Riots consume Oakland
By Staff Report
published: Fri, 25 Sep, 2009
What began as a peaceful gathering of people hoping to see President Barack Obama last night became an 8-hour-long protest-turned-riot that damaged Oakland businesses and prompted police to use force.
About 50 people gathered near the bridge to Schenley Park at 4 p.m. yesterday to see Obama’s motorcade drive to the Phipps Conservatory.
The Obamas were hosting a working dinner in the greenhouse for the other G-20 leaders and their spouses. It was a precurser to the G-20 Summit, which officially opens tomorrow.
The gathering was peaceful until additional protesters joined the original group at around 6 p.m. Police sent in reinforcements as the crowd grew and placed caution tape near the traffic light at the bridge to Schenley Park.
Demonstrators ripped the tape and began leap-frogging over one another and toward the police.
Police declared the event an “unlawful assembly” and warned protesters, in both English and Spanish, that if they didn’t leave, they could be arrested or “subject to other police action.”
When the people didn’t move, police launched a smoke bomb into the group.
It was the first of many times police would fire gas or smoke into the crowds, which eventually grew to include hundreds of, if not more than 1,000 people.
The crowd simmered down for a few hours after the initial smoke bomb, at one point dancing to music provided by the Pittsburgh Hare Krishnas.
“It’s imposible for us to be stronger than them. They’ve sticks and shields, but we’ve got voices and we can all sing and be louder than them,” said one man, who claimed to be a chaitanya, or leader, of the Hare Krishnas.
Other groups began protesting around 10 p.m.
People marching dressed in all black and wearing bandanas weaved their way throughout Oakland screaming, “We’re here. We’re queer. We have no fear.”
Many other people, most of whom looked college-aged, joined the march.
Some of the protesters used bricks to bash in windows to McDonald’s, Kinko’s, The Pitt Shop, Pamela’s and Bruegger’s among other businesses. They also lit Dumpsters on fire.
The group eventually joined the people protesting in Schenley Plaza and around the Cathedral of Learning.
They showed up just in time to hear the police once again declare the event an “unlawful assembly,” at 10:37 p.m. over a loud speaker system.
Police threw more than 30 canisters of gas into the crowds, which were now dominated by mostly college-aged people. Police surrounded the Cathedral around 11:30 p.m. and eventually covered the lawn of the William Pitt Union. At one point, they marched through the Schenley Quadrangle and onto Towers patio.
Popping sounds could be heard from the Union.
After one round of the sounds, two people laid on the ground, one of them over the Pitt logo on Forbes Avenue.
Officers with batons hovered over one of the people, who took several minutes to stand up.
Police eventually handcuffed both men.
The police had said they would use “less lethal weapons” on people who wouldn’t disperse. City police officers in Zone 4, which covers Oakland, declined to comment last night.
One ACLU volunteer said he was disappointed in the way the police handled the protests.
“They are just kids,” said Dave Ninehouser, an ACLU legal observer. “They need to call their parents and cry bloody murder.”
Visit http://www.pittnews.com/node/20076 for more photos of the night's demonstrations.
Comments
With permits, this wouldn't have happened!
I don't feel sorry for any of these kids who were arrested. The police were doing their jobs. had these kids done their homework, as they should be used to doing by now, they would have found that had they obtained the right permits (which are very easy to obtain), there would have been no problem whatsoever for their protest (had it been peacful). Permits for a large assembly allows local business owners and law enforcement to know ahead of time when and where this is going to take place so that they can be prepared for it. The police would have been there to protect the protesters, their right to free speech and assembly, had they taken the right action of obtaining a permit in the first place. The police had a right to tell the crowd to disperse as it was not done legally and was done on city and private properties without permission. Thus, why didn't these kids properly organize this and get permits? Sorry kids, people do want to hear your voices, and you have the right to be heard, but because of your idiotic manner in going about this, your reaction and your violence, you have closed the ears of many people who might have listened. BTW, please grow up and stop taking the Sex Pistols seriously. Anarchy is for spoiled kids who just never listened to their parents in the first place.
On Permits
In the Preamble it states that every U.S. citizen has the right to peacefuly assemble. It doesn't say that you need a permit to do so. I realize that the powers that be have created blocks on our abillity to do this by putting a cap on the amount of people you can have in your assembly. However Pittsburgh only gave one permit out for the G-20 summit. All others were denied. This is a grievous travisty agains all who value the 1st amendment. When the cops began using less-leathal weapons on the crowd they were violating the oath they had sworn to up hold. There would have been little or no collateral damage in the streets of Pittsburgh if the pigs had not used unjust force to discourage political dissent. And have you ever read anything regarding anarchy other than what Fox news reports? Your compairison to the Sex Pistols makes you seem ignorant.
Disappointed in the news about Pittsburgh!
My daughter is a sophomore at Pitt, and has been shocked at the way the cops treated the students. She is grateful that she hadn't gone for her evening walk in which she would have gotten caught up in a "war zone". She tells me there were undoubtedly a lot of students who got inadvertantly caught up in the crowds.
Let's face it -- respect for authority works both ways -- people will only have respect for the cops if they have respect for the people. This is the USA.
First Amendment Rights aside...
where was Pitt in all this? Why is it that Pitt seems to want to take all the glory when something good happens "The G-20 is coming!" and then look the other way when something bad happens "we have students watching (it is a university after all), but let's do nothing to force them to stay away."
Duh. Pitt is now becoming responsible, and after last night, I think they need to stop pretending Oakland is "just a neighborhood we share" and acknowledge it is more like a campus upon which is has covert, if not overt, authority.,
What do you expect?
There's a reason why there was a website and tons of news sources telling people to avoid certain places. Whoever got beaten or gassed deserved it, even if they were just watching.
I think next time the cops should get fire trucks and spray everyone with the high-powered hose. And they should take pictures of the students and send them home to their parents who are wasting tons of money for their sons and daughters to not heed warnings and be idiots.
Cops were just doing their jobs; the students weren't, they should be studying.
you are a fool.
It's actually not a law to not go to work. Nor is it a law to study every time you aren't sleeping or in class. Just because YOU didn't go to college doesn't mean you should get down on those of us who did.
When the cops come for YOU, they will also be "just doing their jobs." And it's people like you who will applaud as they drag you away.
Ok we heard your "side"
Here is the side of a student caught in the middle of it!
Reddit, I had to create an account to post about what just happened on my campus. I go to the University of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh... G20, you know. President Obama's dinner for the delegates happened just off campus, within eyesight of us -- usually. When people grouped up by the street that would lead to the Phipps Conservatory, they were met with armored police.
For a while the students and locals just stood and talked while the police line faced us. Some people sang and had signs. Others just watched. Slowly, the line of locals began to advance. A police officer with a megaphone stepped out several times and told us to leave the area, but as we weren't doing anything wrong, most people didn't leave.
That's when they shot a canister of gas at us. Reddit, sprinting away from armored police who looked like Storm Troopers from Star Wars, hearing that hissing sound while one of my favorite spots on campus filled with smoke... it was terrifying.
When the smoke cleared the crowd was still there.
This standoff lasted several hours. Around 10:30, the atmosphere had changed. The police had advanced far up the road toward students, who were kept back to a grassy area called Schenley Plaza. Students were singing and dancing. It was very peaceful. Someone said something to a cop.
Suddenly the guy was grabbed and thrown on the ground. The crowd AT ONCE surrounded the cops and started chanting LET HIM GO! LET HIM GO! LET HIM GO!
There was a dumpster lit on fire further up the road, so I went up there to see what I could see, and suddenly there were tons of people sprinting down the sidewalk away from the fire. SWAT vans and six or seven major police cars pulled up to Schenley Plaza.
Reddit, the next two hours were complete chaos. My campus was invaded by armored police officers. They threw actual tear gas into crowds of students. They SHOT students with rubber bullets. They beat slower-moving students with a baton. I saw a group of cyclists being herded down the sidewalk. A cop reached out and pushed a woman on a bike. She turned around and pushed her bike at the cop. Next thing we knew, he grabbed her by the face and slammed her down on the concrete.
They slowly advanced us back down Forbes Avenue, toward the major freshman dorms. Several protesters broke storefront windows. I'd guess 20 protesting, about 1,000 students watching (if that.) The police fired Sound Cannons at us, a new weapon never before used on US citizens, which plays a sonic pulse that gives major headaches. They fired more tear gas at the students.
Then riot squads came running up behind us and forced us into the Litchfield Towers Lobby. People who did not make it into the lobby before the riot squads got to the doors were grabbed, thrown to the ground, beaten, and arrested.
Here is the part where I felt most violated -- The riot cops then ENTERED our dormitory and shouted that students needed to return to their rooms immediately. Anyone arrested, they said, would be expelled from the University of Pittsburgh, no questions asked.
Reddit, is that legal? Would police be able to force someone on the sidewalk back in their home and make them barricade themselves in their basement?
Here's another part that got me -- I saw students try to get in the doors closest to their dorm building (there are 3 towers), and the door was LOCKED. These students did not have time to run around the building. And they were grabbed.
We don't know what to do. We're shocked. BECAUSE THE DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF RELEASED A STATEMENT CLAIMING THEY WERE SECURING THE AREA FROM ANARCHISTS AND THAT "SOME" STUDENTS "PROBABLY GOT CAUGHT UP" IN WHAT HAPPENED.
So, in the news, you'll hear that police secured the campus from anarchists. Not that students were attacked by security forces supposedly there to protect them. PLEASE, help me get the word out. I'll be around all day tomorrow for questions.
Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/9nxw2/armored_police_seize_un...
What do normal people do when
What do normal people do when a large number of police officers tell you to leave the area? They leave! I do not feel sorry for a single person caught up in whatever went down last night. From everything I read, people were given ample time to disperse so if they didn't then that is their fault.
who gives a crap what you
who gives a crap what you think, what matters is the rights of these students, which exist irregardless of your feelings of time when you weren't even at the location to begin with.
Where to?
Last night I was on my way back to Towers where I live and had just made it onto Towers Patio when the police rushed it. I ran inside and tried to open up the other door for more students to get inside, the last person trying to enter on my side had just got inside the first of the double doors when he was grabbed by a police officer and thrown to the ground and arrested. No warning was given while I was there, so you can say ample warning all you want but I didn't hear anything when I was on the Patio, so I reject that as BS. Where would we disperse to anyhow and why? It's our Patio, not public property. All anyone was doing on the Patio was looking to see what was going on, which is not unlawful.
Nonviolent?
Property destruction is NOT a form of nonviolent protest. Who is going to pay for those broken windows? People who have nothing to do with any "global agenda" associated with the G-20, but are instead hard-working business owners who provide jobs and opportunities to local people. I have never felt oppressed by the owners of Pamela's as they served me those oh-so-delicious pancakes. Anyone who smashed a window last night is an ass, as is anyone who defends such actions.
I completely agree. I
I completely agree. I understand protesting, and if you want to organize a march or write the government, more power to you. But smashing the windows of Panera's and Subway doesn't get to the root of the corporation problem window-smashers and the like seem so eager to squash. Instead, business owners--doubtfully enjoying the kickbacks of CEOs--with bills to pay and families to support are faced with yet another expenditure. It's absolutey ridiculous and malicious.
Your absolutely right, those
Your absolutely right, those that were involved in destruction of property, vandalism, obstruction of traffic, or assaulting a police officer deserve what they get. Out of curiosity though, how many of those arrested, assaulted by the police, or attacked with mace or tear gas committed one of the above crimes? Now, how many arrested, assaulted, etc. committed the crime of being a student on University (not city) property, or being unable to enter their dorm quickly enough?
Anyone who sits idolly by and
Anyone who sits idolly by and does nothing to attempt to stop these lunatics in power from spreading violence and oppression around the world is as guilty as a killer. I hope you enjoy your comfortable life because you have chosen to submit to these people who don't give a shit about human life. Yeah, so a couple of windows were broken, yeah who's going to pay for them? Well what about the damages that your government causes to human life and the planet? I think that you may need to re-direct your criticism.
You're right!
You know what, "Anonymous?" You're right. In fact, I just realized I am outraged by the government bailout of the US auto industry, and I feel the need to "re-direct my criticism." So if you would just kindly give me the location of your car, I can come and smash out the windows. I will be taking the first step in overthrowing this oppressive dictatorship. Don't own a car? That's okay, just give me your home address and I'll smash the windows of your house, or your TV, or your computer. After all, I'll just be expressing my outrage at an intolerable situation.
And you're half right about something else. I do enjoy my comfortable life that I worked so hard to procure, but I don't sit "idly" by. You don't know me. And nothing gives me (or anyone else) the right to destroy the property of others for which they worked so hard.
nobody's home was smashed.
nobody's home was smashed. nobody's personal vehicle was smashed. most of the targets were corporate businesses, hardly comparable. the local businesses that were hit is a shame and i hope funds are raised to pay for the damages to them.
they all have insurance.
they all have insurance. it's just about PR- windows are broken, but the spectacle of capitalism's invulnerability is damaged.
What a juvenile and naive
What a juvenile and naive point of view. The smashing of windows does nothing to mar the vulnerability of capitalism. You militant anarchists should take a tally of age. How many people under 25 years old were with you smashing windows to hurt capitalism?
People like you are pathetic. Capitalism is the only thing that could possibly support an anarchic system.
That said, this act of fascist violence is atrocious, and you people defending the cops are mindless sheep, clinging onto the authority that will gladly strip everything you rightfully own that you worked so hard to get, every "right" you hold dear, every freedom which you probably crow about as loudly as possible. This is not an act of Democrats or Republicans. Both will steal your entire from you with glee in order to perpetuate their power over you, and defending this military action is a sheer sign of stupidity or just simple willful ignorance. Keep pulling the blanket over your head, you poor idiot.
rights
Scott, I don't know that it's helpful to see all human rights through the lens of law or the Constitution, or to assume that there's a frictionless transition from the will of "the public" to the actions of law enforcement. The issues involved in public dissent are complex, and reducing them to the stark terms of legality or illegality doesn't do them justice.
Some years ago I was involved in an illegal protest on the Pitt campus, and I was very glad to have the opportunity to complete my degree. I would suggest the bar for expulsion be set higher than taking part in nonviolent illegal activity, property destruction included.
riots
Hopefully a lot of photos were taken of events. Any students that were photographed smashing windows or promoting illegal activity should be expelled from the university, of course.
People don't seem to understand freedom of speech or freedom of assembly. Neither give you a right to have a medium through which to speak or a place to assemble. The public places are just that, and belong to the public so the public can decide how they are to be used.
It is not surprising in any way that the public would not want people marching around whose goal seems to be to damage private property in the guise of some political movement.
um
So what about the people who were beaten, gassed, tasered, arrested, etc. simply for being outdoors? Aren't they the public to whom the public space belongs?
Are you such a lackey for the authorities that you aren't remotely upset that students who had no involvement in criminal activities were BEATEN EN MASSE? What if you'd been walking home from work, and had been caught up in this? Do you think for one moment a cop would have discerned between you and one of these vandals? How would he do that, do you think? You'd get beaten. And YOU would be crowing louder than anyone about how unfair it is. YOU would be screaming. This is because your precious authority system that gets you so aroused doesn't care about you at all. They would gladly add your name to the roster of criminals in order to perpetuate their power JUST because you were walking home.
Damaging private property in
Damaging private property in the guise of some political movement? Like throwing crates full of tea into a river to protest imperial domination?
Pictures
Thre were pictures of the people breaking the glass, there are located on this very website.It appears they were the anarchists who were earlier downtown.
re: riots
DITTO. well said.
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