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TechnoratiProtests, Clashes Hit G20 Summit City
PITTSBURGH - Protesters smashed shop windows and threw rocks at police on Thursday as police used pepper gas and batons to disperse marches against capitalism at the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh.
![[Police detain a demonstrator during anti G20 protests in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Police fired pepper spray and non-lethal rounds and deployed loudspeakers blasting piercing sound waves to repel the mostly young protesters (AFP/Saul Loeb)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/g20_pittsburgh_police.jpg "g20_pittsburgh_police.jpg")
Protesters wore bandannas and goggles and held aloft a large black sign declaring "No hope in capitalism" and another saying "Kick Capitalism While It Is Down."
One sign simply said "I'm mad as hell."
Protests -- usually against some aspect of capitalism -- have often marked summits since trade talks in Seattle in 1999, when demonstrators ransacked the center of the city, targeting businesses seen as symbols of U.S. corporate power.
"We have seen police use rubber bullets, batons and gas," said Noah Williams, a spokesman for the anti-capitalist Pittsburgh G20 Resistance Project.
Officials said there were 15 arrests -- one for inciting a riot, four for aggravated assault and 10 others for failing to disperse.
Late on Thursday evening, several hundred protesters took to the streets near the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh campus. Police discharged gas and pellet-filled "beanbags" and protesters broke windows at a McDonald's, a Rite Aid pharmacy, a Subway sandwich shop and a FedEx store.
By midnight, hundreds of police in riot gear moved down Forbes Avenue. With no obvious protesters in sight, they sprayed pepper gas on passersby and even students looking down from the balconies of their residences above the avenue.
"We were just looking, then there were loud sirens and then it was hard to breath and I was coughing up a lung," said student Dustin DeMeglio, 19, who was watching as police moved by his apartment building.
Earlier, a crowd broke windows at Boston Market and KFC fast-food restaurants, a BMW dealership and a Fidelity Bank in the area, about a mile from the fenced-off convention center where the G20 talks were taking place.
Police in body armor with plastic shields threw pepper gas canisters and fired beanbags to disperse the protesters.
Leaders of 19 leading developed and developing economies and the European Union were meeting on Thursday and Friday to discuss how to avoid another global economic crisis.
Protesters planned a series of actions for Friday morning at locations including Starbucks, Gap, McDonald's and banks.
DUMPSTERS OVERTURNED
More than 12 hours of clashes on Thursday began when police dispersed some 2,000 people at a lunchtime march. With protesters sent down various streets by police, the two sides soon clashed in the Lawrenceville neighborhood.
Protesters threw bottles and rocks and police responded by sending five to 10 canisters into the crowd.
U.S. Secret Service spokesman Darrin Blackford said the gas used on Thursday was OC Vapor, which contains the active ingredient in pepper spray and causes the eyes to tear.
The marchers overturned dumpsters and hurled anything they could find at police, who gave chase and broke them into ever smaller groups.
"We're here to put pressure on the G20 to ultimately abolish global capitalism," said a 24-year-old man from Delaware, who declined to give his name.
Justin Hershkovitz, 26, a student from Michigan, complained about the police tactics as he ran from the officers.
"This kind of force has been used as an option of first resort by cops (at summits) in Italy, London and now Pittsburgh," he said. (Writing by Mark Egan; Editing by Frances Kerry)
53 Comments so far
Show All"I remember the respect the pigs had for the discipline and the suggested threat of violence by the Nation of Islam. The pigs respected the quiet menace presented by the nearly military style marches, where not a word was uttered, not a single blow offered. There was no suggestion that the protesters would allow themselves to be abused without offering a violent response. The cops knew there would be blood, and they were scared. This is the support that MLK's movement capitalized upon. The basic message to the right was 'if you don't like us, you'll really not like who's behind us.' The pigs had respect for them because they acted with military discipline, and acted peacefully, but with a big fucking stick."
For one, the NOI guys are trained in martial arts and have been known to take out armed drug dealers.
Two, the NOI are a capitalist organization, uphold free market principles (no social programs for one, Farrakhan's against welfare), and are essentially right-wing fascists. In their own way they support the status quo.
You failed to see the point of my post, which absolutely had nothing to do with the political or economic ideologies of the Nation of Islam. The point was that they were met with respect by the police. Police were very careful in how they dealt with NOI demonstrations. I could care less whether NOI were capitalists or not. My only point was directed at the way NOI conducted itself, and in the way the police state perceived them. It was effective and, like it or not, aided the civil rights movement.
Not sure how that happened. Sorry for posting this thing three times.
You failed to see the point of my post, which absolutely had nothing to do with the political or economic ideologies of the Nation of Islam. The point was that they were met with respect by the police. Police were very careful in how they dealt with NOI demonstrations. I could care less whether NOI were capitalists or not. My only point was directed at the way NOI conducted itself, and in the way the police state perceived them. It was effective and, like it or not, aided the civil rights movement.
You failed to see the point of my post, which absolutely had nothing to do with the political or economic ideologies of the Nation of Islam. The point was that they were met with respect by the police. Police were very careful in how they dealt with NOI demonstrations. I could care less whether NOI were capitalists or not. My only point was in the way NOI conducted itself, and in the way the police state perceived them. It was effective and, like it or not, aided the civil rights movement.
Cops are predominantly under the mental sway of military training. They have an inherent contempt for anything they view as sloppy or undisciplined. They have no fear of hippies wearing dreds or beads, and anyone who they view as being from the pacifist and un-American 'left'. Because of this contempt, this lack of respect, they have no compunction about provoking violence through agents provocateurs. They actually take perverted joy in clubbing hippies or code-pink grandmothers, and will cover their acts through false-flag destruction wherever and whenever possible.
I remember the respect the pigs had for the discipline and the suggested threat of violence by the Nation of Islam. The pigs respected the quiet menace presented by the nearly military style marches, where not a word was uttered, not a single blow offered. There was no suggestion that the protesters would allow themselves to be abused without offering a violent response. The cops knew there would be blood, and they were scared. This is the support that MLK's movement capitalized upon. The basic message to the right was 'if you don't like us, you'll really not like who's behind us.' The pigs had respect for them because they acted with military discipline, and acted peacefully, but with a big fucking stick.
I would dearly love to see that sort of discipline from opponents of global corpo-fascism, from people demanding an end to illegal war, and from people demanding more for their tax dollars than bullets and bombs fired and dropped for the benefit of multinational corporate fascists .
Of course I would never suggest any criminal acts on the part of democratic demonstrations. That would be illegal.
Thoughts Into Action-That's where I originally found those videos I posted. I have an idea of what its like. I tried to attend a rally a few months ago and left because I felt as if I was being treated as a criminal. I had no weapons on me and no intentions to vandalize anything. That's why most people sit out: police repression.
There are plenty of armchair observations here in this thread. But just go take a look for yourself what happened at Indymedia Pittsburgh:
http://indypgh.org/g20/#k-f2e80af8301b23b8
In case you haven't heard of Indymedia, it was formed around the world to report protest news directly, without the usual distortions. In addition, you can see what your corporate news outlet didn't report.
The overall picture in Pittsburgh is of an aggressive beefed police force that prevents any speech from happening at all. I've seen this sort of thing in person. While a few people may do property damage, which isn't effective or they are agent provacateurs, the vast majority of people just want to express their dissent. However, the police just treat everyone like a criminal.
If you haven't been in this situation, you don't know what you are talking about. It's time to defund your local police department. They've got way too much time on their hands, and lots of expensive crowd-control weapons - all to suppress rightful anger out there. So much for the First Amendment, trumped by property interests and tear gas. And that's not a fair exchange, so don't think it is.
-TIA
I wonder if pjd is ok.
Damn!
You all need to call upon the
ghost of Leonidas and his soldiers.
Maybe they can finally teach impotent
liberals how to fight for political
results, instead of pointless
pacifist exhibitionism.
Go team Marathon!
Go team Thermopylae!
Death to Phobos!
Nike, nike, nike!
Rah, rah, rah!!!
Ok, two unarmed hippy types vs. about 20 armored cops with clubs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlD9QKZdPhE
Sounded like someone yelling "beat em up" around 30 seconds in too. Despicable.
dubet-And the bike never even hit anyone. Yet they still brutalized her. Do these assholes have no daughters or sisters or nieces?
Was it foolish for the rockthrowers to do what they did under the circumstances, granted they weren't plants? Yes. But again, granted they weren't plants, would there have even been rockthrowing if they were allowed to protest? You can't bottle up or fence off dissent. It just creates more anger.
Besides, what are some broken windows. Jesus. The reasons I am against that sort of thing is because it frightens the general public, which the mainstream media then uses to then slander ALL dissenters. And of course, the cops use it as an excuse to start busting heads.
I attended an anarchist picnic about 6 weeks ago, and from talking to them, I got the impression that they were mostly upper-middle class and could therefore get away with shit. If I did what they were doing, I'd have gotten hurt then carted off to jail, then lost my job because no one would be able to afford to bail me out. That's where there's a disconnect between The Left and the masses they fight for. Some leftists will chastise the hell out of the rank and file for not getting involved, but look at what happens when people take direct action! Even the downright, unabashed peaceniks have to deal with all of this red tape, and having a permit is no guarantee that there will not be trouble.
I watched much of what went down live on television. They showed the faces of the cops. All I could see was ice-cold hatred, hatred towards a bunch of mostly young and some older people, people who were mostly small in build, people who didn't look as if they were streetwise or had fighting skills or a desire to use them on anyone, people who wouldn't step on a centipede.
Who to root for? A bunch of skinny, unarmed radicals or the large, armored, truncheon-wielding police? I side with the radicals. Chances are, they'd give me a hug and a place to sleep and refreshment if I was in trouble. A cop would just kill or maim me.
These young protesters are brave soldiers. It takes real courage to face the real enemy without the latest weapons.
This article included something that I'm surprised nobody mentioned yet.
"By midnight, hundreds of police in riot gear moved down Forbes Avenue. With no obvious protesters in sight, they sprayed pepper gas on passersby and even students looking down from the balconies of their residences above the avenue.
"We were just looking, then there were loud sirens and then it was hard to breath and I was coughing up a lung," said student Dustin DeMeglio, 19, who was watching as police moved by his apartment building."
The police attacked innocent bystanders and residents on their own property. I wonder how that part of the report made it through the editorial process.
Good eye and mark that place. That's data that's going to look awfully scarce in a lot of commentary.
Cicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
The window breakers and rock throwers are undoing ANY COHERENT protest message that might get out via mass media about the crucial issue of out-of-control global capitalism. The other more serious protest groups need to communicate with thesE brats and co-opt them into helping to create non-violent street theatre, displays, and other creative means of visually getting an actual MESSAGE out.
Any "coherent protest" is permitted only a mile away from the actual place where it should be held... Not so much better than in Iran.
and the COPS are shining nights in armor that protect us from BAD people too. And the delegates at the G20 are the future hope of humanity.
You have mass demonstrations with thousands of people that pass peacefully in China, however these demonstrations are in support of the main power structures of Chinese society. The last violent protest in China was in 1989 at Tiananmen square, the demonstration ended in violence because the demonstrators were threatening the main power structures.
Demonstrations supporting members of the ruling class generally do pass peacefully (Nazi rallies are a good example of this), a real test of democracy is when decenters are allowed to demonstrate peacefully.
Sorry, you lose.
First of all, there were protests prior to the Iraq war that numbered well above 100,000 people.
Second, your much lauded Republican protest netted about 70,000 people. It's in bad taste to round up.
Third, that protest was widely promoted and organized by a very large media organization and corporate front groups for 6 months. And it only got 70,000 people. Kinda sad. Not to mention I doubt more than a handful knew any actual facts of what they were protesting.
Maybe 100,000 or more would show up in Pittsburgh to protest the G20 if permits were not denied, if peaceful groups had not been raided prior to the G20, if they were allowed to peacefully assemble, if there was not a military crackdown, if there was not a threat that ones very presence would get them arrested, if people believed they wouldn't get gassed or bludgeoned, if the media promoted G20 protests as much as FOX promoted the teabaggers. What would the teabaggers have done if ear peircing noise equipment (LRAD) been used on them, if there guns were confiscated, if they were denied permits to protest, if they were unable to be within sight of the facility, if there corn syrup soaked blubbery, withered, old bodies had been bent over by a bunch of cops dressed in full battle gear and shoved into a police van and hauled down to the station under arrest just for showing up. The difference is the teabaggers support the G20 and what it represents and violence in our society is only acceptable if it goes from the top down rather than from the bottom up.
There is so much wrong with this post I don't know where to begin. You write:
"undoing ANY COHERENT protest message that might get out via mass media "
First, blaming the protesters for "undoing" their own message is ridiculous, and expecting the mass media to accurately portray that message is to fundamentally NOT understand the role of the mass media, which are owned by and for the corporate state. They have no interest in pushing a message that is against their interests. That is why Indymedia was born.
Furthermore, Serious protest groups usually do absolutely nothing valuable other than engage in a circle jerk of NGO funding. It's the kids in the streets whose bold action we need more of, NOT less. I should add that getting a report from Reuters and believing their spin on this issue is yet another problem.
Go here for more thorough and direct analysis:
http://indypgh.org/g20
Maybe the protestors should have copied some of the teabaggers' signs, including the misspellings and all. Then possibly some of the cretins in the corporate media would have reported that "The people of America are angry and are in the streets!" rather than "A few leftist nutballs are destroying property and causing problems for the noble and dedicated police force."
I would bet that most if not all of the violence that occurs, that is not directly provoked by the cops, will be from actions of agents provocateurs, a tried and true method to discredit protestors. The powers that be that pull most of the strings of this government had no reason to discredit the teabaggers, as the teabaggers were dutiful sheep following the commands of their corporatist masters, oblivious to the fact that they had been manipulated to support further afflicting the afflicted and further comforting the comfortable. From interviews of participants, it became quite clear that the great majority of them had no clue as to what the facts or the real issues were.
i respect their spirits, not tactics though. i do not encourage crime or violence of course; but if you wanna get it on in a city and get away with it and are powerless and poor but fighting Tyranny;
it is done w/accelerants. fuel, fire; light flares, drop them down govt building air shafts, pull a fire alarm, exit.
then call the nyt's, say it was done to protest capitalism, our rape. give the times a name; Direct Action or some nonsense; send them a manifesto. repeat.
then the power of the pen begins
obviating fighting illiterate armed thugs.
the above could be done by just one cunning soul or cell with good trade-craft
but arson is a crime. and we should never break any law, violate any ordinance, or refuse any officers command.
The State is organized violence and tyranny. Thank god people who talk about non-violence with religious zeal didn't live in this country in 1776. I am sure your 'peaceful' protests would have gone over just fine with the King. I don't particularly care for violence, but lets not be naive about the willingness of the State to murder, maim, and destroy in the pursuit of profit.
Short of a general strike and mass non-participation in the regular running of this criminal state, peaceful protests will do nothing to change the underlying fundamental pillar of violence that this country is built on.
And for the record, 99% of the time, the COPS ALWAYS start the violence at these events. And I don't consider property destruction violence.
what if it is your property? i torched your car, that'd be non-violence?
i respect the essence of tour post-peaceful protests will change naught.
but can the revolucion be hastened? only a revolution will help us, all else is posturing.
and cops don't always start the violence; they don't have that chance except in face-offs, and fighting cops face to face is stupid.
take them out of their game. peace.
"and cops don't always start the violence"
then you have never been at a street protest where real violence breaks out. 1 out of a 100 times, someone slugs a cop, but mostly because the cop is either pushing the person on the ground or beating them with a stick, or pepper spraying them with a giant canister in the face.
"what if it is your property? i torched your car, that'd be non-violence?"
yes, absolutely, it would be property destruction. and again, most, but not all, of the time, this is done by dumb kids that aren't thinking about their targets or is done by agents of the state to provoke a conflict. indymedia has documented agents that initiate property destruction dozens of times, from prague to miami, and from LA to Quebec.
cops start the fights at peaceful protests, they are the ones that initiate the face to face. in LA, during May Day two years ago, they opened fire on old folks, young kids, reporters, and protesters alike, and always blamed the 'anarchists' even though we have video footage showing the cops starting everything....
Because these demonstrators are in opposition to the the ruling power structures and are not in support of them, surely its obvious?
Isn't it nice how right-wing protesters are given permits and are undisturbed, but left-wing protesters are raided by SWAT teams and not allowed to march at all? Oh, not to mention the right-wingers bringing guns and it's all good, and left-wingers come unarmed and get shot with "less than lethal" weaponry.
>>
By midnight, hundreds of police in riot gear moved down Forbes Avenue. With no obvious protesters in sight, they sprayed pepper gas on passersby and even students looking down from the balconies of their residences above the avenue.
<<
It is these continuing and increasingly common attacks on innocents that causes most people to HATE the pigs. I really don't think it will be long before people begin to shoot back. For this reason I have sold my guns. That way I cannot do something stupid.
juxtapose with the recent article on phenomenal bullet sales...
At this point, is anyone going to change things by playing Ghandi now? I doubt it. That's just capitulation to a police state.
The property damage has been minimal and has consisted mainly of some broken windows. The places targeted were banks and chain restaurants. The protestors have not been harassing or hurting ordinary people. I keep telling people that, but they won't listen.
I posted this before. Look at the goons rough up this young lady...
http://www.wpxi.com/video/21110533/index.html
Disgusting. I saw it as it happened late last night live on TV. I was so angry I couldn't sleep. The police are provoking trouble, which is just what I expected. And there's so much disinformation out there. So many dumb people are taking the bait.
I watched some idiot in Lawrenceville say to the stormtroopers, "Kick some ass guys." Meanwhile the moron's living in a little house in a neighborhood that's been trying to push people like him out. The protestors are fighting for his best interest, but he can't see that. Dipshit probably wants to go live in Tionesta.
Good post Jethro.
all of the clips of this incident state she threw her bike at a cop, which she did, but none of them mention the cop had given her a very rough push from behind before that, and it looks like the cops were doing alot of that kind of pushing, as you can see them doing it to others, who simply didn't respond in kind...she was responding, not instigating, and the cops were instigating, not responding...is shoving someone assault?
can't help but notice the protesters are never the ones with riot gear, batons, tasers, and gas...who's really showing up for a fight?
What would those Teabaggers think if they were met with this kind of force?
Do you think they would even get off the bus?
Would they carry guns?
What's the typical gun freak mantra..."I'll give up my gun when they pry it from my cold, dead hands"?? Yeah...RIGHT! It's so much empty bravado, as in post-Katrina New Orleans, when the phony big, tough 2nd Amender's didn't raise a whimper while the police & military confiscated their weapons. Just walked right up to their doors and said 'hand 'em over', and they did.
So these morons spend thousands on weapons & ammo, and when it comes time to actually use them as "militias" in defense of their constitutional rights, they chicken out.
This country is a bunch of weak, stupid, scared sheep, and the fascist gov't knows it.
Ummm...last time I checked, I didn't specify that all gun freaks are "conservative Republicans". That's YOUR invention. There are millions of gun-toting blowhards of virtually every political stripe in the US.
The fantasy here is if you think guns were not confiscated piecemeal in N.O., no matter what their owner's political leanings might have been. The proto-fascist US police state wasn't handing out questionnaire forms before they began their round-up. THAT was the point, AND the fact that when push comes to shove, 99.9% of gun lovers don't have the backbone to stand with their guns against gov't tyranny, although they'll talk a lot of trash beforehand.
2nd Amendment supporters? My ass. Only when it's fun - and safe - to strut around pretending they're John Wayne with a faux metal penis.
Isn't it funny that in the Pittsburgh Post the only really organized protesters shown are the "anarchists"? They serve as a flashpoint for protests, do just enough property damage (knocking over waste bins and such) to qualify as such, have no tangible positions and thus provoke no discussion, and dress like terrorist wannabees. Also notable is that in the videos I've watched, it's never the "anarchists" who are being arrested, always the opinionated, presumably principled, plain clothed citizens. Cointelpro much?
Was this the best reporting on current events in Pittsburgh that Common Dreams could find? We all know (or should know) that there are thousands of peaceful demonstrators and hundreds of articulate NGOs with a wide spectrum of agendas in attendance. So, why the clearly biased article so heavily focused on property damage? And the agenda presented in the article, 'I'm here to destroy capitalism.' That just shuts down the frontal cortex of 90% of readers. Isn't CD a place for better media? For media critique and criticism?
And what of the property damage? What would anyone expect when democracy is forbidden? If people aren't allowed to assembly within sight or sound of the power center, if they aren't allowed peaceful outlets for expression, what options are left for them?
Here's an idea: get the people to support your cause by coming to their town and breaking shit.
"We all know (or should know) that there are thousands of peaceful demonstrators and hundreds of articulate NGOs with a wide spectrum of agendas in attendance."
Know why? Because they are not out wrecking the city and being all round pains in the ass.
The heavy handed police tactics usually escalate things. I've seen the cops stop or attack marches before any vandalism happens. That's usually when something gets broken or burned . Witnessed it personally about five times in NY and DC. Seems to be standard operating procedure. Also seen plainclothes cops posing as protesters. Teabaggers can bring assault weapons to a presidential rally, but others aren't allowed to march against the horrible crimes of global corporatism?
Re Truth_Forward September 25th, 2009 11:28 am
Maybe the vandalism was committed by the demonstrators, and maybe it was committed by undercover cops trying to discredit the demonstrators and provide a pretext for violent repression.
If the former, it pales in comparison to the global vandalism committed every day by the capitalists represented inside the meetings. Anyone arrested should therefore plead the necessity defense.
If the latter, it worked on you, didn't it?
"If the former, it pales in comparison to the global vandalism committed every day by the capitalists represented inside the meetings. Anyone arrested should therefore plead the necessity defense."
You'd make a great Judge. I could see it now:
Thief: "Your honor, I did steal those clothes from Walmart but you see they pay me crap wages and therefore prey on me, so it had to be done."
You: "It's all good then. NOT GUILTY! By the way those threads look good on you!"
If it is police provocateurs then why aren't the legit protesters pointing them out?
If teabaggers were to smash windows it would be vandalism and when the G20 protesters do it it's still vandalism.
Re Truth_Forward September 25th, 2009 1:11 pm, who asks
"If it is police provocateurs then why aren't the legit protesters pointing them out?"
A recent post quoted an old German man, who recalled his youthful experience under the Third Reich; he said everybody knew about the camps and the trains, but wondered "to whom does one complain when the government is committing the crime?"
That being said, I'm pleasantly surprised to find you acknowledging that some protesters are "legit." But your imagined courtroom scene is a silly waste of bandwidth. You do understand how the necessity defense is supposed to work, don't you?
I thought Obama promised to listen to the people? He encourages people to come out and make their views heard and then he blankets them with tear gas.