Seattle to Pay Protesters $250,000 to Settle WTO Lawsuit

[NNN0LHI]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAFS8GHKPD.html

SEATTLE (AP) - The city has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a lawsuit by protesters who say they were illegally arrested during the 1999 World Trade Organization demonstrations, but plaintiffs won't get an apology.

The lawsuit, which stemmed from the arrests of 157 people, had been scheduled to go to trial Tuesday. The city did not admit liability in Friday's settlement.

"I think the clients set out to make a point with the case, and the point was they were arrested illegally," said Steve Berman, lead attorney for the plaintiffs. "No one was trying to get rich out of this."

The city maintained protesters were arrested only after they failed to disperse, but last month, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman ruled Seattle police had no probable cause.

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[Zomby Woof]

1. woohoo!

I didn't get arrested, so no slice of the pie for me.

That was the last gasp for Seattle on the world map, and for the place in the sun it enjoyed nationwide for a decade. It was all downhill after WTO: The Kingdome was destroyed against voter wishes, the Rainier Brewery shut down and they replaced the iconic red "R" with a Tully's Coffee green "T", a truck destroyed the historic Pioneer Square pergola, riots got people killed on Fat Tuesday, a 6.8 quake struck the next day, Boeing moved its HQ to Chicago, dotcoms collapsed, the Mariners won a historic League record 116 games and still choked, 9-11 pushed me out of a great career, and I said the hell with it! :-)