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Police State? Pictures from the march (4/3/03)
by Inmate #457334562
Thursday, Apr. 03, 2003 at 10:37 PM
Pictures from the march - 4/3/03 - Do we live in a police state? How come surrounding a PERMITTED, peaceful protest do we see the police carrying around 3 foot long wooden canes?
Do we live in a police state? How come surrounding a PERMITTED, peaceful protest do we see the police carrying around 3 foot long wooden canes? Are we supposed to be intimated? The police worry about the protesters being rude and disorderly, we need the citizens review board back. Look at these pictures from today (4/03/03) - especially the officer in the first two pictures - before the march started, the officer was seen brandishing his "beat-down-stick" as if striking a judo pose - I wish I had my camera on then - and people doubt claims of police brutality... Not to mention - why did the police units feel it necessary to be rude and turn up their radios and broadcast annoying "beeps" at the end of the very peaceful march so no one could hear people speak? Not in my city.
The "judo" cop again.
by Inmate #457334562
Thursday, Apr. 03, 2003 at 10:37 PM
Yet another beat-down-stick
by Inmate #457334562
Thursday, Apr. 03, 2003 at 10:37 PM
Pittsburgh's finest... whatever.
by Inmate #457334562
Thursday, Apr. 03, 2003 at 10:37 PM
One more - love that riot gear.
by Inmate #457334562
Thursday, Apr. 03, 2003 at 10:37 PM
maybe i'm paranoid
by DJ
Thursday, Apr. 03, 2003 at 10:57 PM
deejbard@telerama.com
Is it just me, or did the cops' level of "preparedness" seem to rise along the march route? Around the Cathedral of learning, they seemed fairly reserved, and only wore standard equipment. Then, as we went up Forbes, we encountered police with the 'special' equipment they hand out at times like this, but mostly just holding it. Then, by the time we hit South Craig St., there were cops at every alley and in the center of the street wearing face shields, brandishing their clubs ...
And all we did was march silently on the sidewalks, in an action that wasn't about civil disobedience in the slightest.
RE: Cop presence
by Inmate #457334562
Thursday, Apr. 03, 2003 at 11:28 PM
DJ - I agree... it seemed to me that the Pitt Police were less agressively dressed than our friends at the beginning of the march... I can understand the "heightened" preparedness along Craig Ave., with all the commercial properties there (hey - money moves mountains, eh?)...
By the way, I just finished watching Fox 53's, Channel 11's, and Channel 2's coverage of the march... I do have to say that the reporting was at least rather fair (although Fox's coverage lasted about a whole 20 seconds) - but one thing was omitted from all three's report... none of the stations showed the 3 foot long wooden canes...
To commercial media: STOP FILTERING OUR NEWS!
We Saw the Same Thing
by Tax Payer #456789
Friday, Apr. 04, 2003 at 12:03 AM
Even though this was supposed to be a silent march, I had to comment to my companion that there was very big difference in the demeanor, dress and general aesthetic of the police stationed on university property when compared to the officers on the street. It was clear to me that there was a concerted effort to frame to police presence in different ways in different locations. I would like to thank �Inmate� for having the guts to report on that part of the protest, because the networks did not. I�m sure that with thousands of dollars of camera equipment KDKA, WPXI, FOX and WTAE were able to get some footage of the officers with clubs and riot gear, but it seems that none of it made it through the editorial process.
Worst plainclothes ever
by Inmate #112031
Friday, Apr. 04, 2003 at 12:46 AM
Did you happen to get any pictures of the two most obvious plainclothes cops ever? The gray-haired guy in the Pirates jersey and the young guy in the amusing black leather breakdance hat, with their batman utility belts protruding from their hips? It's the same two from 3/30.
http://www.indypgh.com/news/2003/03/4033_comment.php#4783
Be sure to post pics of them if you have them, since it is illegal for law enforcement to photograph citizens who aren't committing crimes. You would think they had two better undercover guys than that.
superman
by Jan
Friday, Apr. 04, 2003 at 1:59 AM
Those cops think they are super heroes, protecting the citizens of Pittsburgh from the "evil" peace protestors.
yay
by Jan
Friday, Apr. 04, 2003 at 2:00 AM
Where's Batman and Robin?
seeing
by kay
Friday, Apr. 04, 2003 at 4:44 AM
yes, saw all this, but wait........
after the march, one officer asked if it was over and i took some time to have some conversation. how this one seemed to be more organized and how everyone seemed to have some common ground for once.
"i am totally against this war" the officer stated. in front of two other officers.
awesome
by Evan N
Friday, Apr. 04, 2003 at 7:20 AM
That's awesome that the police said that at the end.
but with the way that the last 2 marches turned out "violent (AKA police incited) actions" the police had to act like they were prepared at all time for "peace riots" to break out. If it wasn't a silent march, that "i dont see no riot here, take off that stupid gear" chant woulda been sweet.
Undercover
by .
Friday, Apr. 04, 2003 at 8:54 AM
There were actually four undercover officers yesterday... the guys shown here http://www.indypgh.com/news/2003/04/4814.php and the guys from M30. We've got city neighborhoods where people are begging for narcotics detectives and the police devote those kind of resources to a peaceful sidewalk march. All I can say is wow!
drugs
by ..
Friday, Apr. 04, 2003 at 11:54 AM
im kinda glad that there are less cops availible to wage the war on drugs due to our protests. less drug users and dealers are being persecuted for living their lives, instead we get stalked. works out well in my opinion and the police presence at our protests will probably only increase. maybe one day we could end the war on drugs all together in this city.
Illegal for Police to Photograph?
by ...
Friday, Apr. 04, 2003 at 5:26 PM
Hey, I read in an above post that it's illegal for the police to photograph folks except in certain situations. Does anyone know any more details about this? When does it apply and what can we do about it, etc? I say a policeman photographing us at the rally before the M20 march. Of course, if the police break the law, we can't exactly enforce it, can we! Still, it's good to know your rights...
.
by .
Saturday, Apr. 05, 2003 at 12:05 AM
Hey, I read in an above post that it's illegal for the police to photograph folks except in certain situations. Does anyone know any more details about this? When does it apply and what can we do about it, etc?
It's not illegal to photograph/videotape/record anyone who is in a public place, for the cops or anyone else.
true, true
by law4activists
Saturday, Apr. 05, 2003 at 1:01 AM
I second that legal opinion.
Bad Cop No Donut
by Prodigal Yunzer
Saturday, Apr. 05, 2003 at 1:40 PM
There is nothing illegal about wearing a surplus East German riot helmet, black BDUs, tactical boots, and carrying a baseball bat at your next protest. Just don't say a word to any police, or anyone you do not know personally, and have a baseball somewhere on your person. In some southern states it is illegal to wear a mask in public demonstrations, but I do not think that is the case in the Commonwealth, so buy a tactical balaclava and wear that too.
FIGHT THE POWER!
by Urban Guerrilla
Tuesday, Apr. 08, 2003 at 2:44 PM
I don't see Pittsburgh's finest, just Pittsburgh's fattest. These cops aint shit without their buddies backing them.
About Peace Protests and Peoples views upon them.
by Dan Marshall
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 12:13 PM
onlystraightedge@yahoo.com
I was sitting in world cultures class today and we are now discussing Ghandi. For those of you who are unaware of who he is, he was a largely renowned peace protester in India against British rule... I think there was some movie made of it too. Anyway my teacher mentioned that his protests were peacefull and there was no violence unlike the peace protests in Pittsburgh! Instantly I thought to myself has this teacher ever been to a rally for peace in Pittsburgh? I guess not. I asked her why she thinks that the protests are violent and she said on word........ Television. I decided to enlighten her and teach her a few things. Television is the reason she is so blind. She and so many people watch their T.V. and yeah see the couple of idiots who pull something stupid like jumping and hitting someones car. Well if she knew any better most of us protesters dont think any higher of those few idiots than they do. Infact I am more angry at those few fools. The small ammount of them have given bad names to all of us. The point i was making to her is she is getting her information from one point of view and being judgemental. The main media such as CNN always seems to get the one thing on tape of someone hitting a police officer or a car. The media never seems to catch the nest few minutes of police brutality, then they play that scene over and over and over programming half our population to think that ALL Peace Protesters are violent. It ended up being a big debate between me and the rest of the ever so patriotic numskulls in my class. But I think I got through to a couple of them.
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