PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Late last winter the Pennsylvania General Assembly under the leadership of right wing legislators from the city's North Hills suburbs imposed on the people of Pittsburgh an "oversight board" of five rich white men whose job is to force austerity measures and fiscal responsibility (they call it tough love) on the city. This measure came in response to the city's fiscal crisis and this oversight board, called the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority for Cities of the Second Class (hereafter simply called the ICA) was given broad powers. The ICA will shortly deliver their demands regarding their relationship to our elected city council, called an Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement to the city council. The ICA is authorized by the legislation that set them up to actually withhold city funds if the city council does not obey them. The City Council is an elected body that represents diverse neighborhoods in the city. The ICA is an unelected body of 5 rich white men that represents only the interests of their own kind.

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The presidential election season often brings activists to debate the merits of electoral politics. These debates have intensified after four years of Bush regime rule following a contested election where Bush recieved less votes than a similar candidate. Indymedia readers and activists around the US have contributed insightful words on both the larger voting debate, as well as local interaction with candidates (and unelected powers in Pittsburgh).

[ Indy media fails ballot box democracy and discussion ]
[ Beyond Voting: electoral politics, anarchist organizing and developing strategy ]
[ Pittsburgh ICA -- Unelected Oversight Board is Again Holding Meetings in Private ]

The campaigning political candidates have been covered by area residents on Pittsburgh IMC's open publishing newswire.

[ Dennis Kucinich Visits Pittsburgh | Youngstown sees Kerry promise return of jobs ]

On Monday, April 26 the Pittsburgh City Council passed the Pittsburgh Bill of Rights Defense Campaign's long-awaited resolution to protect civil liberties in the city. Pittsburgh joins 295 other communities around the country that have passed similar resolutions opposing the USA PATRIOT Act.

Among other things, the resolution requests that the Mayor direct Pittsburgh's Police Department to refrain from establishing general surveillance networks; conducting surveillance of individuals or groups based on their participation in First Amendment activities; using racial profiling; collecting information about the political/social/religious views, associations or activities of individuals and groups; or encouraging members of the general public to spy on their neighbors.

The City Council also passed a weaker resolution that ambiguously "affirms the Council's abhorrence of terrorism, support of law enforcement, and support of civil rights."

[ Full Text of Resolution | List of Communities that have Passed Resolutions | PBORDC Web Site | DOJ PATRIOT Act Site | AP article ]
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A crowd of 200 gathered on Monday, April 19, outside the convention center in downtown Pittsburgh (near Penn and 10th) to express opposition to President Bush. Bush was holding a fundraising dinner, charging wealthy republicans thousands of dollars a plate to raise money for the re-election of PA Senator Arlen Specter.

The crowd was a couple feet off of the sidewalk and into the driveway of the convention center, with people participating in the black bloc tactic acting as a buffer between the rest of the crowd and the police. Barking dogs intimidated the crowds, and after a good amount of time the police, for no apparent reason, suddenly used their bikes to push the crowd out of the driveway and onto the sidewalk.

The mood then quieted a little, with people sitting around and some people going home. A few people wearing black started walking down the sidewalk away from the crowd, and were hassled by the police and ultimately hit, thrown to the ground, and arrested. When more people went up and tried to see what was going on, they were arrested, too. The targets appear to be community leaders and women.

After the arrests, a group of activists spent the night outside the municipal courts building. As of 4am, Wednesday, all six have been released "ROR" (Released On Recognizance). Some of the charges include disorderly conduct, obstructing traffic/public passageway, resisting arrest, and failure to disperse; one is charged with "using means to require substantial force."

[ photos: 1 | 2 ] [ audio: 1 ] [ articles: 1 | 2 | 3 | post-gazette ]

Concurrent with the NRA Annual Convention and Gun Show, an ad hoc coalition of local peace and justice groups organized a series of activities to un-welcome the NRA. The main event was a Rally and Concert to Stop Gun Violence on Saturday, August 17, attended by 500 people; other events included two feeder marches, a candlelight vigil, and a teach-in on militarism. In addition, Pittsburgh Organizing Group organized a "hunt-the-rich orange bloc."

[ gun violence graveyard | candlelight vigil | rally & concert | Confluence Against Gun Violence | POG orange bloc call ]
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