G-20 Protesters Plan To Sue Pittsburgh : Some Still Waiting For City Permits - Still No Official 'Go' For Largest Planned March

G-20 Protesters Plan To Sue Pittsburgh : Some G-20 Protesters Still Waiting For City Permits - Still No Official 'Go' For Largest Planned March



The details of where world leaders will be meeting during the G-20 Summit have been known for months.But some protestors are still waiting to learn where they will be seen and heard during the events.Activist groups want to know how close to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center they will be allowed to get.Pittsburgh's City Law Department hosted a meeting on Wednesday which included the U.S. Attorney's office, the American Civil Liberties Union and several other groups wanting permits to protest.With only a few weeks to go before the Sept. 24-25 summit, many of the groups still don't have written permits to protest.Channel 4 Action News' Bob Mayo was at Wednesday's 90 minute meeting and reported that after it was over, there were still no firm resolutions.The city said that the biggest of the planned protest marches from Oakland to somewhere downtown near the Thomas Merton Center will happen on Sept. 25. But the question of where exactly the march will end has not been decided.The group planning the march has a suggestion as to where the march should conclude"At Liberty and 10th, near the Federal Building, within sight of the convention center. We feel it's important that the delegates of the G-20 summit hear the people's voices," said Peter Shell of the Thomas Merton Center."These are locations that we suggested. They're taking them under advisement and promised to get back to us in the next 24 hours about whether or not those locations would be acceptable, both to the Secret Service and to the city law enforcement folks," said Vic Walczak of the ACLU.One of the possible problems with the suggested location is it's inside the "no driving area" and right on the edge of the checkpoint for the "secured restricted area" as determined by the Secret Service for the summit week, Mayo reported.Two groups have approved permits on the way in the mail, one is for a small demonstration in a parklet near the Strip District in the early part of the week. The other permit is for another group to hold events in the east side and march in the Hill District.Some of those still waiting for their permits have said they will go to court if the city doesn't move forward with the approval process.


Groups Say City Denied Them Permits To Be Within Site, Sound Of Summit

Groups planning to protest the G-20 Summit and the American Civil Liberties Union will sue the city of Pittsburgh and the Secret Service in federal court on Friday over denial of permits for their events.The Thomas Merton Center alleges the city is denying a planned Sept. 25 march from Oakland to downtown any reasonable access to be within "sight and sound" of the G-20 summit at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, as required by court precedent.Among the end-points for the G-20 protest march vetoed by the Secret Service, according to the ACLU are at Fort Duquesne Boulevard between 6th and 7th streets and on Liberty Avenue between 10th and Grant streets.The Secret Service would allow a strip district parking lot on Smallman street, but would require marchers to cross the Allegheny by bridge, walk down river on the north side, cross back via the 16th Street Bridge and then head back towards town.A Thomas Merton Center spokesman told Channel 4 Action News' Bob Mayo the city also suggested ending the march on the North Shore Walking Trail across the river from the Convention Center.Organizers argue that is not within a reasonable distance from the summit.Among the other groups joining in the lawsuit are Code Pink and Three Rivers Climate Convergence.The groups want permits to gather in Point State Park and to be able to camp there overnight.With the summit just two weeks away, protest organizers are hoping for a quick hearing before a federal judge on their request.-

thepittsburghchannel.com

Lawsuit threatened in Pittsburgh over G-20 protest permits

Concerned that Mayor Luke Ravenstahl plans to turn Pittsburgh into a "veritable ghost town" during the Group of 20 economic summit, leaders of dozens of organizations gave the administration until Friday to approve protest permits or face a lawsuit.

"It's been our experience that unless we get firm commitments by cities that are hosting these events, they will simply delay, stall and confuse organizations as long as they can," said East Liberty resident Casey Capitolo of the Three Rivers Climate Convergence group, one of more than 30 local and national organizations represented at a strategy session Tuesday night at East Liberty Presbyterian Church.

"We're not just doing this for people who want to protest, but for store owners Downtown, bystanders in the Cultural District and everyone else who deserves to know now where they can go and what the city will allow them to do during the G-20," Capitolo said.

A trio of attorneys, including Witold "Vic" Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, informed the city Monday that delays by City Hall and the Secret Service in setting security perimeters around the David L. Lawrence Convention Center amounted to a tacit denial of marches and speeches planned Sept. 24-25.

The city conditionally has approved all protest permits, subject to security perimeters set by the Secret Service, city officials have said.

"I'm not going to argue with them in the newspapers, but a lot of the permits that were conditionally approved by the mayor, the end points were at the Convention Center. But we know that there's going to be a hard perimeter around the Convention Center by the Secret Service," said city spokeswoman Joanna Doven.

"The mayor has made it very clear that he encourages the expression of all First Amendment rights and that he will continue to work with protest groups to hear their concerns."

Protest organizers plan to attend a City Council hearing at 1:30 p.m. today to express their fears that city and federal agencies have proposed legislation designed to quash dissent during the summit.

To protest a proposed law banning the wearing of masks, Squirrel Hill activist David Meieran said he would don a black one when speaking to council.

"Our core message should be that Pittsburgh welcomes dissent, and dissent is not a crime," he said.

pittsburghlive.com

The Pittsburgh City Council heard more arguments and made some decisions about issues related to protests of the upcoming G-20 Summit.

In a preliminary vote, council said police could not issue citations to mask-wearing protestors without probable cause they intended to commit a crime.

"I think it's about the question of intent," City Councilman Patrick Dowd said. "How is it that the police can determine an individual's intent while wearing a mask?"

Disappointed, Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper said similar measures in other cities have been helpful to the police in protecting the public.

"We feel that they're effective tools," Harper said. "As I stated, we looked at what other cities did to prepare for such events as the G-8, G-20 and other cities such as Denver had these tools in place and it was effective."

The city's law department also met with representatives of protest groups about potential assembly sites for protests which would be outside the security perimeter established by the Secret Service.

An attorney for the ACLU says that protest groups have asked to be allowed to demonstrate within the pedestrian zone of the security perimeter.

"One within the secure perimeter and others outside; where pedestrians can go," said ACLU attorney Vic Walczak. "They are willing to consider those and promise to get back to us shortly."

KDKA-TV's Harold Hayes was at the meeting and learned that some groups want to use Schenley Park as a central overnight staging area for protestors, rather than have them roam the city.

"We think it's really important. If we don't do that people are coming anyways, people are coming to Pittsburgh; they're gonna be around," said Kim Teplitzsky, of the 3 Rivers Climate Convergence. "They are gonna be in the streets and we'd rather set up a space that's safe and secure and healthy and has good sanitation than have people all over the city."

The groups hope to get answers on both issues Thursday.
kdka.com

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Replies to This Discussion

Pittsburgh May Deny Permits For G20 Protesters

Neithercorp Press

Being a resident of Pittsburgh, I can’t say that I am surprised by this latest development, however, it is still a little frustrating for a number of reasons. Pittsburgh is a city hanging by a thin sinewy thread. Its steel industry is all but gone. The “tech boom” that was supposed to save it didn’t really happen. The large medical industry in Pennsylvania has recently come under attack by Obama’s “final socialist solution”. In the end, there is very little holding this city together except an obsession with football. The announcement that the G20 Summit would be held here changed all that, at least in the minds of city officials and planners.

The very idea of the entire world watching Pittsburgh for two whole days has intoxicated them, and fantasies of Pittsburgh’s return to the glory years have clouded their judgment. They seem to even believe their own hype about Pittsburgh’s “economic, environmental and quality of life transformation.” Check out more of this nonsense here:

https://www.pittsburghg20.org/Partners.aspx


This is probably why the city has recently denied protest groups the permits necessary for them to “legally” march downtown, or to set up shop in Point Park, which is public property. The idea of mass dissent in the midst of their moment of glory surely does not sit well with them. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl claims that they are denying the authorization of permits to Point Park because it is to be used to house additional police officers and Federal Agents, and delaying permits for a downtown march because the Secret Service has yet to provide a security outline for the summit.

http://www.wpxi.com/politics/20429037/detail.html

Many protest groups see this as a stalling tactic, and rightly so. Federal Agents have had plenty of time to provide a security plan for the event, and protest groups have used Point Park as a home base for years.

“We provided our permits to the city early, to give them plenty of time to look them over. I’m not willing to keep filling out this permit, then that permit, as they deny them. The Point belongs to the people. It does not belong to the G-20. Everyone knows that we’re a nonviolent group, so why are they trying to deny our right to assemble?” said Code Pink organizer Francine Porter.

“Point State Park was big enough and would’ve been a safe venue for everyone, the place where we could have a peaceable assembly during the G-20,” said State Senator Jim Ferlo who was also denied a permit. “What we’re seeing is the de facto declaration of martial law Downtown during the G-20, and the city seems to be categorically acquiescing to federal demands for that.”

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_63...

It is obvious, at least to those of us in Pittsburgh, that the authorities have decided to make this event as difficult as possible for activists. But how far will they go? Pittsburgh Police have recently announced their visit to the Center for Domestic Preparedness, which is designed to train them in “law enforcement for crowd control and unlawful protest.” This also includes training from Combined Tactical Systems, a company specialized in equipment used in crowd control efforts.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/07/15/Pittsburgh-police-readying-f...

Traditionally, protests that are undertaken without permits from the city tend to leave the door wide open for police brutality. Will the same thing happen September 24th and 25th in Pittsburgh? Hopefully not, but the city seem to be preparing diligently for the possibility, spending up to 10 Million for security provisions and 4000 extra police officers.


Another matter to consider is the state of the economy when the summit actually takes place. If the markets drop as they appear to be poised to do, and unemployment continues to spiral out of control, we could see a much more determined and angry form of activist at G20, as well as more violent police methods.

Also watch for announcements from BRIC countries this summit on the U.S. Dollar. A possible international switch away from the greenback and towards SDR’s is very likely before the year is out, which would mean disaster for the American economy.

Although the permit decisions by the city worry me, any way you slice it, this September will be interesting.



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