community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
Our Streets?
by Lara and Linnea
Thursday, Mar. 20, 2003 at 9:21 PM
lhughes@antioch-college.edu 412-363-4603
Peaceful protest turns into display of police authority in downtown Pittsburgh
March 20, 2003
Tonight we witnessed and took part in peaceful protest against the war in Iraq that ended in police conflict. For two hours the police we tolerant and cooperative, as long as the local news cameras were rolling. We marched, a mass of people filling two city blocks, from one side of the street to the other. When dusk fell, the cameras left, and the police became more aggressive. After being warned, protesters stuck to the sidewalk, but the police were not satisfied. The separated protesters into smaller groups, where they were intimidated and harassed. The police blocked off the Smithfield Street Bridge, claiming they were going to make arrests there, but they did not. After going several blocks downtown, the police boxed in the protesters, and things started to go bad. Peaceful protesters were maced and molested, then thrown into police wagons in large numbers. ACLU observers attempted to communicate with people being arrested, and were threatened with arrest themselves, just for speaking. It was a gruesome display of authority-crazed cops and what they are capable of. The mass media is going to build this up to be a riot, or a pro-terrorist rally, or something equally untrue. The people arrested tonight did nothing worse than j-walking, and they are spending the night in jail. How does that make you feel, to know that soldiers are dying to protect freedom overseas when we are not even free here at home?
PCNC
by Evan N
Thursday, Mar. 20, 2003 at 9:44 PM
actually PCNC gave today good coverage, all overhead helicopter shots showing off our numbers, although the only mention of the arrests were minimal, they said about 50-75 were arrested and "at least 500" attended today. on NightTalk on PCNC, they had a call in about the protest and everyone supported our protesting but said that marching downtown and fucking up traffic wasnt cool.
i'm waitin for the 10 o clock news to come on in 10 mins.
What's this?
by Wondering
Thursday, Mar. 20, 2003 at 10:40 PM
I was perusing the WPXI webiste and found this: "People opposed to the war are planning another rally for Friday. Protesters plan to gather at 4:30 p.m. at the federal building in downtown Pittsburgh." Anybody heard about this?
http://www.wpxi.com/news/2054617/detail.html
Friday 3/21 Protest
by Almost Arrested 2nite
Thursday, Mar. 20, 2003 at 11:02 PM
I got an email from someone at the Merton Center that also mentioned a 4:30 pm 3/21 gathering at the Federal Building but didn't specify whether it was a march or protest or give any more info. After what happened tonight, I feel like we've got to go back, if just to let them know that we aren't so easily intimidated or silenced! Thanks to everyone who marched tonight.
Peace.
tomorrow at federal building
by sadie
Thursday, Mar. 20, 2003 at 11:51 PM
I checked on the Merton Center's calendar, and tomorrow at 4:30-6 they're having a downtown vigil against the war...i think these have been going on for a few weeks. I agree that we should all get down there to show that arrests and the cops other intimidation tactics aren't working.
see you there...
PCNC
by Nathan J
Friday, Mar. 21, 2003 at 12:23 AM
actually, i just was watching a rebroadcast of the 11pm PCNC news story on the arrests, and they painted a wholly different picture than they had earlier in the day. i watched their footage, and ALL of the scenes showed the police as the aggressors, while still calling the march "violent" and "spreading chaos". and it IS sort of suspicious to me that the police stayed their authority only as long as the news choppers were feeding their images to the local news networks. if the police were justifiable in arresting 1/5 of the entire march, why didn't they do it earlier when it wasn't as dark (so they could see the situation better)?
Protestor defense
by Pete Shell
Friday, Mar. 21, 2003 at 6:21 AM
The National Lawyers Guild is offering to provide free legal defense for the peace protestors who were so unjustly arrested at Thursday's peace rally. If you were arrested, or saw the police brutalize somebody or heard them talk about targeting protest leaders, please contact the Merton Center at 412-361-3022. Give them your name, phone # and email addr.
We are organizing a meeting with the lawyers to discuss the legal defense. The ACLU is considering filing a lawsuit for the police brutality and for targeting people for political reasons.
This is part of a national strategy by the federal government to shut down dissent at war-time. Let's not let them shut us down, instead let's step up the resistance! Hopefully lots of people will turn out for the 4:30pm protest Friday at the Federal Building where we will denounce the attacks on our democratic rights as well as the war.
We will also join in with the march against police brutality on Saturday at 1pm starting at Freedom Corner in the Hill (just above the Civic Arena), organized by People Against Police Violence (see http://www.papv.org).
Keep up the good work everybody, we're doing Pittsburgh proud and keeping open the political space to dissent against this horrible unjust illegal war!
--Pete Shell, Thomas Merton Center Anti-War Committee
email pshell@cs.cmu.edu to get on the AWC email list.
i DID see that
by noah pression
Friday, Mar. 21, 2003 at 1:58 PM
in fact i did se the PCNC coverage of what happened. it only showed the police as agressors and also showed them shoving a protester into the ground who said he was trying to protect his brother from being beaten. i also saw a friend of mine bieng interviewed from the back of a paddy wagon. i mean the police are the ONLY ones who come to the marches dressed for violence.
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