The Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was held in Seattle from November 30 to December 3, 1999. Trade ministers and other officials from the WTO's 135 member nations met in an unsuccessful attempt to plan negotiations to further deregulate free trade. Tens of thousands of activists for many causes gathered to protest what they saw as the WTO's favoring of corporate interests over social and environmental concerns.

This poster, which includes a photograph of police in riot gear at the WTO protests, advertises a rally and Seattle City Council Public Hearing on December 8 at the Seattle Public Library downtown branch. The rally was organized by the Direct Action Network (DAN) to give the public a chance to speak out against police actions during the conference, and call for the release of arrested protesters still being held in jail. So many people showed up to the first meeting that two more were held, for a total of 18 hours of testimony from hundreds of protest attendees.

Caption information source: “An overflow crowd vents its anger at city, police” by Heath Foster and Kery Murakami, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, p. A1