Some clashes between police and protesters Thursday; police stay prepared for Friday despite early end to conference BY TERE FIGUERAS, SARA OLKON AND MARTIN MERZER
Sporadic clashes between rolling squads of protesters and a muscular task force of police flared Thursday through the heart of Miami, but the vast majority of demonstrators found peaceful ways to express their grievances against a proposed free-trade pact.
''We accomplished what we set out to do,'' said John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, which sponsored the main event of the day -- a nonviolent march by thousands of union members and others who snaked through the city center.