The nation's capital looks like it is in a virtual state of siege today. Cops in full riot gear stand grouped in twos and threes on every corner. At Dupont Circle, they form a protective cordon in front of shops.
The air is full of sirens as cop cars escort busloads of officials from one part of the city to another for their World Bank meetings. Convoys of unmarked, all-black vans speed through the streets, agents peering intently out of the tinted side windows. By noon, more than 500 demonstrators were reported to be under arrest. There's been nothing like this in Washington since the Vietnam protests.
This morning a Department of Energy employee, John McGill, told WTOP reporter Christy King that as he and his girlfriend were riding to work on their bikes, cops pulled the girlfriend off her bike, and, with D.C. police chief Charles Ramsey joining, in "beat her to the ground."
[DISINFO NOTE: for continuing unfiltered, street-level news from the DC protests, check out DC Indymedia]
