PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Breaking news downtown M21
by pgh IMC Saturday, Mar. 22, 2003 at 11:14 AM
info@indypgh.org (email address validated)

breaking news from March 21 jail solidarity and march downtown, as posted in the feature

4:30pm: Rally begins at federal building. Activists on bikes have been in the streets downtown.

5:30pm : 100+ people from the fed. bldg rally have marched back to the Municipal Court Building and met up with the Alexander Berkman Jail Solidarity camp which has been going strong since last night. Protestors are drumming and chanting in support of the arrestees. come down and support! 660 first ave, municipal courts by the new allegheny county jail.

5:44pm: 150-200 are rallying outside of the municipal court building as many many arrestees from last night are still being held. etta and pete have spoken to the crowd, others are speaking. there is a call out for more people join them on first ave!

5:48pm: reports are coming in that there is a second march coming down east carson street and across the smithfield street bridge. presumably it will meet up at the Municipal court also.

6:15pm: the rally is settling down quietly, while a large group is heading back down grant street. a legal update has come in and arraignments should begin again soon (100 or so are STILL being held). the jail solidarity camp is still going and will appreciate support tonight.

10:45pm: word is that 60 people or so have been released with bail set at $125. many more are still in custody and the solidarity camp is going strong. there is talk that at 11:15 or so people will be able to post bail in a large group so that may be a good time for people to be there with rides and food -- though it seems that even after posting bail it takes a long time for people to be processed, so we expect to be out there well into the early morning hours. stay strong!

M22 1:10am : one female arrestee has suffered a broken nose; police have announced that she (and the arrested female ACLU legal observer) will be the last to be released (presumably because these represent the worst cases of police misconduct). none have been released in the past few hours, the solidarity camp is continuing into the night and trying to stay warm -- we are expecting releases soon.

2:30am : the last arrestees are finally being released now; reports of extreme police brutality in the prison are starting to come out at as well. Some people are being released ROR, but the Merton Center has posted bail on behalf of some. Arresstees' possesions have been confiscated and reportedly taken to a police station on the north side, say reports. Offers of food, rides, and solidarity to the arrestees are still welcome -- the release is still progressing slowly but surely. It appears many court dates have been set for next week.

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Why we are still out there
by Nick Saturday, Mar. 22, 2003 at 1:56 PM
pnk6@pitt.edu

Since the onset of the war, many editorials and commentators have called on Americans to “stand united” behind the president and armed forces. Even Walter Cronkite, who has viciously criticized Bush’s war plans has said, “The time has come to put all our distaste aside and give our full support to the troops involved.”

Reading these comments, I feel as if we protesters are being patted on the backs and told “There, there. It was a nice project while it lasted, kids but now it’s time to get on with the real purpose of your lives, to stand behind your president and the brave men and women who served this country no matter what they do and why. Come on now, playtime’s over. It’s time to get united.”

Well sorry to break-up the “unity,” but I, for one, do not plan to lay down my slogans and banners any time soon. There are still many good reasons for a committed and visible peace movement.

The concerns of anti-war protesters are no less valid now that war has started
The anti-war movement grew together from a vast array of people with many different viewpoints. Many believed that all war was wrong. More commonly, though, protestors believe that war without UN sanction is illegal; military action while weapons inspections are still pending is uncalled for and/or the doctrine of preemptive strike is amoral.
These viewpoints are just as valid now that the strike has begun. We must continue to band together to see that they are not marginalized in the midst of war fever and that elected officials realize our concerns in the hope that some will reach out to us.

2) Anti-war demonstrations show solidarity with the world
Distrust of America is at an all-time high across the world. In Japan, Turkey, Germany and many other nations, more than 90% of the population is opposed to this war. Even US allies are unconvinced. A recent poll in the UK revealed that most Britons see George W. Bush as a greater threat to peace than Saddam Hussein.
These protests show the world that not all Americans support this war and the doctrine upon which it is based. They send a firm message to other nations: America is not the problem, the Bush administration is.

3) There will be more wars after this one
Now that the Bush administration has tested the doctrine of preemption, it will undoubtedly stretch it to its farthest limits. One need only read statements by the Project for a New American Century (www.newamericancentury.org), signed by many of Bush’s top people, to see that the goal of this administration of is nothing less than world domination. At a recent conference with Israeli leaders, Donald Rumsfelt said that the US would “deal” with “threats” from Iran, Syria and North Korea after Iraq. The same has been stated elsewhere.
A perpetual war drive calls for a perpetual peace movement. As far as activists are concerned, the War in Iraq may as well be as old as the War in Vietnam, but we can still hope to have an impact on future policy.

4) US troops should not be sacred cows
When I graduated high school, I received the usual pile of literature from the armed forces. I decide to refuse all these offers, no matter how enticing. A look at US intervention in Latin America, Libya and Kosovo reveal an unsettling understructure of US foreign policy in which secrets and propaganda abound and corporate interests are the main drive. I made a moral decision to refuse any association with the US armed forces.
The US troops in Iraq also made a moral decision. Nevermind that they signed-up thinking they would get cash for college and never actually have to go to war. Nevermind that genuine lack of opportunity makes enlistment one of the few viable prospects for the underclass. Nevermind that their perceptions of the world were skewed by a mass media that airs A Few Good Men on cable fifty times each weekend and pretends Noam Chomsky doesn’t exist. They made a moral choice and no one who makes a moral choice is a sacred cow.
I am not saying that one should detest and alienate US service men and women. That would be taking blame away from those truly responsible for this crime: the Bush administration. What I am saying is that there is that one should not stop protesting because it would demoralize our troops. They have made a moral choice and if they come to question it, so be it.

I realize that the violence and arrests (at least some of which were undoubtedly justified) of the past few days have tainted the peace movement. It is inevitable that individuals would vent their anger in such a way in the wake of the past week. However, do not think the peace movement has splinted into the extremists who run into traffic and the overwhelmed who consider the battle over. We will reorganize in the coming months because we still have a purpose.

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