San Diego Police, City Officials, Downtown Business Owners 
Meet June 7 to Discuss BIO 2001 Protests 

Mark Gabrish Conlan/Zenger's News Service 8jun01

from Norfolk Genetic Information Network (ngin), http://www.ngin.org.uk

P.O. Box 50134
San Diego, CA 92165 
phone: (619) 688-1886
mgconlan@earthlink.net 

San Diego police, city officials, biotech industry representatives and business owners met June 7 to plan for the expected protests during the BIO 2001 convention, June 4- 7 in San Diego. Police said they would uphold the rights of individuals who want to protest lawfully but would arrest and prosecute anyone who destroyed property or threatened violence against people, and warned they might shut down legal demonstrations as well if the events got out of hand.

Nearly 200 residents and business owners in the Gaslamp and East Village areas of San Diego's downtown met Thursday, June 7 with representatives of the San Diego Police Department, the city and the Biotechnology Industry Association (BIO) to discuss security arrangements for the BIO 2001 convention, scheduled for San Diego's Convention Center June 4- 7.

Officials acknowledged that people opposed to the biotechnology industry have a right to protest peacefully and legally, but said they arrest and prosecute any protesters who destroyed property, attempted to disrupt the BIO convention or otherwise broke the law.

"We're going to be managing any events in connection with BIO 2001, said assistant police chief John Walter. Our role is to ensure a safe conference, and it also concerns making sure that the conference does not have an effect on people who live or work in San Diego. He added that since San Diego is the third largest center of biotechnology in the world, many San Diegans make their livings from the biotech industry and one of the city's priorities would be to protect their ability to do so.

"We've been preparing since November of last year, Walter said. Our challenge is to balance freedom of speech with making sure people can attend the conference and it goes off without any property damage or personal injury. Walter insisted on keeping secret any information regarding police staffing or strategy, but added, We will make sure permits are respected, and we are ready to take action with arrests and prosecution for anyone who breaks the law.

Both Walter and biotechnology representative Dan Aramian mentioned last year's BIO 2000 convention in Boston, which also attracted protesters. In Boston we had ",500 protesters and they were very well behaved, Aramian said. We're open for discussion. Any time you introduce a new technology, there will be controversy.

Walter was considerably less comfortable with the history of anti-biotechnology protests than Aramian. He compared BIO 2001 not only

with the Boston conference but also the November 1999 demonstrations against the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle, and said police departments in cities around the world had learned from Seattle to be prepared for these demonstrations and ready to move quickly against any violence to people or property.

"We are expecting thousands of protesters, and we believe many of them will be from outside San Diego and are coming here not only to protest but to violate the law, Walter said. He referred to a flyer passed out at the meeting that listed 11 precautions local business owners could take to avoid becoming the victims of property damage, and said, "Make sure you're not going to be vulnerable because the people here to violate the law will be looking for opportunities. Don't let that opportunity be your business.

Leslie Wade, executive director of the East Village Association, a downtown property owners' group, warned of attempts by unnamed individuals to rent warehouse space for the week of BIO 2001. She said one of her group's members had received an inquiry from people who wanted to rent a warehouse he owned for an arts installation, but had turned them down when he found out none of his contacts in the local arts community had ever heard of them .

Despite Aramian's description of the demonstrations at BIO 2000 in Boston as peaceful, Wade also claimed that in Boston baked beans were dumped en masse on roadways to disrupt traffic as part of the anti-biotechnology protest.

"There will be people trying to rent space to stockpile supplies for an illegal demonstration, assistant chief Walter said. I don't want to describe what they will or won't do because I don't want to give people ideas. There may be a number of things in the works. A local group in East County recently trained in these tactics. We've learned from Boston and Seattle how to respond to these tactics.

Walter suggested that it was the responsibility of those protesters who want to confine themselves to lawful activities, and their organizational sponsors, to restrain those who want to protest illegally. I hope the vast majority of demonstrators will be peaceful, he said. If a few demonstrations get out of hand, we may have to declare unlawful assemblies and cancel all demonstrations.

He warned that protesters who get caught in illegal demonstrations could get arrested even if they're not breaking the law themselves, and warned legal demonstrators to leave the scene immediately if the police give an order to disperse. "We will arrest anyone who breaks the law, resists arrests or assists others in resisting arrest, Walter said. Walter was asked by an area business owner about the advice he'd been given from police at a previous meeting to report so-called "anarchist graffiti" in the area.

They described the graffiti very vividly, and I reported two of them, the business owner said. Walter said he wouldn't be able to recognize anarchist graffiti or tell it apart from any other kind, but the other police representative present, assistant chief Lou Scanlon, told the audience what they should be looking for.

"Some of it is just the letter "A,' or "A' inside a circle, or anti-corporate slogans, Scanlon said. Both Walter and Scanlon said they wanted area residents and business people to report all graffiti they see, and not just single out the so-called "anarchist graffiti." Other speakers at the forum included Carl Nettleton of the city's special events office, who said the city was proud to be hosting BIO 2001 and had had a long series of town-hall meetings to try to make our event a success, and Jennifer Andrews, organizer of the so-called "Health Fest' which will be held Sunday, June 4 (the afternoon before the convention

officially opens) at Embarcadero Marina Park. Both Aramian and Andrews tried to take the focus off the controversial use of genetic engineering to alter the food supply, and instead spin the conference as focused mainly on medical research and treatments for now-incurable diseases like cancer and AIDS.

"About 90 percent of the companies in our association are involved in medical research, trying to find therapies for cancer, AIDS and other serious diseases,' Aramian said. "They are small, with fewer than 70 employees. We have 110 biotech drugs and vaccines on the market that have helped over 250 million people. Our members have also produced plants that are more resistant to pests, and are trying to replace chemical synthesis of drugs with cleaner biotech manufacturing process that will essentially grow the drugs people need. A lot of people are alive today because of biotechnology and biomedical research.

"One of the focuses of the Health Fest is education', Andrews explained. "The San Diego community wanted to put together a public event on all the good things biotechnology has done. The Health Fest will give people an opportunity to talk to representatives of these companies firsthand and let them know about the drugs that are available and how they're saving people's lives. We will have some patients on hand talking about how biotech has helped their lives. It's going to be a community event, and it's going to be a great event.'