Jose Bove, the fighting farmer: Led by Bove, considered both a terrorist and a national hero in France where he once protested globalization by driving his tractor into a McDonald's, Seattle demonstrators chanted "Shut McDonald's down" and then did just that at a downtown McEatery during the WTO. Bove, a Roquefort cheese farmer from Millau (he illegally smuggled cheese into Seattle and doled it out on the streets), said the fast-food chain was the epitome of the "Mcglobalization" of agriculture. He's mellowed none. Last year, after he was released from prison for having destroyed genetically modified crops, Bove was barred by a French judge from attending the WTO summit in Mexico. Most recently, Bove led other activists in tearing out rows of bioengineered maize in southwestern France. He vows to cultivate ever-wider natural-grassroots protests.
Pat Davis, port commissioner: A longtime Port of Seattle commissioner, Davis was a leader among local officials who wooed the WTO to Seattle. That may not have been one of her brighter ideas. But it didn't seem to hurt her politically. She was first elected to the Port of Seattle Commission in 1985 and she's still there—re-elected in 2001. She has served as president of the commission five times, most recently in 2003. In her outgoing-president remarks in January 2004, she noted the "shock waves" of events in recent years: 9/11, SARS, terror threats, the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, and "1999 when we were all trembling over Y2K." She didn't mention that other 1999 trembler.
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Local law enforcement: Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper retired in early 2000, taking the fall—appropriately, some said—for the riot; having divorced a year earlier, he sold his Queen Anne condo in 2001 and was last reported residing in the San Juans. Annette Sandberg, Washington State Patrol chief and the first woman in the U.S. to lead a state police agency, resigned in 2001, and today is administrator of the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, appointed by President Bush. Dave Reichert, King County sheriff, went on to two memorable moments: the day his Green River nightmare ended with the capture of serial killer Gary Ridgway and the recent day radio host Dave Ross conceded Reichert had beat him to win the 8th District congressional seat. Mark Sidran, former city attorney, also went on to a career as a political candidate, though less successfully—losing bids for Seattle mayor in 2001 and for state attorney general this year. The Seattle Times lamented his latest defeat and, intending a compliment, called him "the humorist who ran for attorney general."
Jim Forman, reporter: Among many newsies, the KING-5 journalist is remembered fondly for his live, dramatic broadcasts in the midst of WTO rioting—while wearing a gas mask. A typical report: "Mmmph, mmmph, mmmph, mmmph!" He may have topped that with his supposed comment to a woman who says she was roughed up by Forman in a Capitol Hill encounter during the protests. Allegedly Forman shoved and shook her (he denies it), then called her a "hippie bitch." Forman continues at KING, where he started in 1990, back when the station had no hippie bitch beat.
randerson@seattleweekly.com
