20 years later: Looking back at the Battle in Seattle, the WTO riots

A Seattle police officer fires his weapon point blank into a group of demonstrators attempting to prohibit access to the WTO at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Union Street on Nov. 30, 1999, outside the Seattle Sheraton. Police first informed the demonstrators that they were in violation of an order to disperse. less A Seattle police officer fires his weapon point blank into a group of demonstrators attempting to prohibit access to the WTO at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Union Street on Nov. 30, 1999, outside the ... more Photo: Seattle Post-Intelligencer Photo: Seattle Post-Intelligencer Image 1 of / 152 Caption Close 20 years later: Looking back at the Battle in Seattle, the WTO riots 1 / 152 Back to Gallery

On Nov. 30, 1999, Seattle exploded.

It was definitely not the first time -- violent labor disputes have a long history in the city, not to mention the original "Battle of Seattle" in 1856 when settlers and Salish warriors attacked the village and were repelled by artillery -- but it became the most pronounced. Coming off of a decade of grungy fame, with all its middle finger to authority, this seemed to alter Seattle from just "punk city on the rise" to something more.

The Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization was held in Seattle from Nov. 30 through Dec. 3, 1999, and while representatives from 135 WTO member countries attempted to agree on issues and agenda for a new round of negotiations around further deregulating international trade, tens of thousands of protesters came through the city's streets.

Seattle was already a unique place to have this meeting. In addition to the cultural idea of Seattle (mixed with the "Frasier" or "Sleepless in Seattle" portrayals), both Seattle and Washington were more dependent on international trade than almost any other part of the country.

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As soon as they announced Seattle's selection, activists began planning a counter-protest. Organizers across various factions and interests coordinated efforts to block access to the buildings themselves. Civil disobedience was the name of the game, complete with time-honored Northwest protest tactics (devices to fasten people together to make them harder to remove) and performance art.

And despite plenty of advertisement about the protests themselves, it's safe to say that Seattle wasn't ready for the result.

Ultimately, the protesters did succeed in shutting down the WTO, temporarily. Hotels where the delegates were staying, the Convention Center, the Paramount Theater were swamped with demonstrations (police also assumed things wouldn't start before 8 a.m., and did not plan to deploy large numbers of officers until later in the day); police began using tear gas and pepper spray to force demonstrators out of intersections, reportedly making no attempt to escort delegates or arrest those blocking the venues.

By 3:30 p.m. on that fateful Tuesday, then-Mayor Paul Schell had declared a state of emergency. It would be the first of many, especially after then-President Bill Clinton touched down in Seattle on Dec. 1, not to mention a "limited curfew" and a "no protest zone."

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It would be an issue much dissected, most immediately by city council hearings starting the week after. And the issue continues to color how the rest of the world sees Seattle's brand of liberalism, and how Seattle itself steels the city for demonstrations like May Day.

But it also changed the way WTO meetings happened. Though the WTO has attempted to revisit the issue over various future meetings, they would often find themselves interrupted by protests akin to Seattle's. Ten years after the WTO met, it still hadn't reached a substantive agreement on the issues that divided delegates.

Click through the slideshow above to see some snapshots of the WTO riots in Seattle in 1999.