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Kangaroo Court for PGH 122
by Outraged
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 9:12 AM
On April 11, a Kangaroo Court will meet to try the PGH 122. These people are nothing more than citizens who were arrested for their political beliefs
It is absolutely outrageous that 122 people were arrested on Pittsburgh sidewalks.
It is particularly disturbing that the ACLU representative was beaten by the police when she simply asked a police officer for his badge number.
What about the magistrate who described himself as "ultra-conservative" and assigned ridiculous bail in order to keep demonstrators in jail?
Why was the ACLU representative, who was injured when she was beated, held in jail for 34 hours?
Outrageous in a country that claims to bring freedom to the world.
updates
by jwg
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 12:12 PM
does anyone know the status of the hearing, or what is going/went on in court. I'm trapped in work all day, but am very interested in the outcome.
It's all BS and you know it
by Jackel
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 12:55 PM
If an ACLU rep was "beaten" for simply asking for a badge number, all Hell would break loose and you know it. If the "Angel 122s" did nothing wrong, then that will come out also. Why do you guys/girls insist on always presenting one side (and usually based on an infammatory, incorrect mix of facts) when there is a dispute like this? I'm sure the cops of had something to say about "beating" the ACLU rep and, whether wrong or right, should also be stated. To say that she was beaten just for asking for a badge number is so incredibly ridiculous that I feel stupid just for reading it! I would understand if your audience consisted of just a bunch of 4th grade level protestor types but some of us aren't that naive.
Hell IS breaking loose
by Dan
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 1:20 PM
Hell is breaking loose, here on pittsburgh indymedia.
Who ever said the revolution would be televised?
Who's naive?
by --
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 1:26 PM
I don't know the full story behind the ACLU observer's arrest, nor did I witness it myself, so I can't comment on it with certainty. However, I was in the middle of the arrests and I saw a number of people arrested on the sidewalks after being ordered to "disperse" even though they weren't given an opportunity.
Jackel, I appreciate your faith in our judicial system. I think that many fair-minded folks would agree with you that if an ACLU observer were abused, "all Hell would break loose," and conclude that since all Hell HASN'T broken loose, therefore the allegations must be false or exaggerated. If we all enter into this discussion with an a priori assumption that "justice will ultimately be served" on all sides, then all we have to do is sit back and see how things sort themselves out in order to learn what "really" happened on M20. However, it's important to realize that many who were arrested on M20, as well as many who participated and weren't arrested, do not share that faith in the impartiality of our judicial system and might even consider such faith "naive."
If we have the same "naive" faith that justice will be served internationally as well as nationally, it will lead us to assume that if the US were perpetrating an illegal war then we would somehow be called to account by the international community. If we find ourselves not called to account, then we might assume that our actions must be legal and internationally sanctioned. HOWEVER, we know that global opinion is very much against the war but the US procedes to fight it anyway with no immediate repercussions. What we might conlcude FROM THIS FACT is that POWER TRUMPS JUSTICE, internationally and nationally. The UN and the international community can castigate us all they want, but what can they DO to stop us? Jackel, if you apply this perspective to the M20 arrests, don't you arrive at a different picture of things?
4th Grade
by Angel 122
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 2:11 PM
I could spell "jackal" when I was in fourth grade.
Trial results
by Theo
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 3:50 PM
TheoK444@aol.com
I just got back from the trial. They offered us a deal where we would perform 80 hours of community service and they would drop all charges and they would expunge our arrest records. Only 4 people opted to go forward with a trial. One of the four was found not guilty, the others had their misdemeanor charges reduced to a summary offence, and fined. While i personally feel that the charges were absolutely ridiculous, i understand that the police could not back down and the deal was more to save face for them. I took it happily, since i perform community service anyway. I think all of us are pretty happy at this point.
Really Outrageous
by Ethical
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 5:39 PM
Today's Court session was intended to intimate people.
There was a massive police force present. More police were present than when murderers are tried. The police were just there to intimidate people.
People arrested for DUI are treated better than these demonstrators.
The Pittsburgh Police needs to be put back under Federal control.
Judge Red, White, and Blue
by Sam
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 7:36 PM
Someone should report that guy to the judicial review board.
A COP THREATENED TO BEAT ME FOR ASKING FOR HIS BADGE NUMBER
by MikeElk1@attbi.com
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 12:01 AM
MikeElk1@attbi.com (412)243-0240
A "Corrections" Officer did threaten to beat the crap out of me for asking for his badge number after he destroyed a copy of The Nation I had in my pocket. If you need witnesses ask the twenty so people that were in h14
Hmm...
by Rovin' Workman
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 12:15 AM
And The Nation ain't even that radical!! What would they have done, god forbid, if you had a copy of Z or Earth First!??
jackal
by Sam
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 11:43 AM
See, when looking at these kinds of things objectively, you should look at what actually happened *first*, then worry about the why, how, etc.
You're relying on unfounded assumptions and refusing to question their validity.
The local ACLU chapter has condemned the arrest, and told the same story we did. Amnesty International -- you know, the same group whose reports Bush used to help justify his war -- is condemning what happened on M20.
Try looking at both sides of the issue for a change.
My Thoughts on the Trial
by Sam
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 11:57 AM
Just some random observations:
The judge seemed to be awfully "buddy-buddy" with both the DA and the cops.
The claims of the notoriously corrupt Pittsburgh police were accepted without the slightest hint of skepticism, while the claims of 122 people -- students, teachers, legal observers -- all claiming the same thing were regarded with an inordinate amount of skepticism.
Judge Likes His Sales Force
by Prodigal Yunzer
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 12:34 PM
So it offended you watching the armed cash registers for the State "testi-lieing" against you? The familiarity that the robed Pirate Captain enjoyed with his brigands from the DA Office made you feel uncomfortable? This was nothing like "The Practice"? Well welcome to the "just-us" system!
The sales force for the state busines drive in radio cars with their guns and badges, waiting for someone to "break the law" and give them a lead for some tasty business. They make new things illegal every year, and you seldom see them removing any laws do you? That would be bad for business. What is offensive to you besides unprovoked violence against another person, or someone taking what does not belong to them? Well, many things are illegal. From having the wrong type of grip on your shotgun down to sending someone a dirty joke on email, every year the "Virtuecrats" make new laws constraining ordinary behavior. And the armed cash registers love those laws, because you arent going to send them to the ER when they try to arrest you, and they get just as much credit for that arrest.
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