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-- Pittsburgh Protestors Shut down Recruitment Center
Pittsburgh Protestors Shut down Recruitment Center
http://www.infoshop.org/inews/artic...050820155608986
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| Police attack blockade with tasers, dogs, and chemical weapons. Six arrested, two hospitalized, many injured. Urgent solidarity and help needed! Today in Pittsburgh, 100 people showed up in response to a call to shut down military recruitment in Pittsburgh. For the second time in a month, Pittsburgh Organizing Group (POG) was able to successfully shut down the main recruitment station in Pittsburgh. This marked the sixth time in recent months that recruitment in Pittsburgh was disrupted by anti-war activists. Prior to the start of the march, word was received that the station wouldn�t be opening for the day due to the protests. At 10:45am people began to march towards the Oakland Recruiting Station in order to celebrate this victory, ensure there was no chance of the station reopening that day, and to focus attention on the continuing demand for its closure. The march took over Forbes Avenue opposing traffic and met only limited police interference. Upon arrival, the march moved completely onto the sidewalk and blocked the doors to the center. Speakers from POG talked about the need to confront recruitment and the ongoing war in Iraq. More information on the overall campaign can be found at www.organizepittsburgh.org As the speech finished, someone taped a cardboard sign to the stations door reading �No Lies Told Today, Recruitment Center Has Been Shut Down.� At this point, a cameraman from Fox News shoved his camera into the face of a protester who was standing by the sign. When that individual asked that it be pointed somewhere else (instead of his face) the cameraman became aggressive. An altercation ensued at which point he started screaming to the cops to arrest people for assaulting his camera. Police from the City Of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh promptly began to attack the crowd on the sidewalk. The first person arrested (and according to the police, the person Fox is pressing charges against) was hit and pepper sprayed, during which time a cop held a taser two inches from his face. After that, a women in the crowd was grabbed, hit, pepper sprayed in the face while on the ground, and then tasered, all while three large cops stood around her. She is currently in the hospital and we are unsure of her condition. A male protester was also arrested, pepper-sprayed and tasered. An overwhelming police presence started ordering people to disperse from the sidewalk, and a police dog began pursuing people. Cops hit and shoved people, while the dog lunged forward and bit a 68-year-old grandmother who was walking away with her back to the dog. The police also let the dog bite a videographer, who narrowly avoided injury as the dog only got his pants. Further outrages occurred as the police grabbed a 17 year-old girl off the sidewalk and slammed her to the ground. Her crime? She questioned the legality of their earlier actions. Pepper spray also hit a group of children and the police knocked over a man in a wheelchair. |
that video isnt long enough to give a context (for me).
So a protestor got pissed at the media, didn�t want to be filmed, and started trading blows with the cameraman? Damn that freedom of the press �
Anyway Pittsburgh blows. Everyone in that city should be pepper sprayed if you ask me.
So, if a bunch of anti-abortion activists shut down a clinic and police used similar tactics to re-open it, it would be a victory for women's rights.
If a bunch of anti-war activists shut down a military enlistment center and police use these tactics to re-open it, it's a crime against the protestors.
I know the analogy isn't exact, but in both situations it's a case of protestors removing a freedom through their protests and the police attempting to restore that freedom. You can peacefully protest all you want, but when your goal is to "shut down" your targeted organization, you might have some repercussions.
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| Originally posted by occrider Anyway Pittsburgh blows. Everyone in that city should be pepper sprayed if you ask me. |
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| A Pittsburgh police affidavit said Caligiuri, 23, of Bloomfield, was arrested for trying to thwart officers from arresting another protester by pulling on the protester's arm in an effort to free him. Caligiuri refused to answer questions at the news conference. Pittinger said she had seen a portion of the video and wondered why a Taser needed to be used. In separate footage shot by a KDKA-TV news photographer, the woman is seen struggling with as many as five police officers on a sidewalk as a crowd gathers. One officer stumbles to the ground as he and the others try to subdue the woman and at least two male protesters. One of the male protesters overturns a garbage container as he struggles with officers. The woman continues to struggle even as she is lying on the ground. After she is subdued by two officers who hold her hands behind her back, a third officer approaches and uses his Taser on the woman. She screams in pain. During the protest, several dozen people marched in Oakland to an Army recruiting station to draw attention to the government's recruiting policies. The protesters did not have a permit, and organizers of yesterday's news conference insisted that a permit was not required. However, Mayor Tom Murphy's administration said the protest required a permit. The apparent flashpoint for violence occurred when a protester, identified by police as Edris Robinson, got into an argument with Thomas Sypula, a freelance photographer working for WPGH-TV. According to police, Robinson, 23, of Shadyside, hit Sypula's camera and caused it to bash his face. Police said Robinson repeatedly threatened Sypula, told him to leave and said, "This is a secure area, we're taking over," before striking him, according to a police affidavit. Police said Officer Heather Bristow warned Robinson several times that he was blocking the sidewalk and entrances to businesses. When Bristow tried to identify Robinson, the crowd tried to hold her back, the affidavit said. Bristow and Pitt Officer Brian Kopp chased Robinson and had to struggle with him. Sypula, 54, said he moved away from the crowd to shoot a poster on the recruiting office door when he was assaulted. After being struck, Sypula said, he regained his balance and pointed the camera at his attacker. "He looked right at me and said 'Get out of here right now,' " said Sypula. Sypula said he walked about 10 feet and told a police officer that he had been assaulted and wanted to press charges. As he was approaching and pointing out his attacker, he said, protesters surrounded him and the officer. Also arrested were Justin Krane, 31, of Mount Washington, and David Strouthers, 27, of Greenfield. |
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