Eye On Pittsburgh G-20 Summit Meeting Discussions - 12160 Social Network2024-03-29T12:03:37Zhttps://12160.info/group/pittsburgh_g20_summit/forum?feed=yes&xn_auth=no"IS AMERICA GOING TO BE THE LAST MAN STANDING ?"tag:12160.info,2010-01-17:2649739:Topic:1439932010-01-17T15:32:36.314ZDR THOMAS W HUGHES ND ESQhttps://12160.info/profile/THOMASWHUGHES
AMERICA AS THE LAST MAN STANDING - very interesting commentary - makes you think if nothing else!!!<br />
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Sun, January 17, 2010 8:49:40 AM<br />
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THOMAS HUGHES [Chat now]<br />
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As you read the following report I hope you will realize the Eminent Danger of Political Correctness of the Allowing the Muslim Movement in the United States of America any Longer. There is not any such Thing As a Peace Loving Muslim…
AMERICA AS THE LAST MAN STANDING - very interesting commentary - makes you think if nothing else!!!<br />
...<br />
Sun, January 17, 2010 8:49:40 AM<br />
From:<br />
THOMAS HUGHES [Chat now]<br />
...<br />
View Contact<br />
To: THOMAS HUGHES<br />
Cc: bingoistheone@yahoo.com<br />
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As you read the following report I hope you will realize the Eminent Danger of Political Correctness of the Allowing the Muslim Movement in the United States of America any Longer. There is not any such Thing As a Peace Loving Muslim !<br />
Their Quran Commands that they Destroy all Freedoms and Kill All Infidels ( that is You & I ) Period ! There is No Love or Compassion in Any Muslim Period, They are the Minions From Hell ! Europe is Finished and They The Muslim Minions have Now begun Destroying Our American From the Top Down, Barrack Hussein Obama is a Devout Muslim Terrorist and has begun destroying America, just look around you ! We Now Have No Choice If We Wish To Survive, We Must Remove All Muslims From American, They Can Not Be Controlled or Trusted. Just Remember Who their Master Really Is !<br />
May Our God Help Us .<br />
Bingo is the One !<br />
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This Is Worth Reading!<br />
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America as the Last Man Standing<br />
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2009<br />
Geert Wilders is a Dutch Member of Parliament<br />
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Here is the speech of Geert Wilders, Chairman, Party for Freedom, the Netherlands, at the Four Seasons, New York, introducing an Alliance of Patriots and announcing the Facing Jihad Conference in Jerusalem..<br />
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Dear friends,<br />
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Thank you very much for inviting me.<br />
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I come to America with a mission. All is not well in the old world. There is a tremendous danger looming, and it is very difficult to be optimistic. We might be in the final stages of the Islamization of Europe. This not only is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe itself, it is a threat toAmerica and the sheer survival of the West. The United States as the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe.<br />
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First I will describe the situation on the ground in Europe. Then, I will say a few things about Islam. To close I will tell you about a meeting in Jerusalem.<br />
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The Europe you know is changing.<br />
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You have probably seen the landmarks. But in all of these cities, sometimes a few blocks away from your tourist destination, there is another world. It is the world of the parallel society created by Muslim mass-migration.<br />
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All throughout Europe a new reality is rising: entire Muslim neighborhoods where very few indigenous people reside or are even seen. And if they are, they might regret it. This goes for the police as well. It's the world of head scarves, where women walk around in figureless tents, with baby strollers and a group of children. Their husbands, or slaveholders if you prefer, walk three steps ahead. With mosques on many street corners. The shops have signs you and I cannot read. You will be hard-pressed to find any economic activity. These are Muslim ghettos controlled by religious fanatics. These are Muslim neighborhoods, and they are mushrooming in every city across Europe. These are the building-blocks for territorial control of increasingly larger portions of Europe, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city.<br />
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There are now thousands of mosques throughout Europe. With larger congregations than there are in churches. And in every European city there are plans to build super-mosques that will dwarf every church in the region. Clearly, the signal is: we rule.<br />
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Many European cities are already one-quarter Muslim: just take Amsterdam, Marseille and Malmo in Sweden.. In many cities the majority of the under-18 population is Muslim. Paris is now surrounded by a ring of Muslim neighborhoods. Mohammed is the most popular name among boys in many cities.<br />
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In some elementary schools in Amsterdam the farm can no longer be mentioned, because that would also mean mentioning the pig, and that would be an insult to Muslims.<br />
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Many state schools in Belgium and Denmark only serve halal food to all pupils. In once-tolerant Amsterdam gays are beaten up almost exclusively by Muslims. Non-Muslim women routinely hear, 'whore, whore.' Satellite dishes are not pointed to local TV stations, but to stations in the country of origin.<br />
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In France school teachers are advised to avoid authors deemed offensive to Muslims, including Voltaire and Diderot; the same is increasingly true of Darwin. The history of the Holocaust can no longer be taught because of Muslim sensitivity.<br />
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In England sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system. Many neighborhoods in France are no-go areas for women without head scarves. Last week a man almost died after being beaten up by Muslims in Brussels, because he was drinking during the Ramadan.<br />
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Jews are fleeing France in record numbers, on the run for the worst wave of anti-Semitism since World War II. French is now commonly spoken on the streets of Tel Aviv and Netanya, Israel. I could go on forever with stories like this. Stories about Islamization.<br />
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A total of fifty-four million Muslims now live in Europe.. San Diego University recently calculated that a staggering 25 percent of the population in Europe will be Muslim just 12 years from now. Bernhard Lewis has predicted a Muslim majority by the end of this century.<br />
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Now these are just numbers. And the numbers would not be threatening if the Muslim-immigrants had a strong desire to assimilate. But there are few signs of that. The Pew Research Center reported that half of French Muslims see their loyalty to Islam as greater than their loyalty to France. One-third of French Muslims do not object to suicide attacks. The British Centre for Social Cohesion reported that one-third of British Muslim students are in favor of a worldwide caliphate. Muslims demand what they call 'respect'. And this is how we give them respect. We have Muslim official state holidays.<br />
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The Christian-Democratic attorney general is willing to accept sharia in the Netherlands if there is a Muslim majority. We have cabinet members with passports from Morocco and Turkey.<br />
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Muslim demands are supported by unlawful behavior, ranging from petty crimes and random violence, for example against ambulance workers and bus drivers, to small-scale riots. Paris has seen its uprising in the low-income suburbs, the banlieus.. I call the perpetrators 'settlers'. Because that is what they are. They do not come to integrate into our societies; they come to integrate our society into their Dar-al-Islam. Therefore, they are settlers.<br />
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Much of this street violence I mentioned is directed exclusively against non-Muslims, forcing many native people to leave their neighborhoods, their cities, their countries. Moreover, Muslims are now a swing vote not to be ignored.<br />
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The second thing you need to know is the importance of Mohammed the prophet. His behavior is an example to all Muslims and cannot be criticized. Now, if Mohammed had been a man of peace, let us say like Ghandi and Mother Theresa wrapped in one, there would be no problem. But Mohammed was a warlord, a mass murderer, a pedophile, and had several marriages - at the same time. Islamic tradition tells us how he fought in battles, how he had his enemies murdered and even had prisoners of war executed. Mohammed himself slaughtered the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza. If it is good for Islam, it is good. If it is bad for Islam, it is bad.<br />
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Let no one fool you about Islam being a religion. Sure, it has a god, and a here-after, and 72 virgins. But in its essence Islam is a political ideology. It is a system that lays down detailed rules for society and the life of every person. Islam wants to dictate every aspect of life. Islam means 'submission'. Islam is not compatible with freedom and democracy, because what it strives for is sharia. If you want to compare Islam to anything, compare it to communism or national-socialism, these are all totalitarian ideologies.<br />
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Now you know why Winston Churchill called Islam 'the most retrograde force in the world', and why he compared Mein Kampf to the Quran. The public has wholeheartedly accepted the Palestinian narrative, and sees Israel as the aggressor. I have lived in this country and visited it dozens of times. I support Israel. First, because it is the Jewish homeland after two thousand years of exile up to and including Auschwitz, second because it is a democracy, and third because Israel is our first line of defense..<br />
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This tiny country is situated on the fault line of jihad, frustrating Islam's territorial advance. Israel is facing the front lines of jihad, like Kashmir, Kosovo, the Philippines, Southern Thailand, Darfur in Sudan, Lebanon, and Aceh in Indonesia. Israel is simply in the way. The same way West-Berlin was during the Cold War.<br />
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The war against Israel is not a war against Israel. It is a war against the West. It is jihad. Israel is simply receiving the blows that are meant for all of us. If there would have been no Israel, Islamic imperialism would have found other venues to release its energy and its desire for conquest. Thanks to Israeli parents who send their children to the army and lay awake at night, parents in Europe and America can sleep well and dream, unaware of the dangers looming.<br />
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Many in Europe argue in favor of abandoning Israel in order to address the grievances of our Muslim minorities. But if Israel were, God forbid, to go down, it would not bring any solace to the West It would not mean our Muslim minorities would all of a sudden change their behavior, and accept our values. On the contrary, the end of Israel would give enormous encouragement to the forces of Islam. They would, and rightly so, see the demise of Israel as proof that the West is weak, and doomed. The end of Israel would not mean the end of our problems with Islam, but only the beginning. It would mean the start of the final battle for world domination. If they can get Israel, they can get everything. So-called journalists volunteer to label any and all critics of Islamization as a 'right-wing extremists' or 'racists'. In my country, the Netherlands, 60 percent of the population now sees the mass immigration of Muslims as the number one policy mistake since World War II. And another 60 percent sees Islam as the biggest threat. Yet there is a danger greater danger than terrorist attacks, the scenario of America as the last man standing. The lights may go out in Europe faster than you can imagine. An Islamic Europe means a Europe without freedom and democracy, an economic wasteland, an intellectual nightmare, and a loss of military might for America - as its allies will turn into enemies, enemies with atomic bombs. With an Islamic Europe, it would be up to America alone to preserve the heritage of Rome, Athens and Jerusalem.<br />
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Dear friends, liberty is the most precious of gifts. My generation never had to fight for this freedom, it was offered to us on a silver platter, by people who fought for it with their lives. All throughout Europe, American cemeteries remind us of the young boys who never made it home, and whose memory we cherish. My generation does not own this freedom; we are merely its custodians. We can only hand over this hard won liberty to Europe's children in the same state in which it was offered to us. We cannot strike a deal with mullahs and imams. Future generations would never forgive us. We cannot squander our liberties. We simply do not have the right to do so.<br />
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We have to take the necessary action now to stop this Islamic stupidity from destroying the free world that we know.<br />
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Please take the time to read and understand what is written here, Please send it to every free person that you know, it is so very important.Your time is very short, please open your eyes America ! 'SHAME ON YOU !"tag:12160.info,2010-01-05:2649739:Topic:1402722010-01-05T15:09:48.371ZDR THOMAS W HUGHES ND ESQhttps://12160.info/profile/THOMASWHUGHES
SHAME ON YOU Citizens of our Country<br />
You Have Permitted The Communist Muslims -AKA -The Current Administration To Defile Our Constitution and Destroy My America !<br />
SHAME ON YOU !<br />
The Patriots in this Video Would Be So Saddened by Your Betrayal of Their Sacrifices They Gave For Your Freedom !<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cMxJBenigY&feature=player_embedded">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cMxJBenigY&feature=player_embedded</a>
SHAME ON YOU Citizens of our Country<br />
You Have Permitted The Communist Muslims -AKA -The Current Administration To Defile Our Constitution and Destroy My America !<br />
SHAME ON YOU !<br />
The Patriots in this Video Would Be So Saddened by Your Betrayal of Their Sacrifices They Gave For Your Freedom !<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cMxJBenigY&feature=player_embedded">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cMxJBenigY&feature=player_embedded</a> Criminals or Police?tag:12160.info,2009-10-15:2649739:Topic:1139302009-10-15T13:18:42.842ZTarahttps://12160.info/profile/Tara
For OpEdNews: Robert N Smith - Writer<br />
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From what I have seen and heard, Whoever was in charge of the police in Pittsburgh and most of the police involved with the attacks on legal protesters, students in their residence area and citizens who just happened to be nearby should be arrested, charged with Violation of civil rights, unlawful conduct and in many cases criminal assault. Just these few news clippings give the grounds for arresting the police chief and at least half of the officers and…
For OpEdNews: Robert N Smith - Writer<br />
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From what I have seen and heard, Whoever was in charge of the police in Pittsburgh and most of the police involved with the attacks on legal protesters, students in their residence area and citizens who just happened to be nearby should be arrested, charged with Violation of civil rights, unlawful conduct and in many cases criminal assault. Just these few news clippings give the grounds for arresting the police chief and at least half of the officers and so on of conspiracy to commit violence and denial of civil rights. Who among the police is going to arrest them? It will have to be a civilian performing a citizen's arrest. What about the mayor or the military who worked hand and glove with them. What about the federal agents who help and directed them? Who planned the police response and outright riot by police against the citizens? Maybe it's time to take police powers away and let them serve warrants or give hue and cry only. Maybe it's time to disband the FBI. They seem to lead the charge in violating people's rights. Maybe it's time to take back the police powers by the citizens and lock up some of the true threats to our Constitution.<br />
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Label, a 21-year-old Pitt junior, said she was not protesting when she was arrested on the lawn of the Cathedral of Learning.<br />
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"They told us to disperse, but nobody left, and I didn't think anything of it," Label said. Then, as the situation deteriorated and police started using OC vapor and making arrests, she said she got scared and tried to leave.<br />
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"They pushed us over the bushes, and my shoe came off. I went back to get it, and I was getting pushed by those giant GI Joes. We were being treated like criminals, but they weren't taking us seriously," Label said.<br />
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"A group of soldiers stood outside the bus laughing at us. We spent five hours sitting on that bus. They stood watching us, a group of 19-, 20-, 21-year-old girls being patted down. I had to wait seven hours before being allowed to go to the bathroom. The Porta John didn't close all the way. I was humiliated. Nothing they do to me now can be worse than what they already did," Label said.<br />
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Pittsburgh police Chief Nate Harper was out of town and unavailable for comment, police spokeswoman Diane Richard said. Earlier this week, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said: "I think, as a group, the police responded admirably."<br />
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Lanzendorfer, 23, of Mt.Lebanon said he was in Oakland for about 15 minutes before being hurt.<br />
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"I was running down Fifth Avenue, doing nothing but trying to get away. I was scared. Everybody had the look of panic running through the smoke. Then I felt the shot on the back of my leg," said Lanzendorfer, who doesn't know if he was hit by rubber bullets or beanbags.<br />
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Hickey, an 18-year-old freshman, said she was on the patio of her residence hall, holding the door open for fleeing students, when she was arrested.<br />
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"No one on the patio was protesting. We were standing outside our residence hall. I have an offer from the Pitt police to come in to discuss dropping the charges," Hickey said.<br />
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Sara Rose, an ACLU lawyer, advised students to have an attorney with them when they meet with university police. She said the ACLU will provide legal assistance for those who ask.<br />
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Another freshman, Emily Rowe, said she was caught on the stairs between Posvar Hall and her residence hall, Litchfield Towers.<br />
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"The police below us were telling us to go up; police on the top were telling us to go down. There were about 20 students caught in the middle," said Rowe, who was not arrested but needed four staples to close a scalp laceration suffered when she was hit by an OC canister.<br />
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<a href="http://www.opednews.com/articles/Criminals-or-Police-by-Robert-N-Smith-091013-388.html" target="_blank">http://www.opednews.com/articles/Criminals-or-Police-by-Robert-N-Smith-091013-388.html</a> Democracy Denied, While Criminality Applauded, The Crackdown on Pittsburghtag:12160.info,2009-10-10:2649739:Topic:1123672009-10-10T15:38:47.070ZTarahttps://12160.info/profile/Tara
By MEL PACKER<br />
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During the days of the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, PA, our citizenry witnessed an astounding spectacle and display of military might in the city we love and call home. To the dismay of many, our pedestrian friendly, getting-to-be-attractive downtown was turned into a military base resembling that more likely to be seen in third-world nations run by murderous dictators.<br />
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Oakland, one of the more attractive neighborhoods for visitors, students, and residents, became a running…
By MEL PACKER<br />
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During the days of the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, PA, our citizenry witnessed an astounding spectacle and display of military might in the city we love and call home. To the dismay of many, our pedestrian friendly, getting-to-be-attractive downtown was turned into a military base resembling that more likely to be seen in third-world nations run by murderous dictators.<br />
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Oakland, one of the more attractive neighborhoods for visitors, students, and residents, became a running battlefield dominated by armored police forces carrying offensive weapons that turned our streets into a cheap imitation of Baghdad.<br />
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This is speculation, but my hunch is that many of those “robo-cops” had a pent-up urge to use their fancy weaponry and, finding little excuse to do so on the largely peaceful marches of the 24th and 25th, found a simpler target on any living being who happened to be hanging around the University of Pittsburgh/Oakland area Thursday and especially Friday night, the 25th. It should be especially disturbing to all of us that this included accredited journalists prominently wearing press passes who, like others, were arrested and had cameras smashed so as to destroy evidence of wrong-doing by police.<br />
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We have to ask who bears responsibility for this gross over-reaction that put almost 200 people in jail, most in violation of their constitutional right to assemble, and who should bear the blame. It’s easy to blame the individual armored police in the streets, and they do, in fact, deserve blame.<br />
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But the larger blame and responsibility lies with our City Council and Mayor, the County Commissioner (now declaring for Governor), University of Pittsburgh administration, and the Obama administration, which insisted that the Secret Service had the right to run our city during G-20. It is not just constitutional rights that were violated. There were crimes committed, assaults made, citizens beaten, neighborhoods and university buildings gassed with complete abandon and recklessness.<br />
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People were seized unjustly, beaten, faces slammed into concrete walls and sidewalks while waiting for buses. Many of those arrested were held overnight on buses and females being detained had to listen to sexually derogatory comments from police along with the obvious sexual threat given in the comment “maybe we should take the hot ones off the bus”. Scary? You betcha. And this comes from those who are allegedly there to protect our democratic rights.<br />
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Sorry, it doesn’t compute. Democratic rights were trampled, constitutional rights were ignored, and there were far more criminal acts committed by police than by protestors.<br />
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But here all we have heard from Pittsburgh City Police Chief Nate Harper is that the police did a fine job. These sentiments have been repeatedly echoed by Mayor Ravenstahl, Allegheny County Commissioner Onorato, and Univ of Pittsburgh Chancellor Nordenberg.<br />
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One kept hoping that as the melee/police riot developed, someone in one of those administrations would have had the moral courage to shout “STOP!” or to at least take to the media the next day with a denouncement of the debacle. But no, ALL of our elected officials chose not only to sit on their hands but to issue public statements applauding the police for their “professional behavior”, just as most did during the battle for permits to stage the protests, assuming the position of blind mice. This is moral cowardice at best, criminal complicity at worst, and deserves punishment.<br />
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Outrages committed by the “peacekeepers” in uniform have now been denounced by many citizens, organizations, newspapers, columnists, and the union representing print journalists. But denouncement is not enough. Recently, in London, criminal charges were filed against a police officer due to acts committed against G20 protesters there. The same should be done here.<br />
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There is no doubt in most minds that there will be massive lawsuits filed both individually and by organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights in an attempt to rescue our city and nation from this horrible display of naked aggression and military power against unarmed people. I am also certain that the Pittsburgh Citizens Police Review Board will, after investigation, issue a scathing report about police mis-conduct.<br />
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But much more must be done if we are to put the lid on this behavior and to rescue our city from losing its welcoming reputation and gaining one that says “go away”. First, NONE of the officials involved who displayed such moral cowardice deserve our support and should be, frankly, hounded out of office and replaced by citizens that have some respect for citizens’ rights. Second, the possibility of filing criminal charges and/or civil lawsuits for damages against all who allowed the commission of these crimes, from individual officers to those in elected and appointed office should be explored.<br />
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If it is a crime to break windows, it is no less a crime to break heads. And those responsible need to be brought to justice in criminal and/or civil courts.<br />
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Anything less means further subversion of democracy and a further slide into the erosion of democratic rights for all of us.<br />
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Mel Packer is a Physician Assistant in Emergency Medicine, decades long peace and justice activist, one of the organizers of the anti-G20 activities primarily with the Thomas Merton Center Anti-War Committee and the Pittsburgh G20 Resistance Project. He lives in Pittsburgh.<br />
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<a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/packer10092009.html" target="_blank">http://www.counterpunch.org/packer10092009.html</a> New York pair accused of directing protesters during G-20 in Pittsburghtag:12160.info,2009-10-06:2649739:Topic:1105012009-10-06T02:42:05.820ZLocaltarianhttps://12160.info/profile/Awho
<a href="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_646374.html">http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_646374.html</a><br />
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State police have accused two anarchists from New York of using cell phones and the Internet messaging service Twitter to direct the movements of protesters during the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh.<br />
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Police arrested Elliot M. Madison, 41, and Michael Wallschlaeger, 46, both of Jackson Heights, N.Y., after…
<a href="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_646374.html">http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_646374.html</a><br />
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State police have accused two anarchists from New York of using cell phones and the Internet messaging service Twitter to direct the movements of protesters during the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh.<br />
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Police arrested Elliot M. Madison, 41, and Michael Wallschlaeger, 46, both of Jackson Heights, N.Y., after they found them Sept. 24 in a Kennedy Township hotel room full of computers, police scanners and Pittsburgh-area maps, according to a state police criminal complaint.<br />
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FBI agents spent 16 hours Friday raiding the home of Madison and his wife, Elena, according to a federal court motion filed in Brooklyn, N.Y., by Madison's attorney Martin R. Stolar seeking the return of Madison's possessions that were seized in the raid.<br />
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Stolar did not return a message seeking comment Saturday. No one answered the phone at a number listed for Madison.<br />
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Wallschlaeger and Madison wore headphones and microphones as they sat in front of computers they used to send Twitter messages to protesters in Pittsburgh to help them move about the city "and to inform the protesters and groups of the movements and actions of law enforcement," the state police complaint states.<br />
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State police in Findlay obtained a warrant to search the second-floor room at the Carefree Inn on Kisow Drive based on a tip they received about criminal activity related to the G-20 protests.<br />
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Police arrested 190 protesters of an estimated 5,000 people who participated in marches and demonstrations in Oakland, Lawrenceville, the Strip District and Downtown during the summit Sept. 24 and 25.<br />
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Madison and Wallschlaeger face charges in Allegheny County of hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and possessing instruments of crime.<br />
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A manager at the Carefree Inn said he was not permitted to discuss the matter.<br />
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Madison posted $30,000 straight bail and was released Sept. 25. Wallschlaeger posted $5,000 and was released the same day, court records show. Both face preliminary hearings Oct. 13.<br />
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Among the items seized by the FBI were: computers; cell phones; MP3 players; anarchist literature and books, including some authored by Madison; business records connected to Wallschlaeger's radio talk show "This Week in Radical History"; and pictures of Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx.<br />
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Records show they seized 11 gas masks, five pairs of goggles, a slingshot, four arm pads, eight face masks and a collection of test tubes, droppers, mortar and pestle and beakers.<br />
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Stolar said the FBI violated the terms of its search warrant and Madison's First Amendment rights by taking "a number of documents and other properties having nothing to do with the government's investigation."<br />
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According to Stolar's motion, Elliott and Elena Madison are political activists who deal with social justice issues and provide legal support for protesters. Elliott Madison is a social worker employed for the past 10 years by Fountain House, a psychiatric-social program with a principal office in Manhattan. Elena Madison is an urban planner and is assistant vice president of the Project for Public Spaces.<br />
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The Madisons describe themselves as anarchists affiliated with a confederation known as "The Peoples' Law Collective."<br />
<br />
U.S. District Court Judge Dora Irizarry of Brooklyn ruled Friday that FBI agents can't analyze the seized property until Stolar's motion for its return is resolved, court records show. Safety of Long Range Acoustic Device debatedtag:12160.info,2009-10-06:2649739:Topic:1105002009-10-06T02:40:36.646ZLocaltarianhttps://12160.info/profile/Awho
<a href="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_646039.html">http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_646039.html</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Before they unleashed bursts of ear-splitting sound to scatter rowdy protesters, city SWAT officers tested the Long Range Acoustic Device on themselves to see if it was safe.<br />
<br />
No one went deaf.<br />
<br />
Pittsburgh police said the first use of the LRAD to disperse protesters in the United States last week was a success, but…
<a href="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_646039.html">http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_646039.html</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Before they unleashed bursts of ear-splitting sound to scatter rowdy protesters, city SWAT officers tested the Long Range Acoustic Device on themselves to see if it was safe.<br />
<br />
No one went deaf.<br />
<br />
Pittsburgh police said the first use of the LRAD to disperse protesters in the United States last week was a success, but demonstrators complained the loud, shrill noises the device emitted worsened a tense situation and raised the likelihood of violence.<br />
<br />
"A large contingent of the SWAT officers got exposed to the sound (during tests). It went well," said Ray DeMichiei, the city's deputy director of Emergency Management.<br />
<br />
No long-term studies have been done of the device's effects. However, the damage that loud sounds can cause is well studied, said Dr. Doug Chen, director of the division of neurotology at Allegheny General Hospital.<br />
<br />
"It appears that this device can damage hearing, but in terms of the alternatives, it's probably safer than a Taser or a billy club," he said.<br />
<br />
DeMichiei's department prepared a report before the Group of 20 summit on nonlethal technologies that would be useful in controlling huge crowds of protesters that, ultimately, didn't materialize. Officials estimated 5,000 protesters took to the streets during a peaceful Friday afternoon march.<br />
<br />
At a cost of $200,000, city and county SWAT teams used federal Homeland Security money to buy four of the devices. DeMichiei said the technology is novel, but not dangerous.<br />
<br />
"Any of the effects are transient," he said. "The only long-lasting effects are if you are exposed to the maximum and you're exposed to it for a long time."<br />
<br />
City police Officer Steve Mescan, a SWAT team member, said he experienced the sound during a test, but declined to discuss it without approval from superiors.<br />
<br />
The LRAD, manufactured by San Diego-based American Technology Corp., has a maximum "burst" volume of about 150 decibels, a level roughly equivalent to artillery fired at close range.<br />
<br />
Occupational Health and Safety Administration guidelines state that a worker can suffer hearing loss if exposed to 120 decibels — a loud rock concert — for more than seven minutes at a time over a long term.<br />
<br />
"At 130 decibels, that is considered acoustic trauma versus just noise. Acoustic trauma can produce permanent hearing loss even with brief exposure," Chen said.<br />
<br />
During the protests, police broadcast prerecorded verbal warnings and played a high-pitched oscillating tone akin to a car alarm to disperse protesters who either fled or covered their ears.<br />
<br />
Similar to a spotlight, the LRAD usually is mounted to a swivel on a vehicle. The operator can target the sound through a scope.<br />
<br />
The device sends out a "cone of sound" 30 degrees wide for a distance of about 1,000 feet, or three to four city blocks. Ambient noise from the device can be heard two miles away.<br />
<br />
Heidi Boghosian, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild, stood next to the device on Penn Avenue when police broke up an unauthorized march Sept. 24 from Arsenal Park in Lawrenceville to Downtown.<br />
<br />
"I didn't feel any pain, but it was very irritating," said Boghosian, whose organization coordinated dozens of legal observers to watch for civil rights violations. "The effect was kind of like being in a war zone."<br />
<br />
Robert Putnam, a spokesman for American Technology Corp., said he has been exposed to the LRAD hundreds of times.<br />
<br />
"My hearing is fine. You're talking to me in a normal voice and I'm hearing every word you're saying," Putnam said.<br />
<br />
Putnam could not provide the number of units in use. Cruise vessels off the coast of Africa have used the LRAD to ward off Somali pirate ships; Boston police used it to direct crowds after the Red Sox's World Series victory in 2004.<br />
<br />
"It has a volume control on it rather than tear gas or rubber bullets, which, once they're gone, they're gone," Putnam said.<br />
<br />
American Technology Corp. isn't the only manufacturer of acoustic hailing devices.<br />
<br />
Indiana-based Wattre Corp. produces the "Hyperspike," which can be used for border patrol, mass notification and search and rescue, according to the company's Web site. Power Sonix, Inc., of Martinsburg, W.Va., also makes hailing devices that can be mounted to helicopters or carried by infantrymen. Video: NEW G-20 DOCUMENTARY! "Democracy 101 (Rough Cut)"tag:12160.info,2009-10-05:2649739:Topic:1103382009-10-05T22:47:37.841Ztruthhttps://12160.info/profile/adap2k
<span class="summary_title">NEW G20 DOCUMENTARY! Democracy 101<br />
A look at the Pittsburgh G20 protests from the makers<br />
of "Terrorizing Dissent"<br />
<br />
<br />
Made in Pittsburgh within five days of the G20 summit by a team from Pittsburgh Indymedia, Twin Cities Indymedia, Glassbead Collective, and Mobile Broadcast News, a new documentary: "Democracy 101 (Rough Cut)". Democracy 101 is a look at the policing and pattern of issues that arise during National Special Security Events. Made with footage from the…</span>
<span class="summary_title">NEW G20 DOCUMENTARY! Democracy 101<br />
A look at the Pittsburgh G20 protests from the makers<br />
of "Terrorizing Dissent"<br />
<br />
<br />
Made in Pittsburgh within five days of the G20 summit by a team from Pittsburgh Indymedia, Twin Cities Indymedia, Glassbead Collective, and Mobile Broadcast News, a new documentary: "Democracy 101 (Rough Cut)". Democracy 101 is a look at the policing and pattern of issues that arise during National Special Security Events. Made with footage from the recent repression of dissent in Pittsburgh, salvaged from the broken cameras, stolen video and arrested reporters, and independent journalists from around the country.<br />
<br />
<embed class="__noscriptOpaqued__" src="http://rnc08report.org/engine/mediaplayer/player.swf" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" allowscriptaccess="never" flashvars="file=http://rnc08report.org/engine/uploads/1/DEMOCRACY_101_ROUGH_CUT.flv&image=http://rnc08report.org/engine/elements/video-logo.jpg&plugins=viral_1-0&viral.callout=mouse&viral.onpause=true&viral.functions=embed,link&viral.link=http://rnc08report.org/archive/1198.shtml&viral.embed=<embed src='http://rnc08report.org/engine/mediaplayer/player.swf' width='600' height='450' allowscriptaccess='always' allowfullscreen='true' flashvars='file=http://rnc08report.org/engine/uploads/1/DEMOCRACY_101_ROUGH_CUT.flv' />" height="428" width="570"></embed>
</span> <br/><br/> G20 riots in Pittsburgh – How I organized them via Twittertag:12160.info,2009-10-05:2649739:Topic:1102392009-10-05T19:18:28.382Ztruthhttps://12160.info/profile/adap2k
<a href="http://www.nostate.com/3240/g20-riots-in-pittsburgh-how-i-organized-them-via-twitter/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: G20 riots in Pittsburgh – How I organized them via Twitter">G20 riots in Pittsburgh – How I organized them via Twitter</a><br />
<br />
28 September 2009 by Mike Gogulski<br />
<br />
<br />
<p>I am absolutely tickled to learn that I was “largely responsible for organizing the riot[s]” in Pittsburgh around the G-20 summit and related protests. From…</p>
<a href="http://www.nostate.com/3240/g20-riots-in-pittsburgh-how-i-organized-them-via-twitter/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: G20 riots in Pittsburgh – How I organized them via Twitter">G20 riots in Pittsburgh – How I organized them via Twitter</a><br />
<br />
28 September 2009 by Mike Gogulski<br />
<br />
<br />
<p>I am absolutely tickled to learn that I was “largely responsible for organizing the riot[s]” in Pittsburgh around the G-20 summit and related protests. From <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.floppingaces.net/2009/09/27/truths-from-the-pittsburgh-reader-post/">Flopping Aces</a>, crossposted from <a rel="nofollow" href="http://peterlajoies110blog.blogspot.com/2009/09/truths-from-pittsburgh-by-peter-lajoie.html">Peter Lajoie’s blog</a>:</p>
<br />
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Another Anarchist who was largely responsible for organizing the riot from Twitter was Mike Gogulski of nostate.com. A self-described, “Future stateless person,” Gogulski is an unabashed anarchist who no longer lives or works in the U.S. but has vowed to overthrow the current system of society. Through Twitter on his cellphone he was able to coordinate fellow protesters’ movements by tweeting where police officers were, where they were going, and what they were planning to do. Anyone who wanted to see these tweets just had to look at a feed entitled “<a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23resistg20">#resistg20.</a>”</p>
<p>Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is indeed possible to exhibit astounding levels of cluelessness by picking up a few scattered bits of information, and then doing your own little paint-by-numbers in between.</p>
<p>For Peter’s benefit, I’ll point out a few things wrong with what he wrote:</p>
<div id="attachment_3242" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 250px;"><img class="size-full wp-image-3242" title="rioting policeman assaults citizen at g20 protest in Pittsburgh" src="http://www.nostate.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/rioting-policeman-assaults-citizen-at-g20-protest-in-pittsburgh.jpg" alt="Rioting policeman assaults citizen at G20 protest in Pittsburgh. Photo by Foo Conner." height="160" width="240"/><p class="wp-caption-text">Rioting policeman assaults citizen at G20 protest in Pittsburgh. Photo by Foo Conner.</p>
</div>
<ul>
<li>The “riots” were almost entirely <em>police riots</em>. With the exception of some property damage (reported to have been largely caused by <em>a single person</em>), nearly all of the violence was either committed or instigated by police. No shock here. Protest is now a <a href="http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2009/09/journal-protest-as-national-security-threat.html">national security threat</a>.</li>
<li>I don’t have a “cellphone”. We call them “mobile phones” over here in Slovakia.</li>
<li>I wasn’t a protester.</li>
<li>I don’t do vows.</li>
<li>I’m already a stateless person.</li>
<li>I don’t know anyone who was involved in the protests.</li>
<li>If I’ve ever been to Pittsburgh, it was only because the city was en route to someplace else.</li>
</ul>
<p>What I was doing for a large number of hours was monitoring a Pittsburgh-area police/fire/EMS radio scanner linked up to an internet audio feed, and then repeating information I heard there to Twitter. For example:</p>
<ul>
<li># (scanner) “All TAC Teams: Meet @ 5th & Oakland Ave” #resistg20 #g20 6:14 AM Sep 26th</li>
<li># Corrected: (scanner) arrest reported at Bouquet and Forbes #g20 #resistg20 6:13 AM Sep 26th</li>
<li># (scanner) arrest reported at (uncopy) and Forbes #g20 #resistg20 6:13 AM Sep 26th</li>
<li># (scanner) “hammer and anvil up on tennyson … clear the tower” #g20 #resistg20 6:10 AM Sep 26th</li>
<li># (scanner) one SWAT commander called “Oscar Mike”, code for “off air, in action for a while” <a href="http://bit.ly/2h2or4">http://bit.ly/2h2or4</a> #g20 #resistg20 6:08 AM Sep 26th</li>
<li># (scanner) “Waiting for booking team for 9 people now” (loc unknown) #g20 #resistg20 6:05 AM Sep 26th</li>
<li># (scanner) “Large crowd forming at Oakland and Forbes” “Bringing LRAD down for dispersal” #g20 #resistg20 6:01 AM Sep 26th</li>
</ul>
<p>And so on. Some of these tweets were picked up by others on the #resistg20 hashtag and who had followed me, and repeated to others, some of whom may have been subscribing to their tweets or hashtags via their mobile, er, cell phones.</p>
<p>Who knows what effect any of this had. Hopefully, getting information on police movements, plans and locations out via Twitter to a few folks on the scene helped some avoid getting <a href="http://carolinamtnwoman.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/military-attacks-american-citizens-with-sound-weapons-tear-gas-at-g20/">gassed</a>, <a href="http://countusout.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/g20-police-attack-and-beat-students-assembled-at-the-university-of-pittsburgh/">beaten</a>, subjected to head-splitting <a href="http://www.pittsburghpolicebrutality.com/?p=7">sonic weapons</a> emissions and/or <a href="http://newsdeskinternational.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/g-20-protestors-arrested/">arrested</a>.</p>
<br />
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<div class="sociable"><div class="sociable_tagline"></div>
</div> Police overkill at the G20 summit in Pittsburghtag:12160.info,2009-10-05:2649739:Topic:1100962009-10-05T17:52:03.670Ztruthhttps://12160.info/profile/adap2k
<a href="http://reason.com/archives/2009/10/05/scenes-from-a-crackdown">Scenes From a Crackdown</a><br />
<h3>Police overkill at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh</h3>
<p class="byline"><span><a href="http://reason.com/people/radley-balko" rel="author">Radley Balko</a> | October 5, 2009</span></p>
<br />
<div class="google-ad"></div>
<br />
<p>Having lived in the Washington, D.C. area for the better part of the last 10 years, I've attended my share of protests, though, again as a resident of the Beltway, I've spent…</p>
<a href="http://reason.com/archives/2009/10/05/scenes-from-a-crackdown">Scenes From a Crackdown</a><br />
<h3>Police overkill at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh
</h3>
<p class="byline"><span><a href="http://reason.com/people/radley-balko" rel="author">Radley Balko</a> | October 5, 2009</span></p>
<br />
<div class="google-ad"></div>
<br />
<p>Having lived in the Washington, D.C. area for the better part of the last 10 years, I've attended my share of protests, though,
again as a resident of the Beltway, I've spent far more time<br />
trying to avoid them and the traffic nightmares they spawn. Among<br />
the various classes of protesters—pro-lifers, environmentalists,<br />
anti-war activists, and now Tea Partiers—the most destructive are<br />
easily the anti-globalization/anarchist protesters. So when<br />
police clashed with anti-globalization protesters last weekend in<br />
Pittsburgh, one could assume that most altercations represented<br />
justified police responses to overzealous protesters.<br />
<br />
</p>
<p>But a number of disturbing images, videos, and witness accounts have come out of Pittsburgh, as well as from similar high-stakes
political events in recent years, that reveal the disquieting<br />
ease with which authorities are willing to crush dissent—and at<br />
the very sorts of events where the right to dissent is the entire<br />
purpose of protecting free speech. That is, events where<br />
influential policymakers meet to make high-level decisions with<br />
far-reaching consequences.<br />
</p>
<p>On the Friday afternoon before the G20 kicked into high gear, a student at the University of Pittsburgh sent me this photo, which
he says he snapped on his way back from class.<br />
</p>
<p><img class="pic" alt="" src="http://reason.com/assets/mc/rbalko/2009_10/g20.jpg" height="225" width="343"/></p>
<p>It depicts a University of Pittsburgh police officer directing traffic at a roadblock. What's troubling is what he's wearing:
camouflage military fatigues. It's difficult to understand why a<br />
police officer working for an urban police department would need<br />
to wear camouflage, especially while patrolling an economic<br />
summit. He's a civilian police officer, dressed like a soldier.<br />
The symbolism is clear, and it affects the attitudes of the both<br />
the cops wearing the clothes and the people they're policing.<br />
</p>
<p>He wasn't alone. A number of police departments from across the country came to Pittsburgh to help police the summit, and nearly
all were dressed in paramilitary garb. In one <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8CNa_viKg0" title="widely-circulated video">widely-circulated video</a> from the<br />
summit, several police officers dressed entirely in camouflage<br />
emerge from an unmarked car, apprehend a young backpack-toting<br />
protester, stuff him into the car, and then drive off. It evoked<br />
the sort of "disappearance" one might envision in a Latin<br />
American junta or Soviet Block country. Matt Drudge linked to the<br />
video, describing the officers in it as members of the military.<br />
<a href="http://rawstory.com/2009/09/video-appears-to-show-us-troops-kidnapping-protester/" title="They weren't">They weren't</a>, though it's certainly easy<br />
to understand how someone might make that mistake.<br />
</p>
<p>Another video shows a police unit with what seems to be a handcuffed protester. Officers surround the protester and prop
him up, at which point another officer snaps what appears to be a<br />
trophy photo. (YouTube <a href="http://myprops.org/content/Video-shows-G20-cops-having-protester-kneel-in-front-of-them-in-trophy-photo-video-707052/" title="has since removed the video">has since removed the<br />
video</a>, citing a terms of use violation.) Other Twitter feeds<br />
and uploaded photos and videos claim police fired tear gas<br />
canisters into dorm rooms, used sound cannons, and fired bean<br />
bags and rubber bullets. One man was arrested for <a href="http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/us/2009/10/03/D9B3TVTG1_us_twitter_anarchist_arrests"><br />
<br />
posting the locations of riot police</a> on Twitter.<br />
</p>
<p>Emily Tanner, a grad student at the University of Pittsburgh who describes herself as a "capitalist" and who doesn't agree with
the general philosophy of the anti-globalization protesters, has<br />
been <a href="http://tanner-emily.blogspot.com/search/label/g20" title="covering the fallout on her blog">covering the fallout on<br />
her blog</a>. The most egregious police actions seemed to take<br />
place on Friday September 25, when <a href="http://www.pittnews.com/node/20138" title="police began ordering">police began ordering</a> students who<br />
were in public spaces to disperse, despite the fact that they had<br />
broken no laws. Those who moved too slowly, even from public<br />
spaces on their own campus or in front of their dorms, were<br />
arrested.<br />
</p>
<p>Lucy Steigerwald, a libertarian student at Chatham University (and daughter of <em>Reason</em> contributor Bill Steigerwald),
describes the scene via email: "I'm truly disappointed in my<br />
city's reaction to Friday night....hundreds of riot cops<br />
attack[ed] Pittsburgh's biggest, most jockish, mainstream<br />
college. And people still have no sympathy for peaceful<br />
protesters <em>or</em> curious college students on their campus.<br />
They just feel comfortable and confident that people who have the<br />
right to use force on other people are always in the right when<br />
they do so. It's pretty scary and disappointing that they're so<br />
trusting with people's right to assembly being at the whim of the<br />
government.<br />
<br />
</p>
<p><a href="http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/bigstory/archive/2009/09/26/pitt-we-warned-students.aspx" title="One University of Pittsburgh spokesman said">A University of Pittsburgh spokesman said</a> the tactic was to break up
crowds that "had the potential of disrupting normal activities,<br />
traffic flow, egress and the like...Much of the arrests last<br />
night had to do with failure to disperse when ordered." Note that<br />
a group of people needn't have actually broken any laws, only<br />
possessed the "potential" to do so, at which point not moving<br />
quickly enough for the liking of the police on the scene could<br />
result in an arrest. That standard is essentially a license for<br />
the police to arrest anyone, anywhere in the city at any time,<br />
regardless of whether those under arrest have actually done<br />
anything wrong.<br />
</p>
<p>Pennsylvania ACLU Legal Director Vic Walczak said the problem is that police didn't attempt to manage the protests, they simply
suppressed them. In the process, they rounded up not only<br />
innocent protesters, but innocent students who had nothing to do<br />
with the protests. "The reason it's bizarre is it seemed to focus<br />
almost exclusively on peaceful demonstrators," Walczak <a href="http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/bigstory/archive/2009/09/26/aclu-questions-police-response.aspx" title="said on September 26">said on September 26</a>. "Police<br />
can't indiscriminately arrest people. On [Friday] night they<br />
didn't even have the excuse of property damage going on or any<br />
illegal activity. It's really inexplicable."<br />
</p>
<p>It certainly can't be easy to both keep order and protect civil liberties at these sorts of events. But that doesn't mean police
and city officials shouldn't be expected to try. A few unruly<br />
protesters (and there was very little property damage at the G20<br />
summit) doesn't give the police license to crack down on every<br />
young person in the general vicinity, nor should it give the city<br />
free rein to suppress all dissent.<br />
</p>
<p>The leaders of the world's 20 largest economies and the press covering them came to Pittsburgh last weekend. It's unfortunate
that the images that emerged were not of a society that values<br />
free expression and constitutional rights, but one that at big<br />
events gives its police the sort of power to impose order<br />
normally seen in authoritarian states. In all, 190 people were<br />
arrested, including at least two journalists. One, <a href="http://www.tc.indymedia.org/2009/sep/tcimc-journalist-other-mediamakers-arrested-harassed-beaten-pittsburgh" title="a reporter from the left-leaning IndyMedia">a reporter<br />
from the left-leaning IndyMedia</a>, says her camera was returned<br />
broken, with her footage of the protests and police reaction<br />
deleted.<br />
</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the projection of overwhelming force at such events is becoming more common. At last year's Republican
National Convention in Minneapolis, police conducted <a href="http://www.startribune.com/politics/27695244.html" title="peremptory raids">peremptory raids</a> on the homes of<br />
protesters before the convention. Journalists who inquired about<br />
the legitimacy of the raids and arrests made during the<br />
convention <a href="http://www.citypages.com/2008-09-10/news/dozens-of-journalists-arrested-at-rnc/" title="were also arrested">were also arrested</a>. In all, 672<br />
people were arrested, including at least 39 journalists. The<br />
arrest of Amy Goodman of <em>Democracy Now</em> was captured<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ" title="on a widely-viewed video">on a widely-viewed video</a>. She was<br />
charged with "conspiracy to riot." Those charges were dropped.<br />
The Minneapolis <em>Star-Tribune</em> <a href="http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/RNC_Protest_Arrest_Charges_Dropped_Marion_Cedar_Feb_20_2009" title="reported in February">reported in February</a> that 442 of<br />
the 672 who were arrested had their charges either dropped or<br />
dismissed.<br />
<br />
</p>
<p>These are precisely the kinds of events where free speech and the freedom to protest is in <em>most</em> need of protection.
Instead, the more high-profile the event, the more influential<br />
the players, and the more high-stakes the decision being made,<br />
the more determined police and political officials seem to be in<br />
making sure dissent is kept as far away from the decision makers<br />
as possible. Or silenced entirely.<br />
</p>
<p><em><a href="mailto:%20rbalko@reason.com">Radley Balko</a> is a senior editor at</em> Reason <em>magazine.</em></p> VIDEO: G-20 Activists Blast Police Response - calling it a "military-style occupation" that resulted in the gassing + arrest of dozens of bystanders, including students + journaliststag:12160.info,2009-09-29:2649739:Topic:1078392009-09-29T14:43:48.922Ztruthhttps://12160.info/profile/adap2k
<div class="status_box"><span id="movie_title">Activists rail against police response
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Activists with the Thomas Merton Center and other groups today blasted the police response to a Friday night protest in Oakland following the G-20 Summit, calling it a "military-style occupation" that resulted in the gassing and arrest of dozens of bystanders, including students and journalists.<br />
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The G-20: a guest with an iron fist [Post-Gazette]<br />
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Tuesday, September 29, 2009<br />
By Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<br />
tony normanOnce upon a time, people in Western Pennsylvania knew authoritarianism when they saw it. It had an unmistakable odor about it -- like the smell of Pinkertons and sulfur wafting up from the steel mills of Homestead.<br />
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It didn't wear makeup or attempt to justify itself with flowers or candy. Authoritarianism used to be honest about its own brutality -- and it didn't care much who noticed. When it looked in the mirror, it recognized its reflection. With a wink and a smile, it exercised its prerogative for violence at the slightest provocation. It kissed its brass knuckles and its twirling baton and expected you to do the same.<br />
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Over the years, authoritarianism has learned the value of mounting a charm offensive before it comes out swinging. Though it has gotten a face lift or two over the years, it still exhibits the same contempt for democracy it always has. Though it douses itself with perfume and wears a loincloth made of shredded pieces of the Constitution, it stinks of rotten eggs, rubber and pepper spray. When it is doing its business on the streets, it expects you to avert your eyes -- and God help you if you ever question its authority or tactics.<br />
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Last week, authoritarianism came back to Pittsburgh. Like any long-lost uncle, it came bearing gifts: national and international media exposure that would take $100 million to achieve, $35 million in cash injected into the local economy and a cavalcade of world leaders who took time from their oligarchies back home to admire the solidity of our fences and barriers Downtown.<br />
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All authoritarianism wanted in exchange for these goodies was our soul -- starting with our civil liberties. Our civic leaders, flattered by the "prestige" that comes with hosting a G-20 summit, quickly obliged. Who would miss a little thing like civil liberties, anyway?<br />
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For three days, Downtown was emptied of four-fifths of its population and replaced with 4,000 cops who spread out to different parts of the city when ordered to do so by some invisible democracy-hating high command.<br />
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The cops given the task of imitating Darth Vader's stormtroopers were a grim bunch. They volunteered to come here from other parts of the country, attracted by the mercenary pay and the opportunity to exert the kind of force on a civilian population their own civic leaders would never let them get away with. Pittsburgh now has the dubious distinction of being the only place outside Russia where sonic weapons were used on a civilian population.<br />
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Dressed entirely in black, the irony of the cops' villainous-looking protective gear was lost to them but apparent to everyone they gassed, pepper-sprayed, knocked to the ground and arrested without cause. Yesterday, the city released a list of 190 people, including several journalists, arrested during the summit. Cameras were damaged and film destroyed in a clumsy and bare-knuckled attempt to abrogate the First Amendment.<br />
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"As a group, the police responded admirably," Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said resisting the urge to identify with people close to his age, but more diminished in power and stature. Mr. Ravenstahl couldn't afford to acknowledge what anyone with access to YouTube can see with their own eyes -- that there was a full-scale breakdown in public order on the part of the cops. The images of the brutal assault on Pitt students and passers-by caught up in an indiscriminate and chaotic police sweep at the University of Pittsburgh on Friday night will surely be a cautionary tale to the next American mayor silly enough to consider hosting a G-20 summit.<br />
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An occupation like the one Pittsburgh experienced can't help but change the way people view cops and their civic leaders going forward. For three days, thousands of militarized strangers took possession of our city, ostensibly to "protect" foreign and domestic leaders most of us would never see, much less meet. As one critic of the police action said during a news conference at the Thomas Merton Center yesterday, if the planners of future G-20 summits really want to ensure smooth, dissent-free experiences for the world's leaders, why not have the conferences at military bases?<br />
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Security for the G-20 in Pittsburgh is put conservatively at $20 million. There was an estimated $50,000 in damage to windows and storefronts caused by anarchists in a few neighborhoods on the East End. But more than a few windows were broken last week. Something ghastly happened to us.<br />
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We proved we were willing to give up something very precious to us for a few days in the international spotlight. We invited authoritarianism into our homes and promised not to whimper while it danced on our necks. This is truly pathetic.<br />
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Tony Norman can be reached at tnorman@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1631.<br />
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Read more: <a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09272/1001566-485.stm">http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09272/1001566-485.stm</a>