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Zebra 3 Report by Joe Anybody
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Media & Crap Detection 101
Mood:
bright
Now Playing: What is Fact and what is Bullcrap out on the internet web
Topic: MEDIA
Crap Detection 101
"Every man should have a built-in automatic crap detector operating inside him." Ernest Hemingway, 1954 The answer to almost any question is available within seconds, courtesy of the invention that has altered how we discover knowledge - the search engine. Materializing answers from the air turns out to be the easy part - the part a machine can do. The real difficulty kicks in when you click down into your search results. At that point, it's up to you to sort the accurate bits from the misinfo, disinfo, spam, scams, urban legends, and hoaxes. "Crap detection," as Hemingway called it half a century ago, is more important than ever before, now that the automation of crapcasting has generated its own word: "spamming."
Unless a great many people learn the basics of online crap detection and begin applying their critical faculties en masse and very soon, I fear for the future of the Internet as a useful source of credible news, medical advice, financial information, educational resources, scholarly and scientific research. Some critics argue that a tsunami of hogwash has already rendered the Web useless. I disagree. We are indeed inundated by online noise pollution, but the problem is soluble. The good stuff is out there if you know how to find and verify it. Basic information literacy, widely distributed, is the best protection for the knowledge commons: A sufficient portion of critical consumers among the online population can become a strong defense against the noise-death of the Internet.
The first thing we all need to know about information online is how to detect crap, a technical term I use for information tainted by ignorance, inept communication, or deliberate deception. Learning to be a critical consumer of Webinfo is not rocket science. It's not even algebra. Becoming acquainted with the fundamentals of web credibility testing is easier than learning the multiplication tables. The hard part, as always, is the exercise of flabby think-for-yourself muscles.
The issue of info pollution has been on my mind since at least 1994, when I wrote "The Tragedy of the Electronic Commons" about the infamous Canter and Siegel - the first Internet spammers. A few years later, I personally confronted the importance of teaching information literacy to 14 year olds when I watched my daughter come of age at the same time online search engines became available. I sat down in front of the circa-1999 computer with my daughter and explained that most of the books she could get from the library could be counted on to be factually accurate. But when you enter words into a search engine, there is no guarantee that your search will lead you to accurate information. "You have to do some investigation before you accept anything you find online," I warned her.
"Ask a few questions and use available tools to see if you can find answers," is what I told her when she asked me how to go about investigating.
Today, just as it was back then, "Who is the author?" is the root question. If you don't find one, turn your skepticism meter to the top of the dial. And use easywhois.com to find out who owns the site if there is no author listed. If the author provides a way to ask questions, communicate, or add comments, turn up the credibility meter and dial back the skepticism. When you identify an author, search on the author's name in order to evaluate what others think of the author - and don't turn off your critical stance when you assess reputation. Who are these other people whose opinions you are trusting? Is the site a .gov or .edu? If so, turn up the credibility a notch. If it helps, envision actual meters and dials in your mind's eye - or a thermometer or speedometer. Take the website's design into account - professional design should not be seen as a certain indicator of accurate content, but visibly amateurish design is sometimes an indicator that the "Institute of Such-and-Such" might be an obsessive loner.
More good questions to use as credibility probes: Does the author provide sources for factual claims, and what happens when you search on the names of the authors of those sources? Have others linked to this page, and if so, who are they (use the search term "link: http://..." and Google shows you every link to a specified page). See if the source has been bookmarked on a social bookmarking service like Delicious or Diigo; although it shouldn't be treated as a completely trustworthy measurement, the number of people who bookmark a source can furnish clues to its credibility. All the mechanics of doing this kind of checking take only a few seconds of clicking, copying and pasting, searching, and judging for yourself. Again, the part that requires the most work is learning to do your own judging.
You aren't paranoid if you suspect that some sites might even deliberately try to deceive you. Some sites insidiously cloak their real bias, for example. I use martinlutherking.org as an example with my students today - it's not owned by admirers of the late civil rights leader, but you wouldn't know that at first glance. Another, less sinister but equally sobering teaching story: "The parody site Gatt.org once duped the Center for International Legal Studies into believing it was the Web site of the World Trade Organization. Accordingly, a few years ago, the association arranged for someone from the parody site to speak at its annual conference. The speaker - an imposter from an activist group known as the Yes Men - offended several attendees with racist remarks. A staged pie-throwing incident followed the presentation, and the fiasco later culminated in the faked death of the speaker/imposter." A good question to ask yourself, particularly when a website asks you to download something to your own computer, is "might somebody be trying to put one over on me?"
When I began teaching my daughter how to evaluate the credibility of web pages, I started collecting rules of thumb, strategies, tools - especially free and easy to use ones - for sorting the goodinfo from the badinfo. Fortunately, tools are far more powerful today than they were a decade ago; the bad news is that too many people don't know about them. In recent years, as so many more people have started to rely on the web for such vitally important forms of information as news, medical information, scholarly research, investment advice, the lack of general education in critical consumption of information found online is turning into a public danger. No, Bill Gates won't send you $5 for forwarding this chain e-mail, the medical advice you get in a chat room isn't necessarily better than what your doctor tells you, and the widow of the deceased African dictator is definitely not going to transfer millions of dollars to your bank account. That scurrilous rumor about the political candidate that never makes the mainstream media but circulates as email and blog posts probably isn't true. The data you are pasting into your memo or term paper may well be totally fabricated.
Use the following methods and tools to protect yourself from toxic badinfo. Use them, pass them along to others. Promote the notion that more info-literacy is a practical answer to growing info-pollution.
Although the Web undermines authority, the usefulness of authority as another clue to credibility hasn't entirely disappeared. I would add credibility points if a source is a verified professor at a known institution of higher learning, an authentic M.D. or Ph.D., but I wouldn't subtract points from uncredentialed people whose expertise seems authentic. Nor would I stop at simply verifying that the claim to be a professor is valid. The next step: use the scholarly productivity index that derives a score from the scholar's publications, citations by other scholars, grants, honors, and awards. If you want to get even more serious, download a free copy of Publish or Perish software, which analyzes scientific citations from Google Scholar according to multiple criteria. Again, don't trust just one source. Triangulate.
I got good strategy advice from John McManus, author of "Detecting Bull: How to Identify Bias and Junk Journalism in Print, Broadcast and on the Wild Web", who told me "you have think like a detective." Think of tools like search engines, the productivity index, hoax debunking sites like Snopes.com, and others I will mention later as forensic instruments, like Sherlock Holmes' magnifying glass or the crime scene investigator's fingerprint kit. The tools are only useful as the means to sleuthing out a mystery. In the case of people who stake their health on online medical information from a virtual community, their economic well-being on online financial information, their political liberty on the news they get from Twitter, blogs, or YouTube, the stakes in this detective game are high. Triangulation is what detectives do - try to find three different ways to test a source's credibility. For example, you could Google the author's name, enter the author's name in the scholarly productivity index, and use the literacy resources at factchecked.org to triangulate a source. (Factchecked.org's sister site, Factcheck.org researches claims from all political factions.)
Know how to use online filters. As more people get their news online, and more people at the site of newsworthy events have Web-linked cameras and video cameras, we'll see more situations like the 250,000 "tweets" per hour that passed through Twitter during the Iranian political demonstrations of June, 2009. Before Twitter came on the scene, online services like Flickr and YouTube enabled users to "tag" photographs and video with key words, making it possible to search for images tagged with those key words, revealing all the still images and videos coming in from amateur chroniclers during an event. The San Diego Union-Tribune called publicly for citizen reporters to use the same tags for their images of the 2007 wildfire. Using the search facility on Flickr or YouTube enables you to see a stream of images or videos, and automatically subscribing to that search through "RSS" means you can continue to see visual reports stream in as others upload them - in real time. At the height of the Iran demonstrations, CNN was displaying videos posted to YouTube, alerted via Twitter. Quite properly, CNN introduced the images with the disclaimer that they were as-yet unverified. As Clay Shirky has noted, we're in the age of "publish, then filter."
Again, it's up to the consumer of the information to decide which images, videos, tweets are authentic. As always happens when there is a high demand for separating signal from noise, people began to put together filters for doing that - and human tools for sorting the more trustworthy information. After the terrorist attacks in Mumbai provided both noteworthy on-the-scene reports and outright rumors, some experts started talking about "crowdsourcing the filter" by growing populations of trusted editors who would collectively identify the good stuff. Although they did not start as a filter for fast-breaking news, American Public Media's Public Insight Network is moving in the direction of a crowdsourced filter.
When the Iran demonstrations happened, people in Iran and around the world used the Twitter equivalent of a Flickr or YouTube tag, a now-famous "hashtag" - #iranelection - and for a few days flooded the world with riveting images that will probably win Pulitzers, along with shocking and politically inflammatory videos, torrents of contradictory reports, bogus rumors, apparent disinformation, both informed and ignorant political arguments and, as always, spam, porn, and porn spam. As the Iran events unfolded, Marc Ambinder wrote an astute article in The Atlantic.com, "Follow the developments in Iran like a CIA analyst." Just as thinking like a detective is a strategy for trying to determine the credibility of webinfo, thinking like an intelligence analyst is a strategy for trying to gauge the credibility of online reports about breaking news events. Ambinder recommends watching for disinformation, looking for patterns in the geographic location of sources (but warns against assuming that everything that resembles a pattern really is one), examining your assumptions and looking for sources that contradict them.
Twitter Journalism ("Where News and Tweets Converge"), published a series of steps to take to verify a tweet, including, among many other tips, checking the history of past tweets by a person to see what context you might find before the claim about a news event was tweeted, checking the bio of twitterer who makes a claim, being wary of news tweets from someone with very few previous tweets or who joined very recently, use Twitter's reply feature to engage the twitterer directly. I've been collecting links for journalism students who want to understand the journalistic requirements of good Twitter practice from the production side.
The biases of trusted sources like newspapers and television need to be examined critically, as well as those that come in from what are increasingly called "social media." Questioning Video is all about understanding the vocabulary of visual deception that can be used to distort television news. Newstrust is trying to crowdsource the filter for mainstream as well as alternative news sources by growing a bipartisan virtual community of critical news filterers who use the same set of criteria for evaluating whether a news story exhibits bias, makes factual claims that can or cannot be verified, presents more than one interpretation of events. Fairspin's community votes on stories in order for the community's aggregate judgements to identify opinion disguised as fact and reflect the degree of political bias detected in stories from both the left and right. And on the cutting edge of community-based filtering tools, Intel labs' Dispute Finder Firefox Extension "highlights disputed claims on web pages you browse and shows you evidence for alternative points of view."
The good news about the pace of medical research is also the bad news - few medical specialists can keep up with the rate of new discoveries. That means that it's possible for the collective intelligence of a committed community - and there is nothing as committed as people who are suffering from a disease - to stay ahead of all but those most dedicated individual specialists. However, along with the latest word on cutting-edge drug trials are unsubstantiated claims, rumors, outright quackery. When it comes to medical information, just as when it comes to information that affects political liberty, believing or forwarding badinfo can be unhealthy or fatal. Again, the critical consumer of online medical advice has a number of triangulation tools at hand. For scientific articles, Science Direct has guest access. The Health on the Net Foundation has been a steady source of finding reliable/credible health information online. They even have a browser plug-in that enables you to check health information on any website against HON's database. An astute medical student wrote a guide to how to check quality of medical information online. How much work is it to check three links before believing or passing along health information you find online? Simply Googling the name of the Dr. who tried to sell do-it-yourself eye surgery kits, for example, immediately raises questions for those who are considering aiming lasers at their own retinas.
To me, the issue of information literacy could be even more important than the health or education of some individuals. Fundamental aspects of democracy, economic production, the discovery and use of knowledge might be at stake. Some of the biggest problems facing the world today seem to be far beyond the ability of any individual or community, or even the whole human race, to tackle. But the noise death of the Internet is something we can take on and win. Although large forces are at work, when it comes to the shape of online media, I believe that what people know - and how many people know - matters. Digital media and networked publics are only the infrastructure for participation - the cables and chips do no good unless people know how to use them. The collision of newly participative populations with authoritarian control is taking place every day in Teheran and Beijing, Berlin and Washington, D.C. Nobody knows how this clash will play out, but the one cost-effective measure that the participative have in their contest with central control is know-how. And the lack of know-how among the population is an asset to those who seek to put the lid back on their - our - power of expression.
Resources:
(Please suggest resources in comments, and I will add them below as I receive, find, and vet them)
Teachable moment: Crap Detecting Assessing the Credibility of Online Sources The CRAP Test Urban Legends Check quality of backlinks (links TO a site) Newstrust guide to finding good journalism online Museum of Hoaxes Urban Legends (About.com) Carl Sagan's "Baloney Detection Kit"
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/rheingold/detail?blogid=108&entry_id=42805#ixzz0SbfUO3NBRead more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/rheingold/detail?blogid=108&entry_id=42805#ixzz0SbfUO3NB
Posted by Joe Anybody
at 12:01 AM PDT
Updated: Wednesday, 30 September 2009 9:24 AM PDT
Monday, 28 September 2009
G20 - one more nasty reports on police behavior
Mood:
irritated
Now Playing: Cops hurt people in Pittsburgh at G20
Topic: PROTEST!
Street Report from the G20 By Bill Quigley Bill Quigley’s ZSpace Page—Sep 26, 2009 http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/commentaries/3995 The G20 in Pittsburgh showed us how pitifully fearful our leaders have become.
What no terrorist could do to us, our own leaders did.
Out of fear of the possibility of a terrorist attack, authorities militarized our towns, scared our people away, stopped daily life and quashed our constitutional rights.
For days, downtown Pittsburgh, home to the G20, was turned into a militarized people-free ghost town. Sirens screamed day and night. Helicopters crisscrossed the skies. Gunboats sat in the rivers. The skies were defended by Air Force jets. Streets were barricaded by huge cement blocks and fencing. Bridges were closed with National Guard across the entrances. Public transportation was stopped downtown. Amtrak train service was suspended for days.
In many areas, there were armed police every 100 feet. Businesses closed. Schools closed. Tens of thousands were unable to work.
Four thousand police were on duty plus 2500 National Guard plus Coast Guard and Air Force and dozens of other security agencies. A thousand volunteers from other police forces were sworn in to help out.
Police were dressed in battle gear, bulky black ninja turtle outfits - helmets with clear visors, strapped on body armor, shin guards, big boots, batons, and long guns.
In addition to helicopters, the police had hundreds of cars and motorcycles , armored vehicles, monster trucks, small electric go-karts. There were even passenger vans screaming through town so stuffed with heavily armed ninja turtles that the side and rear doors remained open.
No terrorists showed up at the G20.
Since no terrorists showed up, those in charge of the heavily armed security forces chose to deploy their forces around those who were protesting.
Not everyone is delighted that 20 countries control 80% of the world's resources. Several thousand of them chose to express their displeasure by protesting.
Unfortunately, the officials in charge thought that it was more important to create a militarized people-free zone around the G20 people than to allow freedom of speech, freedom of assembly or the freedom to protest.
It took a lawsuit by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the ACLU to get any major protest permitted anywhere near downtown Pittsburgh. Even then, the police "forgot" what was permitted and turned people away from areas of town. Hundreds of police also harassed a bus of people who were giving away free food - repeatedly detaining the bus and searching it and its passengers without warrants.
Then a group of young people decided that they did not need a permit to express their human and constitutional rights to freedom. They announced they were going to hold their own gathering at a city park and go down the deserted city streets to protest the G20. Maybe 200 of these young people were self-described anarchists, dressed in black, many with bandanas across their faces. The police warned everyone these people were very scary. My cab driver said the anarchist spokesperson looked like Harry Potter in a black hoodie. The anarchists were joined in the park by hundreds of other activists of all ages, ultimately one thousand strong, all insisting on exercising their right to protest.
This drove the authorities crazy.
Battle dressed ninja turtles showed up at the park and formed a line across one entrance. Helicopters buzzed overhead. Armored vehicles gathered.
The crowd surged out of the park and up a side street yelling, chanting, drumming, and holding signs. As they exited the park, everyone passed an ice cream truck that was playing "It's a small world after all." Indeed.
Any remaining doubts about the militarization of the police were dispelled shortly after the crowd left the park. A few blocks away the police unveiled their latest high tech anti-protestor toy. It was mounted on the back of a huge black truck. The Pittsburgh-Gazette described it as Long Range Acoustic Device designed to break up crowds with piercing noise. Similar devices have been used in Fallujah, Mosul and Basra Iraq. The police backed the truck up, told people not to go any further down the street and then blasted them with piercing noise.
The crowd then moved to other streets. Now they were being tracked by helicopters. The police repeatedly tried to block them from re-grouping ultimately firing tear gas into the crowd injuring hundreds including people in the residential neighborhood where the police decided to confront the marchers. I was treated to some of the tear gas myself and I found the Pittsburgh brand to be spiced with a hint of kelbasa. Fortunately I was handed some paper towels soaked in apple cider vinegar which helped fight the tears and cough a bit. Who would have thought?
After the large group broke and ran from the tear gas, smaller groups went into commercial neighborhoods and broke glass at a bank and a couple of other businesses. The police chased and the glass breakers ran. And the police chased and the people ran. For a few hours.
By day the police were menacing, but at night they lost their cool. Around a park by the University of Pittsburgh the ninja turtles pushed and shoved and beat and arrested not just protestors but people passing by. One young woman reported she and her friend watched Grey's Anatomy and were on their way back to their dorm when they were cornered by police. One was bruised by police baton and her friend was arrested. Police shot tear gas, pepper spray, smoke canisters, and rubber bullets. They pushed with big plastic shields and struck with batons.
The biggest march was Friday. Thousands of people from Pittsburgh and other places protested the G20. Since the court had ruled on this march, the police did not confront the marchers. Ninja turtled police showed up in formation sometimes and the helicopters hovered but no confrontations occurred.
Again Friday night, riot clad police fought with students outside of the University of Pittsburgh. To what end was just as unclear as the night before.
Ultimately about 200 were arrested, mostly in clashes with the police around the University.
The G20 leaders left by helicopter and limousine.
Pittsburgh now belongs again to the people of Pittsburgh. The cement barricades were removed, the fences were taken down, the bridges and roads were opened. The gunboats packed up and left. The police packed away their ninja turtle outfits and tear gas and rubber bullets. They don't look like military commandos anymore. No more gunboats on the river. No more sirens all the time. No more armored vehicles and ear splitting machines used in Iraq. On Monday the businesses will open and kids will have to go back to school. Civil society has returned.
It is now probably even safe to exercise constitutional rights in Pittsburgh once again.
The USA really showed those terrorists didn't we? Bill is a human rights lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights. Quigley77@yahoo.com
(more information on police hurting citizens on Portland Indy Media) http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2009/09/394352.shtml
Posted by Joe Anybody
at 12:01 AM PDT
Updated: Monday, 28 September 2009 3:39 PM PDT
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Dont Watch Televsion "Caracas Day 4" video
Mood:
bright
Now Playing: Avisit to CATIA community tv station
Topic: Venezuela Trip
Posted by Joe Anybody
at 12:44 PM PDT
G20 Breaking News Archive PIMC 2009
Mood:
incredulous
Now Playing: G20 PIMC Archive of Breaking News
Topic: PROTEST!
- breaking news - Portland Independent Media September 27 and 26 2009 http://portland.indymedia.org/en/breakingnews/ 12:04AM PDT: resistg20: RT(twitter): Everybody following me take your names off your profiles. The pigs are watching 9:56PM PDT: PGHIMC: Demonstrators in Oakland - circulating around. March may be headed somewhere in town, 9:54PM PDT: G20IMC: 3x Aggressive fake Anarchist protesters in tonights march have been spotted & likely verified. Baseball caps, silly shoes 11:39PM PDT: pittnews: G20 Pictures http://www.pittnews.com/g20/ 11:25PM PDT: anarchists: mojustice: check the status of someone who has been arrested, call 412-350-201 11:20PM PDT: G20IMC: Interview #2 With Pitt Students Attacked by Police http://bit.ly/uOcqi 11:18PM PDT: ThePittNews: Seven people were arrested at the "makeshift booking area" set up near Towers. 11:11PM PDT: TheSQMan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj7hye9d5PQ ..G-20 University Of Pittsburgh Police Brutality video from window 11:10PM PDT: resistg20: Sighing off for the night, will report on the aftermath of the Battle of Pittsburgh tomorrow. Stay safe, stay strong! 11:08PM PDT: resistg20: CelluloidBlonde Land of the Free: Martial Law in Pittsburgh [video clips] http://l.pr/a44ab 10:29PM PDT: resistg20: At least 5 people appear to be under arrest near GSPH. Police told people walking by to move or end up sitting on the sidewalk 10:17PM PDT: peacefreedom:CelluloidBlonde: Digeratii is posting Pittsburgh police are holding campus & students hostage 10:14PM PDT: resistg20: Report recieved that police are "nabbing" anyone that looks like a protestor / Black Bloc. Stay alert watch your friends! 10:06PM PDT: SocialistZine: infernoenigma: Pitt Police Chief Tim Delaney estimates more than 100 arrests in Oakland 2nite, most 4 failure 2 disperse 10:01PM PDT: notyourbroom: I'm going to bed, but here's the scanner link again http://bit.ly/o4Xyv 10:01PM PDT: SocialistZine: ThePittNews: 3 ppl R sitting on ground w/ hands clasped behind their backs near skool of Public Health. Police standing near. 10:00PM PDT: resistg20RT: drgoddess: Some students in the towers are hanging out the windows calling the cops mfers just for the hell of it and laughing 9:59PM PDT: Digeratii: (30 min ago) I'm back in my dorm room, which is filled with tear gas from a crack in the window. Getting videos and photos off of my camera. 9:58PM PDT: anarchists: Legal Assistance 412-562-5015 also, if you have photos, video FIRST HAND WITNESS ACCOUNTS, contact - tomorrow 9:56PM PDT: g20pghlegal: Arrestees are being taken to SCI, 3001 Beaver Ave, Pittsburgh. Jail vigil is on the way 9:56PM PDT: SocialistZine: infernoenigma: If anyone can get a major news agency, have them call 412 254 3248 to speak with me and 9:51PM PDT: steveklabnik: heading off, scanner seems pretty dead, most the protest over. this was the best comms effort i've seen yet! take care 9:49PM PDT: ianthevedge: same civilian turning around yelling in outrage, then peppersprayed and shot with a rubber bullet, police office grabbing at 9:49PM PDT: SocialistZine: ThePittNews: Some people are being arrested on the Fifth Avenue side of Towers 9:46PM PDT: resistg20: OddLetters: OC gas, sonic cannons, and rubber bullets were deployed, 60+ plus arrests reported. 9:46PM PDT: resistg20: They just fired smoke grenades at people yelling solidarity chants. Everyone ìs fine. 9:45PM PDT: resistg20: atlasmedia: Total police brutality right now in Pittsburgh. Live coverage on AMO 24/7 over at http://bit.ly/3uDCfi 9:43PM PDT: rahsheen: RT @digeratii PITTSBURGH POLICE LAUGHING, TAKING GROUP PHOTO WITH ARRESTED, BEATEN STUDENT. I HAVE VIDEO 9:21PM PDT: resistg20: jrh102: Up S bellefield ave, cops blocked north and south intersections. Squeezed us between. pushed us through CL hedges 9:19PM PDT: DerekSheldon: BoringPgh: Tactical teams are starting to meet on Fifth and Oakland Ave - ready to convoy out of Oakland 9:11PM PDT: SocialistZine: This is a police riot! #g20 #reportg20 #pittsburgh 9:10PM PDT: g20pghlegal: corporate media confirms ~40 arrests, 9 more just reported 9:10PM PDT: resistg20: Police station in Pittsburgh got fucked up. G20 is a war-zone http://twitgoo.com/3rkht 9:08PM PDT: SocialistZine: anarchists: mojustice: nineone: "photojournalist friend for Tribune in Oakland right now says its REAL bad." 9:07PM PDT: SteelCityMark: 9 people arrested so far 8:58PM PDT: resistg20: Police station in Pittsburgh got fucked up. G20 is a war-zone. http://twitgoo.com/3rkht / 8:57PM PDT: mitchmanifesto: g20 police HAVE entered dorm lobby, possibly 56 arrested so far. demanding ID for all in dorms 8:56PM PDT: resistg20: infernoenigma: COP IN TOWERS LOBBY SAYS THIS IS NOT MARTIAL LAW, BUT 'ALMOST JUST LIKE IT 8:55PM PDT: SocialistZine: ThePittNews: A Pitt security guard said there is a sit-in in Towers Lobby. can't confirm 8:53PM PDT: mikegogulski: "Looks like a high-ranking Penn Police official is walking up to the Towers now" 8:51PM PDT: resistg20: RIOT POLICE ENTER TOWERS LOBBY. NO ONE ALLOWED IN OR OUT. TOWERS SURROUNDED. COPS ASKING FOR ID. 8:50PM PDT: mikegogulski: HEARD "Units from quad are gonna have to bring the arrests up" (to 5th and Tennyson) 8:49PM PDT: (11:41 PM) the police are planning to do a sweep through 'the towers' to check for protesters in upper floors" // The radical arm of the peoples movement are out there now facing off w/ police. 8:48PM PDT: resistg20: rawrsaystara: a smoke bomb just exploded on towers patio on the fifth side 8:47PM PDT: resistg20: Caller: "protesters and students alike barricaded at litchfield towers, pulled out one by one and ziptied" also, use of gas 8:45PM PDT: SocialistZine: students say they're going to pull fire alarms in dorms,don't be freaked if you hear alarm but DO leave building 8:44PM PDT: resistg20: CoaHT: The radical arm of the peoples movement are out there now facing off w/ police 8:43PM PDT: Another bus full of riot police making its way to Pitt in Oakland 8:41PM PDT: infernoenigma: Just to make clear: I asked RA if it's officially martial law, she said yeah.i can't do anything more. 8:40PM PDT: SocialistZine: Digeratii: TEARGAS REPORTED IN DORMITORY PATIO AREAS, STUDENTS IN CHAOS 8:40PM PDT: SocialistZine: infernoenigma: Police chasing crowds of students up Fifth Ave 8:39PM PDT: SocialistZine: spikenlilli: Students report being blocked from entering dorms and being told to "go home" 8:34PM PDT: g20pghpolice: trying to get black block near mackee 8:30PM PDT: resistg20: Listen to G20 police/fire scanner w/iPhone: http://j.mp/14vLdJ 8:28PM PDT: resistg20: RayBeckerman: Happening Now: Gas deployment on the University of Pittsburgh student protesters in Oakland 8:26PM PDT: resistg20: mitchmanifesto: all available wagons go behind the cathedral- 8:25PM PDT: g20pgh: 11:16:25 PM: 40 -50 being arrested in center quad will be taken to main tower 8:24PM PDT: resistg20: kellyowarrior: SHOTS FIRED IN OAKLAND, POLICE ARE BLOCKING ENTRANCES TO DORMS 8:23PM PDT: "40 in custody in the center of the quad" 8:20PM PDT: SocialistZine: infernoenigma: The view out these glass windows is terrifying. Police swarming the area. Blocking stairs. Pushing students 8:19PM PDT: "They need all kinds of wagons at Forbes & Schenley" mass arrests imminent 8:19PM PDT: Pigs on bigelow be careful 8:18PM PDT: "Take your arrests to Forbes & Schenley, that's where booking aid is at" 8:17PM PDT: SocialistZine: jrails1983: Cathedral surrounded. 8:16PM PDT: g20pgh30: people surrounded in quad with 8 medics mass arrest immenent 8:15PM PDT: resistg20: anarchists: police concerned about spectators not dispersed- don't want witnesses 8:15PM PDT: g20actionalert: 5th & Bigelow, police have told us to disperse or risk tear gas, crowd remains mellow. 8:14PM PDT: resistg20: Many people are in the intersection of Forbes Avenue and Bouquet demonstrating. Most are on the sidewalks 8:12PM PDT: SocialistZine: infernoenigma: They're trying to force people into the Park ... as they said on the scanner "hammer and anvil." 8:12PM PDT: SocialistZine: THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING YOU, PGH P.D., ETC. LEAVE MY COMRADES ALONE! 8:06PM PDT: g20pghcops: are going to try to push up forbes and encircle protesters 8:05PM PDT: mikegogulski: arrest team being dispatched to Shenley & Forbes 8:04PM PDT: resistg20: Cops are going to try to push up forbes and encircle protesters 8:02PM PDT: g20pgh: police have begun to push the crowd east on forbes; also, they may be planning some kind of action on 5th 8:01PM PDT: SocialistZine: infernoenigma: I'M SAFE, FORCED INTO THE QUAD. CAN'T SEE COPS. SCREAMING ECHOES AROUND CAMPUS 8:00PM PDT: resistg20: Hey police following Twitter: Your people overheard saying that they're going to "kick ass". Got anything 2 say bout that? 7:59PM PDT: SocialistZine: infernoenigma: JUST SAW A COP JUMP OUT OF A VAN, YELL 'IT'S ASS KICKING TIME' AND GO RUNNING. 7:59PM PDT: resistg20: NickPinkstonReport confirmed: Confiscation of bandannas in north Oakland 7:58PM PDT: infernoenigma: JUST SAW A COP JUMP OUT OF A VAN, YELL 'IT'S ASS KICKING TIME' AND GO RUNNING 7:58PM PDT: SocialistZine: infernoenigma: I'M SAFE, FORCED INTO THE QUAD. CAN'T SEE COPS. SCREAMING ECHOES AROUND CAMPUS 7:57PM PDT: resistg20: police throw smoke and and tear gas on forbes. Launch smoke over the union 7:56PM PDT: resistg20: nickersmartin: more riot teams just in 7:55PM PDT: resistg20: COPS NOW PUSHING STUDENTS TO FIFTH AVE. WE WERE A THOUSAND YARDS AWAY. PUSHING US AGAINST COPS 7:51PM PDT: infernoenigma: COPS PUT ON GAS MASKS. I'M NOW IN FRONT OF CATHEDRAL, 1000 YARDS FROM CROWD 7:50PM PDT: g20actionalert: Protestors being asked to disperse at Forbes & Bigelow 7:49PM PDT: SocialistZine: SOUND CANNON BEING USED ON STUDENTS ACROSS PLAZA. RECORDED 'DISPERSE' MSG BEING PLAYED 7:48PM PDT: smilyus: surrounded by riot cops and noise machine being used 7:35PM PDT: brettbender: Lrad just flew down forbes toward schenley park. 7:27PM PDT: mikegogulski: "requesting a mobile field force with shields on the front line" 7:20PM PDT: steveklabnik: This is completely insane. So many cops for so few people. 7:19PM PDT: steveklabnik: Full lines of cops with shields and such. So many cops. This is going to get ugly 7:17PM PDT: resistg20: Craig and forbes has 25 riot police. blocking craigs street 7:16PM PDT: g20pghmedic: riot police have blocked off craig street 7:13PM PDT: steveklabnik: reports of riot police on craig and forbes sirens starting 7:09PM PDT: g20actionalert:(20 minutes ago) - 3 ambulances, TV news van rolling up on Schenely Plaza... Protectors against police brutality 7:07PM PDT: g20actionalert: Group of 7 or so bein illegally searched, S Bouquet & Forbes Ave, in need of legal observer!! 7:02PM PDT: steveklabnik: Playing ' anarchist anarchist cop ' while the real cops take pictures at the park 7:01PM PDT: resistg20: 7-10 being detained by national guard on forbes 7:00PM PDT: AgentOrange: Camouflage army truck with uniformed soldiers moving down Forbes toward Schenley Plaza 7:00PM PDT: steveklabnik: Humvee coming down forbes 6:52PM PDT: resistg20: Be careful out there tonight, everyone. We don't want anyone to get snatched by national guard. 5:23PM PDT: G20imc: firedepartment setting up fire hoses on bouquet by the dirty o 5:21PM PDT: g20actionalert: LRAD device truck just drove down Forbes, toward CMU campus. 5:08PM PDT: mikegogulski(rummor?): "munitions and weapons systems to the SWAT staging area" 5:06PM PDT: resistg20: Pitt Rally tonight is at 10p @ jailhouse (Schenley Plaza) Jailed activists bail set at $15000 4:48PM PDT: g20pgh: police units are moving to the 7th street bridge 4:47PM PDT: steveklabnik: mayor also said he was under the impression that police showed "a tremendous amount of restraint." http://bit.ly/39nCtZ 4:44PM PDT: AgentOrangeFAI: Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said the city will investigate the police reaction to students and protesters 4:43PM PDT: rondmc: Cops massing between Schenly Plaza and Hillman 4:38PM PDT: JessieHr: Pitt bystanders hit w/ Batons, Rubber Bullets Tear Gas by riot police: video- http://tinyurl.com/yc8z4ab 4:37PM PDT: joerobertson: Civil liberties groups: 'Police overreacted" 4:33PM PDT: Resist g20: Automated phone alert from #Pitt: "#g20 disturbances may continue on campus tonight." 4:29PM PDT: g20 action alert: Critical mass just crossed Forbes Ave & Atwood, heading down Forbes 4:27PM PDT: g20 pgh: concert in shinley plaza is "very peaceful" 4:18PM PDT: g20 action alert: In vicinity of U of #Pittsburgh, Forbes Ave. Police gearing up 4:16PM PDT: g20 Action Alert: Still feelin' spunky? Want to demonstrate to oppose #G20? 10 PM, Schenley Park, after concert. 4:12PM PDT: g20 pgh: police have crossed the 16th street following protest 4:07PM PDT: g20 pgh: police monitoring protestors at the 3400 block of penn ave 4:07PM PDT: resist g20: critical mass at 19th and 16th heading north on penn ave, cops starting to mass 3:30PM PDT: g20 pgh: 10 cop cars on chatham square 3:02PM PDT: G20 IMC: Protesters are assembled at the Allegheny Courthouse on 2nd Ave downtown. Riot police have been deployed. More protesters needed! 3:01PM PDT: g20 pgh: riot cops massing at the jail vigil 2:12PM PDT: g20 pgh: free concert in shinley plaza tonight at 7pm 2:11PM PDT: g20 pgh: delegates are leaving hotel to go to the airport 2:11PM PDT: resist g20: Police are going to do a sweep from smithfield all the way to 7th to rid protesters of area 1:37PM PDT: resist g20: UPitt isnt permitting the youth hiphop show on the cathedral lawn tonight due to threat of swine flu pandemic 1:31PM PDT: g20 pgh: protestor group leaving the park on the northside- seems peaceful 1:17PM PDT: infernoenigma: Many, many helicopters following march. We're near the Andy Warhol Museum now. Still peaceful 1:16PM PDT: g20 pgh: police are looking for people wearing "free tibet" t-shirts 1:14PM PDT: g20 action alert: "We the People... Order G20 to disperse immediately, or be subject to enhanced protest tactics" Cindy Sheehan 1:13PM PDT: g20 pgh: 12 squad cars circling the park 1:11PM PDT: g20 action alert: "When it all comes crashing down.. You can spread your wings and fly." David Rovics 1:03PM PDT: G20 Action Alert: "NO HOPE IN CAPITALISM" banner to right of stage http://twitpic.com/j3pa2 1:00PM PDT: G20 Action Alert: Seeds of Peace and Everybody's Kitchen is serving meals to right of stage (when facing stage), Peoples March. 12:52PM PDT: pgh human rights: estimated 8,000 people at the peoples march today. largest protest march in #pittsburgh since the 1970's 12:52PM PDT: g20 pgh: cops deploying at east sandusky and commons 12:51PM PDT: g20 action alert: March reaching East Park now, across river from delegates at #G20 meet point 12:50PM PDT: g20 pgh: officers at 10th street overpass 12:50PM PDT: g20 pgh: police sweeping 6th and 7th streets bridges 12:43PM PDT: nickpinkston: police scanner mentons motor cades need 2 pass near protestors?? 12:42PM PDT: g20 action alert: Marchers are just finishing crossing the 7th St bridge http://twitpic.com/j3leo 12:40PM PDT: pgh human rights: peoples march crossing the bridge http://twitpic.com/j3jke 12:40PM PDT: steveklabnik: About 75 cops and two lines of horses boxing in free speech zone. 12:32PM PDT: steveklabnik: cop with dog going to arrest that guy on the bridge when he comes down (he is 1/2 up support on bridge) 12:30PM PDT: g20actionalert: March still huge. Organizers estimate 10,000. Cherry Way & 5th Ave 12:26PM PDT: steveklabnik: Lots of people standing on the bridge, flipping everyone off in the convention center. 12:25PM PDT: steveklabnik: Cop taking pictures behind a barrier, protester blocks him with a sign. They both laugh 12:21PM PDT: steveklabnik: People who aren't protesting are allowed on the sidewalk behind the cops. Yellow tape separates the streets off. 12:18PM PDT: steveklabnik: police look so much like military, It's incredible. Brown fatigues and black armor 12:13PM PDT: g20 pgh: 2 lines deep of cops on 5th and wood 12:12PM PDT: g20 action alert: March still huge. Organizers estimate 10,000. Cherry Way & 5th Ave 12:02PM PDT: g20 action alert: March departing from the City County building, brass band raging. 12:00PM PDT: pgh human rights: the peoples march is on the way to east park 12:00PM PDT: I love the woman from the Poor People's Campaign, she's so awesome 11:55AM PDT: Resist g20: jesus freak homophobes @ forbes and grant make out party now 11:53AM PDT: g20 action alert: This movement is growing. "Adelante," brothers & sisters -Benedicto Orozco, Mex unionist 11:50AM PDT: G20 imc radio: "We take to the streets today to say clearly we are not in agreement... We will not be silenced! Let's move forward brothers & sisters!" 11:48AM PDT: G20 IMC Radio: "A people's tribunal met & found G20 guilty of impoverishing people around the world & violating women's rights" 11:45AM PDT: g20 action alert: "It is time for their empire to fall." -Kate Gott, SDS. 11:44AM PDT: G20 IMC Radio: SDS "Students & workers, shut the city down!" 11:42AM PDT: g20 action alert: #G20 has commodified and monetized everything, including land and culture -Jihan Gearon, Indigenous Enviro Network 11:42AM PDT: g20 pgh: (re-post) undercovers: female wears white bandana, male black bandana, both of them wearing sun glasses, following black bloc very close 11:41AM PDT: G20 IMC Radio: streaming coverage of speakers. Most are radical and awesome! 11:39AM PDT: g20 pgh: LRAD backing up forbes on grant 11:38AM PDT: g20 imc: Bike cops relocating from 5th Ave to Penn, cop reports "We're chargin' in on the horses" 11:37AM PDT: Pgh human rights: peoples march at the city council building http://twitpic.com/j3b7i 11:36AM PDT: g20 imc: police looking to relocate #LRAD 11:35AM PDT: G20IMC: Bike cops relocating from 5th Ave to Penn, cop reports "We're chargin' in on the horses 11:35AM PDT: g20 action alert: "We have to fight for a better world. State #capitalism has failed." Ashley Smith, ISO, at Peoples March to the #G20 11:33AM PDT: mikeramsey: Things are eerily quiet outside of the demonstration. More cops than citizens out on the streets 11:28AM PDT: g20 pgh: forbes and grant: riot squads loading weapons with "rubber bullets" 11:27AM PDT: g20 imc: #LRAD siren reported at 3rd & Grant, police also asking for more assistance at 4th & Grants 11:26AM PDT: g20 pgh: forbes and grant, riot cops walking into the crowd 11:25AM PDT: g20 action alert: "The people have the solutions," not the #G20 11:24AM PDT: g20 action alert: "The #G20 can't solve the global econ crisis & climate crisis - they caused the crisis..." -Pete Shell, Thomas Merton Cntr #Pittsburgh 11:22AM PDT: g20 pgh: cops requesting backup for 5th and grant 11:22AM PDT: g20 pgh: undercovers: female wears white bandana, male black bandana, both of them wearing sun glasses, following black bloc very close. 11:21AM PDT: g20 imc: set up LRAD near Liberty & Grant area; major police presence at 5th & Ross 11:14AM PDT: mechphisto: They've cornered the permitted march downtown. There is no clear way out other than through lines. 11:12AM PDT: G20IMC: protesters to be redirected down 7th street & across bridge 11:11AM PDT: g20pgh: cops photographing people on Forbes and Grant- be careful! 11:01AM PDT: g20pgh3: undercovers in olive green tshirts following the black bloc at the parade on ross and 5th Ave 11:00AM PDT: mikeramsey: The demonstration site downtown is cordoned off with tape that reads CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS. A little premature? 10:41AM PDT: g20 pgh: march is on 5th and vine right now 10:40AM PDT: g20 pgh: March is on 5th and mitenberger, riot cops activity and bike cops 10:32AM PDT: g20 action alert: "You're sexy, you're cute, take off that riot suit." -Black bloc chanting to police. 10:24AM PDT: g20 action alert: Looks like 4000 to 5000 people here. 10:24AM PDT: g20pgh: police vehicles parked at the north side of birmingham bridge - 6 port authority vehicles up a hill behind 5th & kirkpatrick - march is 3-4 blocks long 10:18AM PDT: g20 action alert: Peoples March is headed downtown on Fifth Ave, huge numbers here, can't count them all 10:18AM PDT: Pgh human rights: police are in full effect at the peoples march http://twitpic.com/j2yh9 10:02AM PDT: g20 action alert: "Capitalism is not working for [the G20] and it's not working for us." -Immigrant rights speaker 10:01AM PDT: Pgh human rights: and we're marching... at peoples march. next stop city council bldng 9:59AM PDT: g20 pgh: 6 port authority vehicles up a hill behind 5th & kirkpatrick 9:57AM PDT: mikeramsey: ACLU and NLG observers in neon orange and green hats are everywhere 9:57AM PDT: Anarchists: teargas, 1 arrest on baum and liberty, beat people with batons, shot with rubber bullets 9:55AM PDT: Pgh human rights: march thru #pittsburgh abt to begin. organizers urge peace 9:54AM PDT: Pgh human rights: spkng abt healthcare & immigration at the peoples march in oakland 9:47AM PDT: g20 action alert: We are marching for "people before profit." -Joyce Wagner, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Peoples March to the #G20 9:46AM PDT: Pgh human rights: the peoples march in oakland. lots of ppl here http://twitpic.com/j2ueb 9:44AM PDT: g20 action legal: Peoples March to the #G20 at 5th & Craft, #pittsburgh to oppose has maybe two thousand marchers 9:37AM PDT: Anarchists: Pittsburgh Police, National Guard in full riot gear, County Police on MCs just outside of Peoples March @ 5th & Craft 9:18AM PDT: g20 action alert: Queer student contingent walking up Forbes to join Peoples March, just crossing Atwood & Forbes 9:08AM PDT: g20 pgh: JAIL VIGIL/ solidarity @ municipal court drive and 1st ave 9:07AM PDT: Global Pgh: Protest in Oakland is peaceful right now, protestors are singing loudly. 8:52AM PDT: g20 imc: VIDEO Riot Police Trap University Students on a Staircase and Deploy Chemical Weapons http://indypgh.org/g20/#k-fbd79b0e2ce5faae 8:52AM PDT: mikeramsey: Bike cops are following the march down 5th 8:51AM PDT: mikeramsey: A chorus of "we all live in a fascist police state" to the tune of We All Live in a Yellow Submarine at 5th and Craft 8:37AM PDT: Resist g20: Code Pink just arrived at the antiwar protest at Soldiers & Sailors in Oakland 8:37AM PDT: Resist g20: About 100 people leaving #CMU campus with drums 8:31AM PDT: Resist g20: Student Event Flagstaff Hill 8:30AM PDT: Resist g20: Maybe twenty cops lined up on cmu campus lawn 8:11AM PDT: Pdx Imc: We'll be restreaming G-Infinity radio all day & you can also follow our Breaking News wire on Twitter: Portlandimc 8:07AM PDT: g20 pgh: Action at Wholefoods, East Liberty, 5580 center ave 8:04AM PDT: 3 Rivers CC: All workshops now taking place at G20 Art Project Space,Carnegie Mellon U Main Quad 7:54AM PDT: DN!: Police Crackdown on G20 Protests: Democracy Now! Reports from the Streets http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2009/9/25/steve 7:52AM PDT: Anarchists,help the mass effort 2 educate the public(we've got attn)! Get on the net, comment vids/blogs/articles, call in 2 radio/tv shows! 7:40AM PDT: g20 action alert: Protesters Are Met by Tear Gas at G-20 Conference http://www.g20media.org/node/144 7:13AM PDT: g20 action alert: Organizers report that all garbage cans have been removed from Oakland 7:12AM PDT: DN!: G20 Summit in Pittsburgh Highlights Economic Decline of Former Steel Capital http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/25/g20_in_pittsburgh 7:07AM PDT: g20 action alert: Women's Walk for Peace with Bev Smith, CodePINK starts 10 AM, West Park, joins Peoples March, ends near www.womenswalk.org 7:05AM PDT: g20 action alert: 9 AM student meetup for morning actions just getting underway, Forbes & Bigelow 7:03AM PDT: g20 public safety website http://www.g20safety.org/ 7:00AM PDT: g20 action alert: Climate justice and youth march to join Peoples March 11AM, CMU, Forbes & Morewood Ave 5:39AM PDT: Anarchists: Making Release of 33yr #Indigenous US prisoner of conscience Leonard Peltier a #g20 priority. Ask @obama to #freepeltier. 4:27AM PDT: G20 pgh legal: Jail vigil moved to courthouse at 1st and Municipal. Night shift needs relief; bring snacks etc. for released arrestees 4:21AM PDT: g20 pgh legal: Arraignments ongoing all night, but observers have not been allowed in Courthouse for them. At least six releases. 12:55AM PDT: G20 IMC: VIDEO Riot Police Assault Young Couple at University http://indypgh.org/g20/#k-f83d7bd1877aed37 12:49AM PDT: Black Bloc left small, rowdy contingents behind as distractions while mobilizing to crop up elsewhere. Impressive display of clever organizing. 12:44AM PDT: Black Bloc strategically outmaneuvered police all day successfully avoiding mass arrest by disappearing & reappearing all over Pittsburgh. 12:41AM PDT: 12 protests. Black Bloc numbers peaked at 1,100. Targets damaged: McDonalds, KFC, Banks, Police Station, Boston Market chain, BMW Dealership, Homeland Security, among others. 12:16AM PDT: g20 pgh legal: 3:30 AM Jail vigil to resume at Allegheny County Jail downtown. Go and support them if you can ----------------------- 11:50PM PDT: Pgh imc: Voices from the Free Tibet March (9/24/09): Tibetans from the East Coast took the opportunity http://indypgh.org/g20/#k-d691fd98e7f1703a 11:49PM PDT: g20 imc: Interview with Dan Onorato: The day before the People's Uprising March, we interviewed Chief Execut http://indypgh.org/g20/#k-a067e714afeb85b1 11:43PM PDT: Anarchists: K-9 units coming to Butler street - 1,2,3,4... 5 units 11:39PM PDT: kim huynh 22: From Pittsburgh--I voted for Obama and all I got is this lousy police state http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2009/09/22/i-voted-for-obama-and-all-i-got-is-this-lousy-police-state/ 11:35PM PDT: g20 pgh: units on route to birmingham bridge 11:35PM PDT: Anarchists: Dog unit going to Butler 11:33PM PDT: g20 pgh: cops are gearing up ready to roll on folks on butler 11:33PM PDT: g20 pgh: 100 people in front of the belvedere and on butler 11:32PM PDT: Of Interest New School Anarchists shut down Homeland Security Event http://peoplesmovement.amplify.com/2009/09/25/new-school-anarchists-shut-down-homeland-security-event/ 11:31PM PDT: g20 pgh: police and military are chasing 3 groups dressed in black west bound on 3rd street. get out of there! 11:30PM PDT: Anarchists: Our contingent in Pittsburgh are all wearing business wear 11:29PM PDT: g2o pgh: shindley park Upitt - up to 10 arrests, 3 confirmed 11:28PM PDT: g20 pgh: cops are chasing 3 different groups south bound 11:27PM PDT: g20 pgh: military in the area and there are military check points set up 10:33PM PDT: G20 pgh: Riot Cops heading to South Side (UNCONFIRMED) 10:14PM PDT: Anarchists: VIDEO G20 PROTESTS: Police State USA; Wake up! http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=709ECDC88D070CD3 10:03PM PDT: g20 pgh: 20-30 bike cops on 6th ave & 6 police vehicles on 5th ave just passed kirkpatrick(?) heading to downtown 10:03PM PDT: Police formation in residential http://twitpic.com/izxrg 10:01PM PDT: Anarchists: City of Pittsburgh bought insurance to cover lawsuits against police - meaning dont trust cops to act lawfully 9:59PM PDT: Anarchists: Lucy Parsons would have been proud of Anarchists in Pittsburgh Today. 9:56PM PDT: Resist g20: 20-year old female with history of asthma, Forbes Avenue dormitory, trouble breathing due to pepper spray 9:55PM PDT: g20 pgh legal: Jail vigil kicked out of SCI Pittsburgh. Stand by for updated info 9:44PM PDT: G20 Action Alert: alex is ok 9:37PM PDT: G20 IMC: Students gassed by police in PGH(oakland neighbrhd) 9:31PM PDT: Anarchists: (VIDEO) Female beaten and arrested after being instigated by riot police http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzOG7yghNvQ 9:26PM PDT: G20 pgh legal: Seven people being held at Allegheny County Jail. Arraignment courts to run all night, contact us for info on court support. 9:25PM PDT: Pdx Imc: Pittsburgh Black Block have managed to hit strategic targets all over the city despite inferior numbers & severe oppression. Cops panicking as they can't keep up with the disappearing-reappearing tricky ninjas. 9:24PM PDT: hospitalizepopo: video of girl getting pushed on ground - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzOG7yghNvQ 9:20PM PDT: Anarchists: Events in Pittsburgh today show,despite unequal arsenal/ paid numbers at Govt disposal - THE PEOPLE,NOT GOVT REACTIONARIES, have control 9:19PM PDT: Resist G20: Alex Lotorto is missing 9:13PM PDT: g20 pgh: Police dispersing folks onto forbes against traffic 9:13PM PDT: G20 pgh: two more arrests, cops have blocked off student dorms, using weapons 9:12PM PDT: Anarchists: women getting beat by police 9:09PM PDT: G20 pgh: Lots of police need Fuel, can't find Fuel. Trying to get Tanker Truck to fuel humvees 9:08PM PDT: G20 IMC Radio: Students being beaten in the dormitory & threatened with expulsion if they do not disburse from dorm. 9:05PM PDT: Resist g20: ARMED RIOT OFFICER INSIDE PITT DORMATORY LOBBY 9:04PM PDT: Resist G20: Things are getting [exciting] in Oakland right now http://twitpic.com/j0xlk 9:02PM PDT: Resist G20: Protestors are moving over to the South Side. Group forming under the Hot Metal Bridge 8:58PM PDT: Resist g20: Police overheard saying: We're going to have MULTIPLE ARRESTS 8:56PM PDT: G20 pgh: Group forming at Hot Metal Bridge 8:55PM PDT: Resist G20: Seems like the BB! contingent is mostly safe 8:55PM PDT: G20 pgh: forbes and s craig, protestors breaking out windows 8:53PM PDT: Anarchists: Pitt students are reportedly being forced into freshman dorms with rumors of rubber bullets. Swat teams everywhere in Oakland 8:52PM PDT: G20 pgh: Police not responding to other calls. "All units are in Oakland" 8:51PM PDT: Anarchists: ARMORED RIOT COP ENTERS PITT DORMITORY. "IF ANYONE IS ARRESTED THEY WILL BE EXPELLED!" STUDENTS SCREAM 8:42PM PDT: Anarchists: Police are advancing through the Quad 8:42PM PDT: Anarchists: Tear gas sprayed near pitt dorms 8:41PM PDT: Anarchists: Just got my first blast of teargas. You can't get away from these cops 8:40PM PDT: Anarchists: Blackhawk choppers over hill district again 8:34PM PDT: Anarchists: Fully emphathise with Pittsburghers alarm at whats happening to their city. Mirrors our alarm at what #g20 is doing to our world 8:32PM PDT: G20 pgh: RIOT POLICE MARCH DOWN FORBES, SENDING STUDENTS SPRINTING TOWARD TOWERS. TEAR GAS SHOT AT CROWD 8:31PM PDT: G20 pgh: campus: giving dispersal order-probably 200 people at least there. Almost entire perimeter is surrounded with riot cops 8:30PM PDT: Anarchists: Police have completely lined Fifth Ave and Bigelow 8:18PM PDT: G20 pgh: near cathedral of learning & heinz chapel:POLICE JUST PILED OUT OF BUDGET TRUCKS. SOUND CANNONS BEING FIRED AT CROWD. COPS HAVE GAS MASKS ON 8:14PM PDT: Anarchists: EIGHT CANISTERS OF TEAR GAS FIRED AT PROTESTERS ON THE CATHEDRAL LAWN 8:13PM PDT: G20 pgh: horse cops going N on bellerfield from bayard 8:09PM PDT: G20 pgh: liberty, 2 groups of 10 to 15 moving down liberty 8:06PM PDT: Anarchists: POLICE ON HORSES, SWAT TEAMS, SOUND CANNON (LRAD) ON BIGELOW 8:06PM PDT: G20 pgh: grey 2000 chrysler town and country, w/ PA registration-get the fuck out of there! 8:04PM PDT: G20 pgh: pigs cut off forbes ave(at oakland) to one lane 8:04PM PDT: G20 pgh legal: 9 have now been released from SCI, 6 likely to be released soon. Others being moved to ACJ, with "more serious charges" 8:02PM PDT: G20 PGH: radical marching band playing on steps of cathedral, and riot cops continue to launch smoke bombs at them 8:01PM PDT: G20 PGH: warning: police looking for a dodge caravan with ny plates, watch out 7:59PM PDT: G20 PGH: students are chanting to cops "to get off fucking campus" 7:58PM PDT: G20 PGH: people at cathedral of learning, riot cops are shooting "smoke bombs" 7:57PM PDT: G20 PGH Legal: jail vigil moved to SCI 3001 Beaver Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15233 please come if you can 7:56PM PDT: G20 PGH: IRAD, projectiles and tear gas deployed into campus 7:55PM PDT: Resist g20: currently protesters are [very excited] on u pitt campus in oakland. Stay safe. /Police aren't playing, B safe 7:52PM PDT: G20 PGH: Riot Cops in Arrest Buses Headed to Shenley Plaza on Craig 7:50PM PDT: G20 Pgh Legal: One arrest just reported, riot cops rushing crowd at Forbes & Schenley 7:49PM PDT: Anarchists: POLICE BLAST STUDENTS ON PITT CAMPUS WITH SOUND CANNON (LRAD) 7:44PM PDT: G20 PGH: pigs calling for backup at bellefield and 5th 7:42PM PDT: G20 PGH: STUDENTS WARNED TO LEAVE SCHENLEY PLAZA OR RUN RISK OF ARREST 7:42PM PDT: G20 PGH: schenley plaza declared "illegal assembly," cops moving into position 7:41PM PDT: Resist G20: Oakland fire http://twitpic.com/j0puo 7:39PM PDT: Resist G20: Two S.W.A.T. trucks and seven or eight police SUVs just pulled into Schenley. The people stopped dancing 7:37PM PDT: G20 IMC Radio: 500 people marching. A McDonalds was damaged. (Possibly Bash Back march?) 7:36PM PDT: Resist G20: BBlock moving past hospital, mobile field force on way to 5th Ave 7:21PM PDT: Anarchists: Protesters chant, "Your sexy, your cute, take off your riot suit!" 7:17PM PDT: G20 PGH Legal: Two arrests so far at Schenley Park, police line still moving 7:16PM PDT: G20 PGH Legal: Seven arrestees just released from SCI Pittsburgh 7:14PM PDT: Resist G20: VIDEO: National Guard snatch people off the street http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8CNa_viKg0 6:58PM PDT: PDX IMC: We are on air bantering & restreaming G20 IMC radio when they're on. Contact us phone# 503 477 6887 AIM: Portlandimcradio Twitter: Portlandimc 6:46PM PDT: G20 IMC: This afternoon's protests included window damage to the Boston Market, KFC, & BMW dealerships located on Baum Blvd. 6:32PM PDT: G20 IMC: Tin Can Comms Collective was raided today. 2 arrested. Twitter account suspended for "strange activity". Names not in arrestee database. 6:03PM PDT: Resist G20: Police officers stationed near Schenley Park and Phipps Conservatory just received hundreds of water bottles 5:53PM PDT: G20 Action Alert: Police starting to depart Medic Center. Random intimidation? When the #g20 comes to #Pittsburgh, democracy goes out the window 5:41PM PDT: G20 Action Alert: Police surrounding Medic Center, 3028 Brereton Ave, and have shut down access. If you can help, please go over. 5:39PM PDT: Resist G20: guns outside a presidential town hall=constitutional right, but protesters with signs and hoods 2 miles from G20 = tear gas time? 5:38PM PDT: G20 PGH Legal: 5 cop vans plus armored vehicle and at least 34 police officers at medic space in polish hill right now. 5:37PM PDT: Resist G20: Two more caravans of armored officers have arrived. Starting to become unsure which side has more 5:31PM PDT: G20 IMC Radio: Police blaming protesters for lack of permit, but has refused to issue any permits for protests. 5:22PM PDT: Resist G20: police are advancing, forcing crowd back. #g20 at schenley plaza adjacent to pitt. 5:16PM PDT: Resist G20: Police are attacking small groups of people at shenley plaza. Tear gas being used 5:14PM PDT: G20 PGH Legal: Currently we are tracking at least 23 arrests. It will be several hours before arraignments. Jail Vigil at 8 at Allegheny County Jail. 5:10PM PDT: Resist G20: Pigs protecting the corporate socialist (i.e.) fascist G-20 elite http://twitpic.com/izsvi 5:09PM PDT: Resist G20: call for nonviolent green and black contingent marching w/ climate contingent feeder tomorrow. 1130am in front of CMU 5:08PM PDT: Resist G20: Cabaret w/ David Rovics going on now at Desoto and 5th same spot as BASH BACK! March tonight @ 10pm 4:17PM PDT: G20 Action Alert: The #G20 has many hands of oppression, like #Pittsburgh police. But if anything is worth fighting for, it's a better world 4:15PM PDT: Resist G20: jail vigil 950 2nd ave, in downtown. starts at 8pm 4:15PM PDT: Resist G20: cops on horses are pushing the line back 4:08PM PDT: Resist G20: Police are pursuing bloc of about 50 on liberty ave / Baum, they have ordered no traffic from liberty bridge 3:48PM PDT: Report G20: POLICE TEARGAS CROWD OF PITT STUDENTS ON CAMPUS. STUDENTS RUN, CROWD REASSEMBLES 3:47PM PDT: Resist G20: Students are slowly advancing on police. Within 300 ft now 3:44PM PDT: Resist G20: Students chanting "Show me what a police state looks like!" at line of cops on campus 3:39PM PDT: Resist G20: Lots of arrests being made at butler and 34 3:15PM PDT: G20 IMC: Ritter's Diner police attack http://indypgh.org/g20/#k-551da360d8018b27 3:14PM PDT: Resist G20: There will be a reconvergance spot! Stay in n oakland area 3:13PM PDT: Resist G20: National Guard troops in unmarked cars abducting people off the streets in Pittsburgh 2:49PM PDT: Act For Climate: Video of gas and Sound attack at the G20 http://socialistwebzine.blogspot.com/ 2:45PM PDT: Resist G20/Act For Climate: National Guard in unmarked vans and gas masks are heading towards the Bloomfield Bridge 2:44PM PDT: G20 PGH Legal: 13 reported arrests, accounts still coming in. Arrests in multiple locations. 2:43PM PDT: G20 IMC Radio: Cow arrested on Bloomfield bridge. LRAD used again. 2:41PM PDT: Resist G20: police are firing rubber bullets at people outside of Ritter's diner 2:41PM PDT: Report G20: resist g20: police are firing rubber bullets at people outside of Ritter's diner 2:30PM PDT: ReportG20: saw people in military fatigues snatch a kid in a golden car 2:22PM PDT: Act For Climate: rocks being thrown in bloomfield newsraw reports 2:19PM PDT: G20 PGH Legal: 1 arrest near Baum & Liberty--second known arrest today. Reports of police brutality 2:18PM PDT: Resist G20: cop reinforcements being sent to baum and morewood 2:17PM PDT: #reportG20: Boston Market windows are busted 2:17PM PDT: G20 Action Alert: One tweet beat reporter took a rubber bullet on the head, but she seems fine 2:16PM PDT: G20 Action Alert: About 15 min ago, police attacked line of people and beat a young man 2:13PM PDT: Resist G20: March reuniting at Morewood & Baum 2:12PM PDT: G20 IMC Radio: Again dispersal order addressed to "everyone in the area REGARDLESS OF PURPOSE" 2:08PM PDT: "MDPD" may be Miami-Dade PD 2:07PM PDT: Resist G20: teargas, rubber bullets, 1 arrest on baum and liberty beat people with batons, shot with rubber bul 2:05PM PDT: Resist G20: Bean bag bullets fired on Baum & Liberty 2:03PM PDT: G20 IMC Radio: 2 LRAD in position on Liberty Ave. Police have covered their names/id numbers. 1:58PM PDT: G20 IMC Radio: Police "MDPD" appear to be gearing up for mass arrests. 2 Port Authority transit buses. Mysterious boxes under arms. 1:53PM PDT: Go 2 Pittsburgh: 500 protesters in Lawrenceville 1:51PM PDT: Resist G20: 20 police cars and a school bus loaded with officers on penn and 34th in the strip district 1:48PM PDT: G20 IMC: Protesters leaving Friendship Park in Bloomfield towards Liberty Ave. for another march 1:47PM PDT: Anarchists: police are now marching against peaceful protesters in Lawrenceville claiming "unlawful assembly" 1:45PM PDT: Picture of LRAD (Long Range Audio Device) sonic weapon being used against protesters. http://twitpic.com/iz16n 1:41PM PDT: Resist G20: 40 cops, w/ bus, headed towards friendship park 1:39PM PDT: G20 Action Alert: About 150 people assembled at Friendship Park, about 100 just walked back up 1:31PM PDT: Anarchists: protesters have successfully delayed the russian delegation 1:29PM PDT: Anarchists: Protesters near the spanked bank chased by pigz with dogs & bikes 1:25PM PDT: PDX IMC: Definitely listen to the bad ass radio coverage here: http://indypgh.org/g20/# 1:24PM PDT: PDX IMC: What's all this protesting & smashy-smashy about? The "best coverage" is all right here: http://indypgh.org/g20/# 1:24PM PDT: #G20Twitter: police using long-range acoustic device on protestors, never before used in U.S 1:22PM PDT: A G20 protest coms station was raided but coms are still up & running. Because they're awesome, fuck the pigz! 1:17PM PDT: Act For Climate: CNN reporter tear gassed 1:15PM PDT: G20 Action Alert: About 15 min ago, police rolled up on remaining group of 200 and broke us into 3 directions. 1:11PM PDT: People from Daily Show spotted 1:11PM PDT: G20 Action Alert: Friendship Park, 4:30, new meeting point for those who still want to march but don't have another plan 1:10PM PDT: Anarchists: Riot police all around the cathedral. 10 vans, threatening with dogs and less lethal guns. Probably 100+. Some people being detained. 1:10PM PDT: G20IMC: Reports of Tear Gas, LRAD Military Sound Weapons fired on protesters 1:09PM PDT: #G20: police and protesters clash, turning violent. 1:03PM PDT: Anarchists: Bloomfield bank windows have been smashed/blown out. 1:02PM PDT: Act For Climate: Protesters boxed in at penn and 32Nd 12:58PM PDT: Anarchists: 100 protestors in Bloomfield on Liberty at Matilda heading toward Shadyside 12:58PM PDT: G20 PGH Legal: report of snatch and grab arrest at 32nd and smallman. 12:57PM PDT: G20 IMC Radio: The "PNC" & ATMs on Liberty Ave have been damaged with hammer 12:52PM PDT: Anarchists: 75 protestors from "Free Tibet" at Smithfield and Liberty are now face-to-face with riot police. 12:47PM PDT: Anarchists: ALL WITNESSES INCIDENTS Activist v Police SHOULD PHOTO/FILM VIA CAMERA PH & SEND2FRIEND call 412-562-5015 12:46PM PDT: Anarchists: Watch out @ 32nd & Liberty 12:44PM PDT: Resist G20: denny and liberty has 200 protesters rallying 12:43PM PDT: G20 Action Alert: Bloomfield & Liberty Ave, many still marching, loud & fun! 12:29PM PDT: Act For Climate: Officers ordered to mask up, protest changing routes. 12:28PM PDT: Anarchists: Traffic blocked 31st & tenth 12:27PM PDT: G20 Action Alert: Breakaway crowd just got tear-gassed, many walking up 39th from downtown 12:22PM PDT: G20 IMC: 1100 people march against G20 in Lawrenceville 12:21PM PDT: G20 IMC Radio: No arrests. Just attacks. 12:19PM PDT: G20 IMC Radio: Chemical weapons deployed. Tear gas. 12:18PM PDT: G20 IMC Radio: LRAD is the name of the sound weapon. Long Range Acoustic Device. People in homes being effected. 12:16PM PDT: Act For Climate: Police playing awful earsplitting noise. Bad headache. Trying to find a way out of this area. Being led in a circle 12:15PM PDT: Act For Climate: Utter chaos. Groups heading into alley ways. Tipping dumpsters. 12:12PM PDT: Act For Climate: Cops driving up behind protest on Liberty Ave. Reports of microwave cannons being used at front. 12:09PM PDT: Act For Climate: PROTESTERS calling 4 Release of gaoled opposition leader #Birtukan Mikdessa 12:09PM PDT: Act For Climate: Demonstrators march from Grant St down 7th Ave protesting ethiopian leadership 12:07PM PDT: G20 Action Alert: A larger tributary march at Main St & Penn 12:04PM PDT: G20 IMC Radio: Dispersal order to everyone regardless of purpose. Police using sound weapons & microwave weapons. 12:02PM PDT: Resist G20: police have given a dispersal order at 36th and liberty and no one can hear the order 11:59AM PDT: They have microwave cannons set up on librerty. Watch urself Police pushing in on both sides. Shit is going down 11:46AM PDT: Protesters in Arsenal Park trying to march down to the Convention Center, but are being held by police. Crowds screaming "TEAR IT DOWN" 11:45AM PDT: Resist G20: no way to get from "strip district" to downtown. use 16th st bridge 11:44AM PDT: there are several hundred protesters crossing and marching 40th street bridge and then back into town 11:40AM PDT: G20 Action Alert: Student march update: People being kept in Arsenal park by police. Negotiations underway. 11:36AM PDT: Resist G20: Water cannons on 38th and liberty. Be careful 11:31AM PDT: police blocking exit to park...protesters stuck inside so far. crowd is getting noisier 11:27AM PDT: Just the police and journalists on Liberty Ave reported at 11:24am 11:27AM PDT: Resist G20: Call in number for reports 412-567-1420 11:25AM PDT: PDX IMC: Want to know why people are protesting? Great interviews can be found here in "G-Infinity Stories" box: http://indypgh.org/g20/# 11:10AM PDT: Resist G20: Student March has ended at Arsenal Park 11:09AM PDT: Bike PGH: Downtown Pittsburgh is a very secure ghost town 11:04AM PDT: Global PGH: G20 "world leaders" arriving at Pittsburgh international 10:56AM PDT: G20 Action Alert: Larger tributary march at Main St & Penn Ave 10:50AM PDT: Resist G20: student march is making a left onto liberty, police helicopter over head and cops on the streets #students and #workers SHUT THE CITY DOWN 10:39AM PDT: G20 Legal: Scattered reports of cop harassment. Remember, always say: "I do not consent to a search." Legal # is: 412-444-3553. 10:38AM PDT: G20: Student march to join others at Arsenal Park. 10:37AM PDT: G20: police staging at 21st and smallman near arsenal park 10:06AM PDT: Ha! NY Times announces G20 Infinity IMC website is best coverage of G20 in Pittsburgh 9:49AM PDT: Portland IMC will be covering the G20 protests in Pittsburgh through breaking news & radio. For more info: http://indypgh.org/g20/# (NY Times says it's the best!)
Posted by Joe Anybody
at 3:31 AM PDT
Updated: Sunday, 27 September 2009 3:48 AM PDT
G20 Dispatch -reposted
Mood:
loud
Now Playing: A re-post from those close to the G20 police attacks
Topic: PROTEST!
G20 Dispatch #4: While World Leaders Fly Away, Riot Cops Blast Away at U of PittFriday's major action was a permitted "People's March" from Oakland to downtown Pittsburgh and ending with a north side rally, endorsed by dozens of national groups and attended by an estimated 8,000 people. Despite hundreds of riot cops lining every street downtown, no major altercations occurred. (View photos, more info.) But if anyone thought the resistance to the unwanted summit and accompanying police state was over, well, both the police and demonstrators had other ideas. As the G20 leaders exited their meetings and started to board airplanes,the militarization of Pittsburgh continued well on into the night. A twitter feed received at 10:15 PM on the last day of the G20 summit: Reports of Dark Mark observed in the sky. Dementors in Schenley Plaza. Remember. “I do not consent to a soul kiss”. As an anti-police brutality rally at the University of Pittsburgh campus turned into a police riot, it almost seemed that the struggles of the wizarding world could really have pertained to what happened here in Pittsburgh on Friday. As curious college students and anarchists alike gathered at Schenley Plaza in an attempt to hold the police accountable to their behaviors from the previous night, they were met by at least 800 riot cops in the surrounding vicinities of the campus. The riot cops cornered off the area around the park and on Forbes Street, pushing onlookers out with Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs), tear gas and rubber bullets. In an attempt to remain calm, the anti-police brutality participants and other bystanders disbanded to 5th Avenue and other surrounding areas. The riot cops continued to move around the area, corralling people into the campus. No one was allowed to return to their homes across 5th without the fear of being gassed, detained or arrested. Forty arrests were confirmed in the area inside the student union, including medics and media. One medic, Jeff Bartos, was arrested and handcuffed to the point where his hands were turning blue from lack of oxygen. Several media personnel witnessed a violent arrest of a young man on 5th avenue – he was thrown to the ground by three riot police and shot with rubber bullets several times. Another man was also thrown to the ground and arrested shortly thereafter. Media were videotaping these events and were approached by one riot cop and profusely pepper sprayed. Several people throughout the night independently likened these brutal events to that of Nazi Germany. Though clear hyperbole, perhaps this is not that far off from being a realistic statement. While media and other innocent onlookers sat in paddy wagons for hours, the riot cops continued to rage their dementor-like soul kisses to all aspects of the University population. Police entered into dorms where students were pepper sprayed in their pajamas while another college student was chased back into his friend’s apartment and punched in the face while he was being arrested for trespassing (See indypgh.org “G-Infinity Stories”). According to an interview with Pittsburgh students who witnessed other clashes with police, a University student was arrested for holding her dorm door open for other students to get inside away from the tear gas. The less-lethal rubber bullet guns commonly used by riot cops to disperse crowds had some disturbing effects last night as well. While one videographer was being told to get to the ground with around eight other college students, a line of police began to open fire on them, pounding them with rubber bullets while they remained helpless on the pavement. Police also shot rubber bullets into unsuspecting crowds as they were leaving the campus area – hitting one young man in the ear and another on his cheek. Both received abrasions from the impacts of the bullets; luckily the G20 medics were there to treat their injuries. Around 170 people were arrested and booked in the last few days, some by National Guard personnel. There have been rumors that the campus was under martial law Friday night; although untrue, the bands of roaming men in fatigues have certainly made the campus feel like it. Snatch squads in unmarked vans drove around for hours, threatening people with K-9’s and arresting anyone who appeared to be in black bloc attire. Unfortunately, this type of harassment and brutality exists in other aspects of life – especially in neighborhoods of color. Talking to a man after the march yesterday, he told us of several stories, one of which being how a young boy 12 years old, was shot in the back of the head by neighborhood police. These terroristic acts against communities of color often are negated in the media. It often takes events like the G20 and college riots to bring the realities of police and state brutality into the mainstream light. Most of those arrested in the last few days are out of jail, either on bail or by their own recognizance. Though the G20 may be over, these last days will be remembered by many of the people that were there to witness the grotesque apparition of the U.S. police state. I can only hope that this will start to challenge people to start asking questions about our current situation and where we are headed in this country. Perhaps the violence from the police will be blamed on the anarchists, but hopefully, some University of Pittsburgh students and other witnesses will begin to mobilize – to help expand the struggle for self-determination, liberation and freedom to live our own lives.
Posted by Joe Anybody
at 1:51 AM PDT
Updated: Sunday, 27 September 2009 1:51 AM PDT
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Video "no Police Allowed on any Caracas Venezuela campus"
Mood:
incredulous
Now Playing: No Police Allowed
Topic: Venezuela Trip
.
No Police Allowed on any Caracas University Campus
Posted by Joe Anybody
at 2:43 PM PDT
Updated: Saturday, 26 September 2009 2:46 PM PDT
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
POLICE - 3 ass holes in Portland Oregon
Mood:
on fire
Now Playing: jerk cops in portland oregon: their story is in the Oregonian newspaper
Topic: FAILURE by the GOVERNMENT
Email: I received on Sept 23 2009 Subject: Bad Media Morning for Police in Oregonian...
So Steve Duin ripped the police in the case we're trying on behalf of 3 African Americans below AND the same officer who arrested Joe Walsh (officer Nice) was cleared of any wrongdoing in the Chasse murder by the police review commission on front page of oregonian...
for anyone that would like to watch, we will be in room 308 cross examining the police this morning and will be doing final arguments this afternoon post 2pm
'One peep away from getting shot' September 23, 2009, 6:51PMTo truly appreciate why three Portland cops acted the way they did that 2007 night in the downtown Smart Park garage, city attorney Bill Manlove told a Multnomah County jury Wednesday, you have to understand "the action-reaction principle." "The aggressor, the person who is acting, always has the advantage," Manlove explained, and we need to allow an officer the leeway "to control the situation so he's not placed at a tactical disadvantage." Does that leeway include mocking and ridiculing three men who have been pulled from their car at gunpoint and who are, according to eyewitnesses, so "terrified" that they are in tears and begging passers-by to hang around? Does it mean that when a 26-year-old man hands police his concealed weapons permit at 2:40 a.m. and tells them he's "carrying," officers should promptly draw their firearms, point them at the heads of the men in the car, and tell the guy in the back seat, "Shut up. And if you say another thing, I'm gonna shoot you." And does it license the police -- as attorney Greg Kafoury alleges -- to subsequently conjure up a fanciful back story to justify their actions? What we expect and demand of the police is back on trial this week as three men -- Alex Clay and brothers Harold Hammick and Richard Booth -- bring a $300,000 suit against the city claiming assault, battery and false arrest. The three men are black. Sgt. Chris Davis and Officers Leo Besner and Brian Hubbard are white. However the jury eventually rules, I imagine many readers will view this through the subjective filters of race, past experience with the police and, Kafoury notes, 40 years of TV movies featuring heroic cops and hostile, drug-dealing street punks. Let's set the stage: Hammick, Booth and Clay went downtown to celebrate St. Patrick's Day 2007, returning to their white Chevy Trailblazer after the bars closed down. They tell the same story in lengthy depositions, confirmed by two witnesses in the garage. Hammick and Booth returned to the SUV first because Clay -- who works for the Portland Public Schools' Head Start program -- spun off to get a pizza. As Clay came up the parking garage stairwell, he met Portland police officers, who told him they were trying to clear the garage to ease tensions between two groups of African American males-- one in white T-shirts, the other in black T-shirts -- who'd recently collided on the busy city streets. The cops followed Clay to the Trailblazer, where they asked the three men for identification. Going by the book, Hammick promptly announced, "I'm a registered carrier, and here's my license and insurance." Hammick's loaded Glock 23 was in the holster at his right hip. When he told police he was armed, Besner -- the lead officer -- yelled, "He's carrying! He's carrying!" and the three cops drew their weapons. After Besner sliced through Hammick's seat belt with a knife, the three men were pulled from the car and handcuffed. Hammick said he was punched twice in the groin. All three say they were scared to death and kept asking what they'd done wrong. "I thought," Clay said, "that I was one peep away from getting shot." After approximately 40 minutes, the police were informed there were no outstanding warrants on the three men and they were finally released from the handcuffs. The cops departed, everyone agrees, without explanation or apology. The police, not surprisingly, tell a different story about the confrontation. They claim in depositions that they saw Hammick and Clay among the troublemakers on the street in the white T-shirts. They argue that they told the three men to leave the garage and grew concerned when they were still sitting in the SUV 20 minutes later. And they insist the men were angry, belligerent, argumentative and, to quote Manlove, "bumping gums" when they were approached. The police version of events was contradicted by Kafoury's first two witnesses, Adam Ganer and Nicole Furlong. The two Portland State grads were sitting in a car 50 feet away from the Trailblazer. They were so unnerved by the cops' aggressiveness, Ganer told me, that they dropped their seats back so they could watch the drama play out. There are several odd twists in the cops' story. Although the police claim they followed the three men into the parking garage as a result of their behavior on the street, Besner, Davis and Hubbard admit they never asked them about that behavior in the 40 minutes the trio were handcuffed. Then there's the bizarre addendum to Besner's police report. Besner took Hammick's Glock and concealed handgun license back to the station and was writing his report when he said Officer Brett Hawkinson happened by and glanced at Hammick's permit photo. Hawkinson immediately identified Hammick as a guy he'd spotted -- from a half block away -- earlier that night in a white T-shirt, displaying a black object under his belt and mouthing the words "gat" and "my piece." As Kafoury told the jury, Hammick had a 7-inch Afro on St. Patrick's Day 2007. In his handgun permit photo, his hair is closely cropped. "People go to prison every day in this very courthouse based on the testimony of police officers," Kafoury noted. And setting the record straight about what happened that night and what is acceptable police behavior, Clay said, is precisely why the three men decided to sue the city over the way they were treated. What he found most chilling about the whole affair, Clay added, was how angry and disappointed Besner seemed when the cops' aggressive actions weren't met with an equally dramatic reaction. -- Steve Duin
Posted by Joe Anybody
at 11:58 PM PDT
Updated: Thursday, 24 September 2009 5:23 PM PDT
Nuclear-Free Seas ...a NY Times article brings up a good point
Mood:
bright
Now Playing: Stopping Nukes on the High Seas
Topic: POLITICS
Nuclear-Free Seas http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/opinion/24muzinich.html?_r=1&th&emc=th By THOMAS LEHRMAN and JUSTIN MUZINICH Published: September 23, 2009 9.23.09 President Obama is scheduled to preside over a United Nations Security Council meeting on nuclear nonproliferation. He should use the occasion to address a critical weakness in the effort to halt the spread of nuclear weapons: the international community’s inability to stop and inspect a ship suspected of carrying nuclear materials without first getting permission from the country whose flag the ship is flying. Despite a host of United Nations nonproliferation initiatives like this year’s Resolution 1874, which calls on countries to allow such inspections, international law still prohibits interfering with another nation’s ship in international waters without permission. Additionally, the resolution does not authorize the use of force if a country refuses to let its ship be inspected. Thus, if a North Korean ship is transporting nuclear weapons to Myanmar, little can be done to stop it in international waters without North Korea’s permission. This principle of “flag-state jurisdiction” has generally been accepted since the 17th century, when Hugo Grotius wrote “The Freedom of the Seas,” arguing for Holland’s right to use trade routes monopolized by the Spanish and Portuguese. It’s codified in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. And it has meant that a number of ships suspected of carrying nuclear materials have not been stopped. Flag-state jurisdiction should now be amended to allow exceptions to combat nuclear proliferation and terrorism. A precedent for this already exists: in the Law of the Sea, the principle does not apply to ships involved in piracy or the slave trade, which can be detained. The freedom of the seas has to be balanced against modern security needs. Today, the Security Council should discuss how to go about changing the law. But potential proliferators may not agree to a treaty allowing their ships to be boarded. Fortunately, there is another means of changing maritime law: state action. While there is no precise analogy in domestic law, a new maritime law can come into being simply through general international consensus. For example, in 1945 President Harry Truman declared that the United States would have exclusive use of its continental shelf. Other states accepted this and made similar declarations, and this principle became an accepted part of maritime law. A comparable approach should be taken if proliferators block United Nations efforts to amend flag-state jurisdiction. When the threat is great enough, the United States or one of its allies should notify the Security Council and board a ship that it has reason to believe is transporting nuclear materials to dangerous recipients, without the permission of the flag-state. The danger, to be taken very seriously, is that the offended country will respond aggressively. To minimize this risk, the first interdiction must be one whose moral logic is so strongly compelling to the international community that there is near universal support. Additionally, a system of liability should be established. If a ship is wrongly stopped, the owner should be compensated justly for the trouble. While there can be no guarantee of how the flag-state will respond, if the ship is chosen wisely and there is a promise of compensation, both the offense taken by the flag-state and its motivation to respond with violence will be reduced. If the ship resists, force may be necessary to ensure nuclear weapons don’t fall into the wrong hands. There are already exceptions to flag-state jurisdiction. The United Nations meeting today should spur thinking about how nations can work together to devise a similar exception to prevent nuclear proliferation and terrorism. Wise diplomacy must allow for this before it’s too late. Thomas Lehrman was the director of the State Department’s Office of Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism from 2005 to 2007. Justin Muzinich is an adviser to a nonprofit group focused on nonproliferation.
Posted by Joe Anybody
at 12:01 AM PDT
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