So you guys have heard about the G20 summit, I'm sure? It's being held in Pittsburgh, my home sweet home. Protests, though, aren't being held near the convention center (where the summit is actually taking place), but instead on my college campus (I'm studying abroad, so I'm not there.)
It's nothing new - there's always protesters protesting something on Forbes. Free the whales! Feed the babies! More money! Less vacations! Stuff like that.
The difference, of course, is that it's always been locals complaining, and they've always been (mostly) peaceful. Also, there's never been high-ranking democrats from 20(?) different countries. So naturally, security has been ramped up, despite being in Oakland and across a river from the damned convention. But whatever, I accept it - we don't want (literally) an international incident to occur!
In the past, rioters have been dealt with in the typical ways - usually just a stern warning, but occasionally pellet guns and VERY rarely tear gas if the occasion really calls for it.
So last night there was a protest going down Forbes (no surprise there), and police in full riot gear were there to stop it (and for that, I do thank them). According to a youtube video, the protesters started throwing things at the police - probably empty beer bottles, but also something white (like a baseball?), and actually, apparently, a bicycle. So, the police took action (naturally) and began pellet gunning and gassing the protesters. Fine - totally worth it.
However, above Forbes is a sky bridge, an access bridge from the most common dormitory to a few class buildings on the other side, and a staircase on either side down to the street. There were students on the bridge, watching the riot - innocent bystanders who wanted to watch history being made. They couldn't have done anything up there - the bridge is enclosed by fiberglass, so they couldn't have thrown anything or even been heard had they shouted obscenities at the police. The most they could have done would have been making obscene gestures at the police.
Nevertheless, police enclosed the spectators from both sides, and began pellet-gunning and gassing them. Their only crime was rubbernecking, but almost a full five minutes went by before they were allowed to pass. Police on one end told them (presumably - I really couldn't hear, but the students were telling them that they "[couldn't] go that way") to go down onto Forbes, while the police on Forbes wouldn't let them pass. One girl was shot in the neck with a pellet and began bleeding - not heavily, but not a little red mark, either.
What is this? "Typical" police action? As far as I can remember, police are only to use these methods to break up violent or otherwise out-of-control rioters/protesters, not innocent college kids.
What are your thoughts? Was it a miscommunication, and they had actually intended to herd the group one way or the other? Were they right to do that?
I'm really incensed and feel kind of powerless - if I had been on campus, I definitely would have been there, watching history get made. As it is, those are my people - my college AND my hometown - and watching them basically get attacked for nothing just makes me burn up inside. And yet, another girl from my college basically said she doesn't care - "it's G20, what do you expect?"
Well, I certainly expect the police to act correctly and appropriately to avoid making themselves - and, by proxy, the fine city of Pittsburgh - an international spectacle.
Thoughts?
It's nothing new - there's always protesters protesting something on Forbes. Free the whales! Feed the babies! More money! Less vacations! Stuff like that.
The difference, of course, is that it's always been locals complaining, and they've always been (mostly) peaceful. Also, there's never been high-ranking democrats from 20(?) different countries. So naturally, security has been ramped up, despite being in Oakland and across a river from the damned convention. But whatever, I accept it - we don't want (literally) an international incident to occur!
In the past, rioters have been dealt with in the typical ways - usually just a stern warning, but occasionally pellet guns and VERY rarely tear gas if the occasion really calls for it.
So last night there was a protest going down Forbes (no surprise there), and police in full riot gear were there to stop it (and for that, I do thank them). According to a youtube video, the protesters started throwing things at the police - probably empty beer bottles, but also something white (like a baseball?), and actually, apparently, a bicycle. So, the police took action (naturally) and began pellet gunning and gassing the protesters. Fine - totally worth it.
However, above Forbes is a sky bridge, an access bridge from the most common dormitory to a few class buildings on the other side, and a staircase on either side down to the street. There were students on the bridge, watching the riot - innocent bystanders who wanted to watch history being made. They couldn't have done anything up there - the bridge is enclosed by fiberglass, so they couldn't have thrown anything or even been heard had they shouted obscenities at the police. The most they could have done would have been making obscene gestures at the police.
Nevertheless, police enclosed the spectators from both sides, and began pellet-gunning and gassing them. Their only crime was rubbernecking, but almost a full five minutes went by before they were allowed to pass. Police on one end told them (presumably - I really couldn't hear, but the students were telling them that they "[couldn't] go that way") to go down onto Forbes, while the police on Forbes wouldn't let them pass. One girl was shot in the neck with a pellet and began bleeding - not heavily, but not a little red mark, either.
What is this? "Typical" police action? As far as I can remember, police are only to use these methods to break up violent or otherwise out-of-control rioters/protesters, not innocent college kids.
What are your thoughts? Was it a miscommunication, and they had actually intended to herd the group one way or the other? Were they right to do that?
I'm really incensed and feel kind of powerless - if I had been on campus, I definitely would have been there, watching history get made. As it is, those are my people - my college AND my hometown - and watching them basically get attacked for nothing just makes me burn up inside. And yet, another girl from my college basically said she doesn't care - "it's G20, what do you expect?"
Well, I certainly expect the police to act correctly and appropriately to avoid making themselves - and, by proxy, the fine city of Pittsburgh - an international spectacle.
Thoughts?