Washington A16, 2000

Washington A16, 2000
Part of the Anti-globalization movement
David Rovics sings his "Operation Iraqi Liberation" song
Date	April 15-16, 2000
Location	Washington D.C

Washington A16, 2000 was a series of protests in Washington, D.C. against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, that occurred in April 2000. The annual IMF and World Bank meetings were the scene for follow-on protests of the 1999 WTO protests. In April 2000, between 10,000 and 15,000 protesters demonstrated at the IMF, and World Bank meeting (official numbers are not tallied).

The International Forum on Globalization held non-violent civil disobedience training at Foundry United Methodist Church.

The Convergence Center at 1328 Florida Avenue was an activists’ meeting hall where the nonviolence training and prop making occurred (such as signs and puppets).

On April 15 the Washington D.C. Police preemptively raided (without a search warrant) the Convergence Center and citing as a fire safety. The Convergence Center was then relocating to the Wilson Center at 15th St. and Irving. This police action was cited as an 'unconstitutional raid' during the subsequent class action lawsuit.

The day before the larger protest scheduled on April 16, a smaller group of protesters demonstration against the Prison-Industrial Complex in the District of Columbia.

Mass arrests were conducted; 678 people were arrested, including bystanders, journalists and tourists when the police did a sweep of the block.

Majority of the arrests on April 15 occurred at 20th Street NW between I and K streets.

Three-time Pulitzer Prize winning, Washington Post photographer Carol Guzy was detained by police and arrested on April 15, and two journalists for the Associated Press also reported being struck by police with batons.

These arrests on April 15 were false and later spurred a class action lawsuit called 'Becker, et al. v. District of Columbia, et al..'.