(V)iolence and publicity for protest movement(s) are directly related. . . Back in November 1999, the American left found itself involuntarily reinvigorated. Anti-free-trade protestors turned downtown Seattle into a riot zone during a meeting of the World Trade Organization.

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Five months later, in April 2000, traditional opposition groups . . . converged on Washington DC to protest a meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. . . Protesters were corralled in the streets where between 600 and 1,000 people -- including members of the press -- were shoved around and eventually arrested. Protest leaders even reportedly coordinated "peaceful arrests" in conjunction with police.

The D.C. protests proved both peaceful and useless.

People who protested against war or governmental policies during the sixties and seventies had more freedom of movement than protesters do today.

And the liberal use of pepper spray and Tasers on college campus protesters is frightening. There was a recent student protest at UNC-Chapel Hill when Tom Tancredo came to the campus to discuss his ideas on immigration, etc. Mr. Tancredo was sponsored by a group, Youth for Western Civilization, a Southern Poverty Law Center-desiganted Hate Group.

The interaction led to police using pepper spray against the students, with several students sprayed directly into the eyes. Then, the police brought out a Taser, discharged it, sending out an arc of sparks that the police said, "was meant to disperse the crowd, not to subdue an individual protestor."

Granted, the protest was poorly executed, but the use of the Taser was very menacing. Once they've been used in particular setting, law enforcement seem tp be less hesitant about using them again.

The issue is police control. Law enforcement officers are increasingly using more nocuous instruments and potent methods to prevent or deter public protest.

A 22-year-old man accused of using pepper spray on an officer during the scuffle was arrested, D.C. police said. Before the demonstrations began, police arrested six people and accused them of vandalizing two banks, an incident that authorities think was linked to the protests.

This is what happened on Saturday:

About 8 a.m., a group of about 50 people marched in tank tops or spandex, doing fan kicks and arm curls while chanting "Kick out the capitalists!" and "Pump up the people power!"

Later, they joined with a group that had marched down Connecticut Avenue led by self-described anarchists. Members of that group dressed in black, and many wore hooded sweat shirts and bandannas over the mouths.

About 9:15 a.m., as they snaked down Pennsylvania Avenue past the IMF headquarters, chants turned darker. "No bailouts, no thanks! We'll burn down your [expletive] banks!"

A 20-year-old area college student and member of an anarchist collective said the group was not responsible for the vandalism but supported it.

"Banks should be abolished, and we believe in the destruction of capitalism and all organizations that support it," said the student, adding that he would not give his name because he feared government retaliation. "Housing is a right, and the banks are taking that away through foreclosure, so we do support any action against banks."

About 9:45 a.m., the protesters marched through Foggy Bottom flanked by police and approached the financial institutions' headquarters for a second time. Police ordered the demonstrators, who did not have permits to march in the street, to move to the sidewalk.

The protesters resisted, some pounding their hands on the hood of a police car. Dozens of federal and local officers arrived -- by bicycle, motorcycle and cars and on horseback -- to help quell the disturbance.

Police formed a line and began pushing the group onto the sidewalk with batons. In the tussle, some people fell. One officer from a federal agency used pepper spray, and the group retreated into Edward R. Murrow Park, where many plunged their stinging faces into a fountain.

The protesters had intended to block delegates from entering the meetings in the morning, but they arrived late.