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Street clashes as police disperse G20 protesters

By Karin Zeitvogel

25 sept 2009

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — US police fired pepper spray and non-lethal rounds Thursday and deployed loudspeakers blasting piercing sound waves to repel anarchist youths marching on the G20 summit.

Riot officers intervened after a 1,000-strong crowd, led by black-clad hardliners wearing goggles, helmets and masks and brandishing anti-capitalist banners, began to trek across Pittsburgh towards the conference venue.

The Group of 20 is a forum for the world’s biggest developed and emerging economies and its meetings are a magnet for anti-capitalists opposed to what they see as an undemocratic body promoting inhumane free market policies.

Police in riot gear blocked the main roads leading to downtown Pittsburgh from the gritty neighborhood from which the demonstration set off, forcing groups to divert onto side streets as they sought a gap in the cordon.

About half-an-hour into the march, the police began broadcasting a pre-recorded announcement in English and Spanish, declaring the protest was an « unlawful assembly » and ordering the crowd to disperse.

« If you do not disperse you may be subject to arrest or other police action. Other police action may include actual physical removal, the use of riot control agents and or less-lethal munitions which could cause injuries. »

Some heeded the police warning, but others peeled off and ran up Pittsburgh’s maze of streets, looking for alternative routes to the summit.

Riot police blocked a group of several hundred on a narrow side street and fired pepper gas grenades at them after half a dozen youths raced down the road, pushing a rubbish dumpster (wheeled skip) towards the line of officers.

The bulk of the march melted away, coughing, sneezing and with tears streaming from their eyes, but a few pockets of diehards ran scattered through the working class district of Lawrenceville, taunting police lines.

« They pushed us into a side street in a residential area and then shot tear gas at us. They shot like three cannisters, » demonstrator Ross McCoy told AFP. Police later said the substance used was pepper spray.

As the now-scattered demonstration ground on into the late afternoon, police again opened fire on a small crowd in the northern part of Pittsburgh, using what the security forces said were non-lethal « bean bag rounds ».

« In response to having sticks, bricks and rocks thrown at them in the Shady Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh, police responded with bean bag rounds and dispersed the crowd, » FBI agent Bill Crowley told AFP.

Police confirmed one arrest — a man who was charged with civil disobedience — while demonstrators said at least 14 were taken away.

While the anarchists clearly drew inspiration from previous protests at global summits, they failed to trigger such large-scale disturbances.

« It’s very badly organised by a bunch of young kids, » said Pittsburgh resident and demonstrator Fred Marshall.

« It was inevitable that we were going to be dispersed. Their ideas are good, but their voices weren’t heard because they were so loosely organized.

« This isn’t Europe, we don’t do things like they do there, » he said, citing the G20 riots that rocked London six months ago.

Lifelong Pittsburgh resident Eileen Leist watched from her front step as the demonstrators walked down Liberty Avenue towards around 50 riot police.

« Let their message be heard, but don’t harm anyone or anything, » Leist said.

The main message the mass march wanted to convey to the world leaders at the G20 was that human rights and dignity were more important than capitalism and profit margins, several of the demonstrators told AFP.

« The people who developed the system that’s falling apart and trying to fix it? That’s just crazy, » said Sondra Perry, an art student from New York state.

« Our message here is about climate change, poverty, capitalism: they’re all very intertwined and it’s time that we all understand that if we are going to do anything, we have to work together, » she said.

Paul Erb, a student from Ohio, said he had come to Pittsburgh to protest against a system that puts monetary profit before all else.

« I’m here because the current global economic system, which they are meeting about, values profit over people, » Erb told AFP.

« Profit, power and control have become more important than human lives. But that’s not what we were raised to think is right. That’s not where we come from, » the 24-year-old said.

The city had put in place a massive security operation, with police drafted in from across the country, and National Guard troops in camouflage uniforms manning a ring of concrete road blocks around the meeting site.

« We’re here to protect everyone, including the civil protesters. Those who want to use violence spoil it for everyone, » said Tim Huschak, a bicycle-riding police officer drafted into Pittsburgh from the nearby town of Clairton.

Scattered protests continued in the Lawrenceville district in northern Pittsburgh as evening came, but the city appeared to have been spared the same violent fate as London six months ago, Genoa in 2001 and Seattle in 1999.

Pittsburgh police: Nearly 20 arrested in protests

By DANIEL LOVERING and MICHAEL RUBINKAM

25 sept.2009

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh officials say nearly 20 people protesting the Group of 20 summit were arrested during a chaotic march outside downtown.

Police fired canisters of pepper spray and smoke at marchers after anarchists responded to calls to disperse by rolling trash bins, throwing rocks and breaking windows.

The march had about 1,000 protesters and did not have a city permit. City Police Chief Nate Harper says 17 to 19 people were arrested.

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl says swift decisions resulted in very minimal property damage. Property damage amounted to 10 broken windows.

Officials say there were no injuries related to the protests.

(This version CORRECTS number of arrests to 17-19, based on clarifying statement from police chief.)

G-20 opponents, police clash on Pittsburgh streets

By DANIEL LOVERING and MICHAEL RUBINKAM (AP) – 5 hours ago

PITTSBURGH — Police fired canisters of pepper spray and smoke at marchers protesting the Group of 20 summit Thursday after anarchists responded to calls to disperse by rolling trash bins and throwing rocks.

The afternoon march turned chaotic at just about the time that President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrived for a meeting with leaders of the world’s major economies.

The clashes began after hundreds of protesters, many advocating against capitalism, tried to march from an outlying neighborhood toward the convention center where the summit is being held.

The protesters banged on drums and chanted « Ain’t no power like the power of the people, ’cause the power of the people don’t stop. »

The marchers included small groups of self-described anarchists, some wearing dark clothes and bandanas and carrying black flags. Others wore helmets and safety goggles.

One banner read, « No borders, no banks, » another, « No hope in capitalism. » A few minutes into the march, protesters unfurled a large banner reading « NO BAILOUT NO CAPITALISM » with an encircled « A, » a recognized sign of anarchists.

The marchers did not have a permit and, after a few blocks, police declared it an unlawful assembly. They played an announcement over a loudspeaker ordering people to leave and then police in riot gear moved in to break it up. Authorities also used a crowd-control device that emits a deafening siren-like noise, making it uncomfortable for protesters to remain in the area.

Protesters split into smaller groups. Some rolled large metal trash bins toward police, and a man in a black hooded sweat shirt threw rocks at a police car, breaking the front windshield. Protesters broke windows in a few businesses, including a bank branch, a Boston Market restaurant and a BMW dealership.

Officers fired pepper spray and smoke at the protesters and set off a flash-bang grenade. Some of those exposed to the pepper spray coughed and complained that their eyes were watering and stinging.

Police were planning a news conference to discuss their response. Officers were seen taking away a handful of protesters in cuffs.

About an hour after the clashes started, the police and protesters were at a standoff. Police sealed off main thoroughfares to downtown.

Twenty-one-year-old Stephon Boatwright, of Syracuse, N.Y., wore a mask of English anarchist Guy Fawkes and yelled at a line of riot police. He then sat cross-legged near the officers, telling them to let the protesters through and to join their cause.

« You’re actively suppressing us. I know you want to move, » Boatwright yelled, to applause from the protesters gathered around him.

Protesters complained that the march had been peaceful and that police were trampling on their right to assemble.

« We were barely even protesting, » said T.J. Amick, 22, of Pittsburgh. « Then all of a sudden, they come up and tell us we’re gathered illegally and start using force, start banging their shields, start telling us we’re going to be arrested and tear gassed. … We haven’t broken any laws. »

Bret Hatch, 26, of Green Bay, Wis., was carrying an American flag and a « Don’t Tread on Me » flag.

« This is ridiculous. We have constitutional rights to free speech, » he said.

The National Lawyer’s Guild, a liberal legal-aid group, said one of its observers, a second year law student, was among those arrested. Its representatives were stationed among the protesters, wearing green hats.

« I think he was totally acting according to the law. I don’t think he was provoking anyone at all, » said Joel Kupferman, a member of the guild. « It’s really upsetting because he’s here to serve, to make sure everyone else can be protected. … It’s a sign that they are out of control. »

The march had begun at a city park, where an activist from New York City, dressed in a white suit with a preacher’s collar, started it off with a speech through a bullhorn.

« They are not operating on Earth time. … They are accommodating the devil, » he said. « To love democracy and to love the earth is to be a radical now. »

The activist, Billy Talen, travels the country preaching against consumerism. He initially identified himself as « the Rev. Billy from the Church of Life After Shopping. »

Later Thursday, hundreds of protesters, including a handful of anarchists, massed near the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden where the G-20 summit was beginning with a welcome ceremony.

« Tell me what a police state looks like. This is what a police state looks like! » the protesters chanted as several hundred riot police blocked them from getting any closer.

Dignitaries arrived in waves throughout the day, entering a city under heavy security. Police and National Guard troops guarded many downtown intersections, and a maze of tall metal fences and concrete barriers shunted cars and pedestrians.

The G-20 ends late Friday afternoon after a day of meetings at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Associated Press writer Vicki Smith contributed to this report.

Police embroiled in violent battles with G20 protesters

September 24, 2009

Anti-G20 protesters rampaged through the city centre of Pittsburgh tonight, smashing up shops and throwing rocks at police, as officers used tear gas and baton-charges in an attempt to bring them under control.

In riots which continued through evening rush hour, about 300 protesters were reported to have remained from an initial crowd of 2,000 in Bloomfield, Pittsburgh’s Little Italy.

Frustrated in their attempts to reach the venue where world leaders are meeting the crowd, many of whom wore face-masks and armed themselves with rocks, broke windows at fast-food restaurants, a BMW dealership and a bank in the area, about a mile from the fenced-off convention centre.

Police in body armour and armed with plastic shields threw pepper gas canisters to disperse the protesters, charging in to make some arrests.

Some reports also suggested that rubber bullets had been used, but police tonight confirmed that they had fired pellet-filled “beanbags” to combat the rioters.

“In response to having sticks, bricks and rocks thrown at them in the Shady Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh, police responded with bean bag rounds and dispersed the crowd,” Bill Crowley, an FBI agent, told the AFP news agency.

So-called bean bags – or flexible baton rounds – are fired from an officer’s riot shotgun. Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Diane Richard said they were “softer” than rubber bullets. “The police had sticks, rocks and other instruments thrown toward them so in defence of that, that was their way of dispersing the crowd. They had trash cans thrown at them, all kinds of different things,” she said.

Anti-capitalist protests have marked major gatherings of world leaders on the economy for years, sometimes turning violent and forcing summit organisers to use fortress-like security.

Earlier, police dispersed the 2,000 people who had gathered during lunchtime for a march. “You must leave the immediate vicinity regardless of your purpose,” officers said, and warned that gas and other “non-lethal force” would be used.

The main clashes took place in the Lawrenceville neighborhood. Protesters threw bottles and police responded by sending up to 10 canisters of tear gas into the crowd. The sharp smell of the gas irritated the eyes and throats of protesters, some of them vomiting as they ran.

“We have seen police use rubber bullets, batons and gas,” said Noah Williams, a spokesman for the anti-capitalist Pittsburgh G20 Resistance Project.

Leaders of developed and developing economies are meeting in Pittsburgh for a gathering to discuss how to improve financial reforms to avoid another global economic crisis.

G20 Pittsburgh: police fire tear gas at protestors

www.telegraph.co.uk

Violence marred the opening of the G20 summit in Pittsburgh as protestors clashed with police around the city.

By James Quinn in Pittsburgh
24 Sep 2009

In spite of a strong police and army police presence, around 300 protestors managed to congregate just minutes from the summit venue, the David H Lawrence convention centre, where Prime Minister Gordon Brown will meet with the leaders of the other 18 countries plus the European Union.

Police threw canisters of pepper spray and smoke at marchers as US President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, arrived for a meeting with leaders of the world’s major economies.

The protest close to the summit largely involved members of a Free Tibet lobby group, as well as individuals demonstrating for more jobs, and one man whose face was daubed in black and red paint and was seen taunting officers.

Police managed to contain the scuffle, however, with the giant « ring of steel » surrounding the summit venue, ensuring no protestors managed to get even close, although chants from the crowd could be heard at the convention centre.

Elsewhere in the city, there were reports of rocks being thrown at buses in the Bloomfield district, where the windows and ATM of one bank were damaged.

Many local businesses prepared for the summit by boarding up their properties, while around half of the shops, restaurants and bars in the downtown area – close to the summit – have closed for the duration.

Police have been drafted in from around the country to cope with the protests, with officers from Tuscon, Arizona – some 2,100 miles from Pittsburgh – seen stationed outside the PNC Bank headquarters, while soldiers, special agents and Federal Bureau of Investigation staff are also visible in and around the city.

In the city’s Lawrenceville district, about a mile from the summit venue, police deployed tear gas in order to disperse crowds after warning everyone in the area to « leave the immediate vicinity regardless of your purpose. » Protestors responded by throwing bottles at the officer.

Those gathered came from a variety of groups and causes, including Code Pink – which is a female-led anti-war group – Greenpeace, and some calling themselves the G20 Resistance Project.

There was a gathering of around 300 people in the city’s Arsenal Park, declared illegal by police as organisers had failed to be granted a permit by city authorities.

~ par Alain Bertho sur 25 septembre 2009.

Publié dans émeutes, riots