th at the DePaul University Loop Campus, 333 South State St., 11th floor.

While today's march is organized by a combination of local community community, direct action, and labor organizations that oppose the privatization of public policy, corporate press reports have selectively demonized TABD protesters -- particularly anarchists. Downtown buildings have issued alerts and some are sending workers home early. The police presence will be massive. The City of Chicago warned that it will sue individuals for any property damage. Usuing isolated incidents in some previous protests in this manner indicates a bias towards to criminalizing protests, in the process intimidating protesters.

A protest release argues that the global economic privatization strategies of TABD represent "the most extreme example of corporate rule because the TABD is specifically designed to privatize public policy decision-making." The TABD is a far-reaching international corporate-state alliance of 150 large corporations mandated by the US government and the European Commission to identify barriers to transatlantic trade. They will be drafting recommendations for the World Trade Organization (WTO), including strategies to undercut regulations that protect workers' rights and environmental policies. Protesters have vowed to peacefully march, in part, to reaffirm their basic civil rights to express dissent in a country that increasingly criminalizes legitimate protest.

See continuing coverage of the TABD protests here.

[ Previous Chicago IMC coverage of TABD | Anti-TABD Protest pages ]