UC-IMC Celebrates 10 Years of Independent Media

NOVEMBER 30, 1999 (N30): WTO PROTESTS
IN SEATTLE
The “Battle in Seattle” took place when the World Trade Organization
was targeted for protests by a wide range of organizations
that included labor unions, anarchists, environmentalists,
peace activists, and representatives from around the world. The
goal was to shut down the meetings of the organization and
indeed the first day’s events were delayed after several direct
actions were staged. Police cracked down heavily, firing rubber
bullets, setting off stun grenades, and using excessive amounts
of tear gas and pepper spray on protesters. More than 600 people
were arrested. When a wave of negative reports in local and
national media blamed the unrest on anarchists, the activists on
the ground used a relatively new tool, the World Wide Web, to
present a different picture. This was before the widespread use
of blogs, although many were inspired by the use of the web by
the Zapatistas in Mexico. A collective of media makers joined
together in Seattle to form the first Independent Media Center
that presented live video footage, audio, photographs, and firsthand
accounts of police violence directed against the crowd.
Among them was a group of 18 from Urbana-Champaign
whose trip was sponsored by four local unions. They were
inspired to return home and found our own UC-IMC.
APRIL 16-17, 2000 (A16): WORLD BANK
AND IMF PROTESTS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
Following on the heels of Seattle, the meeting in Washington,
D.C. of two other global institutions, the World Bank
and International Monetary Fund (IMF), was disrupted by
mass protests. Again, the mainstream media exaggerated the
violence of the protesters and downplayed the high levels of
police repression. The reasons for the demonstrations—
opposition to free trade and large debts that kept many
countries beholden to the IMF and World Bank—went
largely unreported. Several activists from Urbana-Champaign
travelled to be there and helped to launch the website
for DC-IMC.
AUGUST 2000: DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL
CONVENTION IN LOS ANGELES
During the 2000 presidential election between Al Gore and
George W. Bush, the Democratic National Convention was
held in Los Angeles. On August 15, the first night of events
at the Staples Center, the LAPD shut down the LA-IMC,
established for the convention. On Tuesday, August 16, after
a performance by Rage Against the Machine, a group of anarchists
scaled the fence surrounding a designated “free speech
zone” and waved a black flag. Police fired rubber bullets into
the crowd, hitting protesters, reporters, and legal observers.
SEPT. 24, 2000: URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTER FOUNDED
Activists who had attended events in Seattle and Washington,
D.C. returned to Urbana-Champaign to establish their
own Independent Media Center.
APRIL 20, 2001 (A20): ”CARNIVAL AGAINST
CAPITAL” AT SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS IN
QUEBEC CITY
Representatives from UC-IMC went to Quebec City to document
events, interview protesters, and participate in the
“Carnival Against Capital. The rally was to protest the Free
Trade Area of the Americas agreement being discussed.
JULY 2001: PROTEST AT G8 SUMMIT IN
GENOA, ITALY
More than a quarter of a million people met to protest the
“Group of Eight” in what was one of the largest modern
protests in Western Europe. Their attempt was to disrupt
talks among the eight wealthiest nations of the world as they
were meeting in Genoa, Italy. Kept out of a heavily militarized
“Red Zone,” protesters set fire to cars on the main route
to the meetings. Some 300 protesters were arrested and
charged with criminal conspiracy to commit destruction. On
July 20, 23-year-old Carlos Giuliani was shot at point blank
in the head by a police officer who then ran over him twice
in a police Land Rover. Giuliani died shortly thereafter.
Police conducted a raid on a convergence center that had
been set up and destroyed the offices of IMC-Italy.
AUGUST 2001: FIRST ISSUE OF THE PUBLIC I
NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED
The first issue of the Public i, free monthly newspaper of the
UC-IMC, came out. It was released just weeks before September
11 and included a two-page supplement about the G8 protests.
SEPT. 11, 2001
On this historic date, 19 men hijacked four airplanes and ran
two of them into the World Trade Center in New York. In the
widespread panic that followed 9-11, there was a mass roundup
of 1,000 people within the United States who had ties to the
Middle East. The Bush administration used this event to justify a
“War on Terror” and launch invasions into Afghanistan and Iraq.
FEBRUARY 15, 2003 (F15): MILLIONS RALLY
AROUND THE WORLD AGAINST IMMINENT
WAR ON IRAQ
In the largest anti-war protest in history, deemed “F-15,” millions
rallied around the world to halt Bush’s plans for a war against
Iraq. Despite the protests, Bush invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003.
NOVEMBER 20, 2003: MIAMI PROTEST
AGAINST FTAA
At another round of talks to discuss the Free Trade Area of
the Americas, protests were organized. Local UC-IMC
activists went to Miami to set up an Independent Media Center
there. After negotiations broke down between officials, a
second day of talks was called off.
SEPTEMBER 2004: RNC IN NYC
With September 11 still fresh in the minds of Americans, the
2004 Republican National Convention in which George W.
Bush was running for re-election was held in New York City.
At a Critical Mass bike ride, an NYPD cop was caught on
video tape attacking a bicyclist. Throughout the week of the
events, 1,800 people were arrested and placed in Pier 57, a
contaminated old building purchased by the NYPD which
became known as “Guantanamo on the Hudson.” Among
them were five activists from Champaign-Urbana.
MAY 5, 2005: OLD POST OFFICE IN DOWNTOWN
URBANA BECOMES NEW HOME OF UC-IMC
NOVEMBER 14, 2005: WRFU 104.5 GOES ON
THE AIR
After a weekend “barnraising” with Prometheus Radio,
WRFU 104.5, Radio Free Urbana, a low-power radio station,
broadcasted for the first time.
OCTOBER 27, 2006: BRAD WILL OF NY-IMC
SHOT DEAD IN OAXACA, MEXICO
An annual May Day rally was held by the teachers union in
Oaxaca, Mexico in 2006 and for the first time “Radio Planton”
went on the air. On July 14, the protesters were met with
police violence. Thousands poured into the streets in support
of the teachers and occupied the downtown plaza. The police
escalated their repression and armed gunmen roamed the
streets at night killing and brutalizing protesters. The people
responded by setting up barricades closing off the city. At one
of the barricades, New York IMC videographer Brad Will was
shot and killed. His murderers remain at large to this day.
SEPTEMBER 2008: RNC IN ST.PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS
Republican National Convention held and Twin Cities IMC
founded to cover events. A total of 800 protesters were arrested.
Among them was a group that became known as the “RNC 8,”
members of the RNC Welcoming Committee that were charged
under Minnesota terrorism laws. Those of the I-Witness video
crew had their house raided. In total, some 40 journalists were
arrested, including Amy Goodman of Democracy Now.