Editing 1999 Seattle WTO protests (section)

{{Short description|Series of anti-globalization demonstrations}}
{{redirect|Battle of Seattle}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox civil conflict
| title        = 1999 Seattle WTO protests
| partof       = the [[anti-globalization movement]]
| image        = WTO protests in Seattle November 30 1999.jpg
| caption      = A police officer sprays [[pepper spray]] at the crowd
| date         = November 30 – December 3, 1999
| place        = [[Seattle]], Washington, United States
| coordinates  =
| causes       =
| goals        =
| methods      =
| status       =
| result       = Resignation of Seattle police chief [[Norm Stamper]];<br />Increased exposure of the WTO in US media; 157 individuals arrested but released for lack of probable cause or hard evidence; $250,000 paid to the arrested by the city of Seattle; Creation of the [[Independent Media Center]]
| side1        = [[Anti-globalization movement]]<br />[[Direct Action Network]]<br />NGOs<br />Labor unions<br />Student and religious groups
| side2        = [[Seattle Police Department]]<br />[[King County Sheriff's Office]]<br />[[Washington State Patrol]]<br />[[81st Heavy Brigade Combat Team (United States)|81st Brigade]], [[Washington Army National Guard]]
| leadfigures1 =
| leadfigures2 =
| leadfigures3 =
| howmany1     = ~40,000
| howmany2     = Unknown
| casualties1  =
| casualties2  =
| fatalities   =
| injuries     =
| arrests      =
| detentions   =
| charged      =
| fined        =
| casualties_label =
| notes            =
}}
{{Anarchism US|history}}
The '''1999 Seattle WTO protests''', sometimes referred to as the '''Battle of Seattle''',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/WTO-riots-in-Seattle-15-years-ago-5915088.php|date=November 29, 2014|title=WTO riots in Seattle: 15 years ago|access-date=May 4, 2015|archive-date=May 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505021023/http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/WTO-riots-in-Seattle-15-years-ago-5915088.php|url-status=live}}</ref> were a series of [[Anti-globalization movement|anti-globalization]] protests surrounding the [[World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1999|WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999]], where members of the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO) convened at the [[Washington State Convention and Trade Center]] in [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]] on November 30, 1999. The Conference was to be the launch of a new millennial round of trade negotiations.

The negotiations were quickly overshadowed by massive street protests outside the hotels and the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. The protests were nicknamed "'''N30'''", akin to [[Carnival Against Capital|J18]] and similar mobilizations. The large scale of the demonstrations, estimated at no fewer than 40,000 protesters, dwarfed any previous demonstration in the United States against a world meeting of any of the organizations generally associated with [[economic globalization]], such as the WTO, the [[International Monetary Fund]], and the [[World Bank]].<ref>Seattle Police Department: ''The Seattle Police Department After Action Report: World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference Seattle, Washington November 29 – December 3, 1999''. p. 41.<br />"Police estimated the size of this march [the labor march] in excess of 40,000."</ref>