PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

brief report on the march against the FTAA.
by pog supporter Sunday, Oct. 27, 2002 at 7:07 PM

A brief summary of the march

Hey everyone,

Here is a brief report on today's march against the FTAA:

The main purpose of the march was achieved: we had a public display of solidarity with the people of Ecuador (which is what they asked for).

The March lasted about 80 minutes with about 25 of those with most people on the street without a permit. People marched on the street until there was an overwhelming police presence for the small group of ~60 people (about 8 Pgh police officers and 8? Pitt cops). Most people had some type of noisemaking device from train whistles to large drums. The chants at the march were few and far between due the constant music but included ALCA NO PASARA, THE FTAA WILL NEVER BE, Yes to Life, Death To the FTAA, and so-so-so solidarity. There were a couple other Spanish chants but I can't remember (or spell) them.

The police attempted to move the march onto the sidewalk numerous times with: yelling get the fuck on the sidewalk now- Get off the street- move to the sidewalk- The police also tried numerous times (failing miserably) to cut the march off by driving their cars in front of the march and blocking the road, people simply walked directly past them while the cops yelled to stop. They tried that about 4 times before giving up. They also tried to move people by blaring their sirens as loud as possible. This also failed as it just added noise to the racket we were already making. One Pitt cop followed us the entire way to Shadyside and back to CMU's campus.

Arrests (and mass arrests) were threatened MANY times, but never happened. The police seemed unprepared and disorganized. They were never really together on what they wanted to happen. Different officers were yelling different things to different people. One kid they told to put his hands behind his back ran when the officer was distracted and merged into the march. We did hear later that a woman was issued a citation for riding her bicycle in the march. We are trying to get in touch with her to see if she needs any assistance (solidarity!).

A lot of things could have been done better for the march and will hopefully happen next time. Among the negatives were: low turnout, lack of eye/face protection in the event of illegal police violence, a lack of group input on route, insufficient outreach leading up to the march (especially to less "radical" people), a lack of flyers for passerby�s, and a lack of large musical instruments. The good things about the march included: no arrests, no boring chants, cool instrument playing, a lot of new faces, and that people seemed to think a lot about new ideas.

STOP THE FTAA!!!

-pog supporter-

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