by Pete Shell
In the aftermath of the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh and the accompanying police repression, brutality, and assaults on Constitutional rights, many activists – both long-time and new – have come together to create a broad-based campaign for justice and accountability. The campaign includes
activists from the Thomas Merton Center, the Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project (PG20RP) and IndyMedia, along with students from the newly formed campus group called WHAP (What Happened At Pitt), and residents of Pittsburgh’s African-American community, which has struggled for years
against police brutality.
Motivating these citizens and activists is the feeling that if they fail to push back against attacks on their rights, everyone will continue to lose those rights.
The group’s points of unity so far: supporting the constitutionally protected rights of all who were arrested and harassed before, during, and after the G-20 Summit; actively support the legal defense of all G-20 arrestees; demanding that all confiscated property be returned – in particular records (such as videos) and recording devices (such as cameras) seized at that time; demanding independent investigations in who made orders, who followed orders, who didn’t follow orders, and who had authority to engage in harassment and arrests; and demanding accountability of all political, civil, and security officials who perpetrated, participated in, or were complicit in harassment and arrests.
The group is carrying out these points on in several ways. They are organizing fundraisers for the arrestees’ legal defense and providing courtroom solidarity by attending the hearings of arrestees, asking that
arrestees’ charges be dropped and publicizing speak-outs and forums about G-20 police repression. Experienced activists are also assisting arrestees by explaining the legal process and their options to them.
Accountability and justice can take several forms, including civil suits, prosecution of police who brutalized people, dismissal or impeachment of public officials who were complicit in rights violations, and changing policy towards our right to protest. But the first step to getting justice is to find out
the truth. On October 20, the Citizen Police Review Board (CPRB) held the first of two planned public forums to get community input on the behavior of the police during the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh.
A few people defended police behavior. One claimed that her “rights were violated” by a young protestor who ran into an alleyway behind her house, although she made no allegation of violence or disorderly conduct by the protestor. Another speaker thanked the police for not allowing protestors to march into the Strip District, claiming that the protestors would have damaged mom-and-pop shops there. She did not mention, however,
that the city had publicly announced a protest zone that they had set up in the Strip.
Dozens of speakers reported on police brutality, repression of Constitutional
rights, false arrests, and mistreatment of detainees. Francine Porter, a registered nurse and leader of the Pittsburgh chapter of Code Pink, reported on medical injuries that several people suffered at the hands of the police. She said that they didn’t receive medical attention while being detained. She
also spoke out against the sexual harassment that several prisoners suffered while under detention. Dan McCloskey, a member of a Lawrenceville writers collective, said that he was harassed by a large contingent of shotgun-wielding police in his backyard, which they did not have his permission to
enter.
One Hood community organizer Paradise Gray criticized riot police who trapped people peacefully assembled in Schenley Plaza on September 25. While the police called it “hammer-and-anvil,” he called it “more like sledgehammer and ants.” Naomi Archer stated that after the 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) summit in Miami, that city’s Citizens Review Board concluded that the city had been turned into a police state.
Archer denounced the systemic attacks on protest organizers’ rights in Pittsburgh, including her own harassment at the hands of police as she tried to set up camp in Schenley Park for the 3 Rivers Climate Convergence. WHAP member Keith DeVries denounced police who targeted journalists, confiscated film and damaged cameras.
Throughout and after the G-20, the police, district attorney’s office and some
judges have attempted to criminalize protestors. I witnessed an illustration of this when my lawyer asked the assistant district attorney to withdraw misdemeanor charges against me, since charges had been withdrawn or dismissed for several others arrested with me. My lawyers said that the
assistant DA told him she wouldn’t drop the charges “Because you’re you,” – that is, a protest organizer. But ultimately, in a hearing before the magistrate judge, charges against me were dismissed due to lack of evidence of any wrongdoing.
Tuesday, February 2, as we discuss the basics of gentrification. Join the discussion as we talk about the urban redevelopment that’s happening in Pittsburgh and how it’s affecting our city neighborhoods. This discussion will be facilitated by Melissa Minnich of Thomas Merton Center, and Carl Redwood of One Hill Coalition.
