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Title: Photos of Huge Police presence at Pittsburgh Peace Parade.
Source:
Daily Kos
URL Source: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/3/18/223848/425
Published: Mar 18, 2006
Author: 'yellow canary'
Post Date: 2006-03-18 22:52:06 by Zipporah
Keywords: Pittsburgh, presence, Parade.
Views: 172
Comments: 31
Unfortunately, I had to work and missed most of the parade. I heard from some who were in or watched it go by that there were about 1,000 people, all ages, all types, many signs for peace, for IMPEACHING BUSH, for ENDING THE FALSE WAR. What everyone noticed was the huge police presence. I caught up with the march at the end, in Oakland, the densely populated urban neighborhood that the University of Pittsburgh calls home. Photos and some comments after the flip. (A lot of medium size photos.) Hope Sat. night isn't the worst time to submit this. What did you see in your homeland? The march wasn't hard to find. I just drove towards the helicopter. No march is complete without some eye in the sky. I had to park 10 blocks away. The police had closed all the streets for blocks in every direction. These are the mounted police who were on a little break. They had six mounted policemen at each end of the march -- these guys were the floaters. Likewise, some of foot patrol were taking it easy. By the time I got there many of the marchers had gone home. These are the the cops who weren't actively keeping watch. Things got quickly more ... police-state-ish. Here's the motor pool. Almost all the cops had plastic wrist-cuffs. A few had whole bunches, just in case. They probably had a paddy wagon nearby with boxes and boxes. I kept heading up Forbes Avenue (that's General Forbes, war hero). Hmm. Riot cops. Perhaps I'm getting closer. Ah, the working mounties. I see the throng of marchers ahead. All well-behaved, by the way. I was told there had been one arrest, but that was before the Marchers got to Oakland. I don't know what the arrest was for. Not to be outdone, the other mounted police. Not as good as putting the fear of a stomping into a crowd, but real good at running down those who flee. And let's remember ... psyops ... not that we really need it in sleepy Pittsburgh. But who knows? They each have their own K-car. I think I saw four dogs total. Not so bad. Then I got the crowd itself. A nice drumbeat was being tattoo'd by an active group in the center, but mostly people were just milling around. Not the police. They had formed an impenetrable cordon. And I'm not kidding. The crowd was dressed in jeans, sweaters, jackets. It was a cold, sunny day. These police were in FULL RIOT GEAR. That's a block-long line of police in full riot gear. High-tech stuff: shields, shin, knee, elbow, shoulder protectors, pads everywhere. About every eighth officer had an earset with a microphone. Notice that the crowd is not particularly menacing. That's Pitt's Cathedral of Learning in the background. Did you notice the arms? This was a significant show of force for the police state. He wasn't unfriendly. Told me the gun fired "non-lethal crowd control rounds". That leaves, well, most everything. I didn't get any pictures of the "greens". They were a team of riot police staying out of the way half a block to the north. They ALL had those nice canister launchers, and one guy -- luck of draw, he was the munitions mule -- was wearing a long vest covered front, back, and sides with five inch by two inch aluminum canisters. That's a lot of cops, probably on overtime. Pittsburgh, by the way, is in receivership (it can't pay it's bills). But it sure can pull out all stops to keep an anti-war rally from turning ugly. The city of Pittsburgh has contributed more than $950,000,000 in federal taxes for Bush's illegal war of aggression in Iraq. We sure could use that money to pay for the schools (property taxes are forcing people out of the city). Or invest in the local economy. Paying Bush to kill Iraqis when you can't afford to pay your bills seems a misguided. But then we pay extra to show peace marchers the newest in police equipment. Here's the crowd: Not exactly ... menacing. The crowd, I mean. The police presence was extreme. I made it all the way through. Ah, the rest of the hay-eaters. Out the other end, more roads blocked, more police presence. I didn't find the paddy wagons. A cameraman for a local news station told me that they could have every marcher immobilized and cuffed within ten minutes if they wanted to. I want to have the Bush administration immobilized and cuffed in the next ten minutes. I wonder how many have screamed, how many are being tortured, how many have been killed in the four hours that the march lasted. ITMFA!
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 8.
#2. To: Zipporah (#0)
I also missed our local anti-war demonstration. Previously, I had been to all of them, but I have been thinking of a more effective non-violent means of protest. I don't know if we have enough momentum to stop the next war which will probably be against Iran. We have not done enough to tell people the truth about 9-11 which is that they the WTC was taken down by controlled demolitions. I agree that it was an excessive show of force in Pittsburgh. ANd thos automatic weapons were probably a gift from Bush. You might investigate and find out how much they cost. Romanian AK-47s sell for $400 on the web. DHS likely paid $2,000 each.
I am surely not disputing you Horse, but I would guess a decent 47 could be had, in bulk for around 200 or so USD. I seem to think Flintlock has some knowledge of this so I'll ping him. Reason is I am interested on what the wholesale price of these formidiable weapons are. No doub't the Homeland security scam paid 2000, tho.
Naw, guns are for sissys
Dare I ask.. what do manly men go for?
Don't you know by now?
#9. To: tom007 (#8)
Don't you know by now? OMG!!! UH ~ that sort of came out wrong .. LOL!!!!!!!
RPG, Stingers, bioweapons, these are the manly deals of our time.
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#3. To: Horse, flintlock (#2)
You might investigate and find out how much they cost. Romanian AK-47s sell for $400 on the web. DHS likely paid $2,000 each.
#6. To: tom007 (#3)
I seem to think Flintlock has some knowledge of this so I'll ping him.
#7. To: Flintlock (#6)
Naw, guns are for sissys
#8. To: Zipporah (#7)
Dare I ask.. what do manly men go for?
Replies to Comment # 8. Dare I ask.. what do manly men go for?
#10. To: All (#8)
End Trace Mode for Comment # 8.