Pitt's ACLU student group hosts post-G-20 speak-out
By Eva Bugos / For The Pitt News
published: Wed, 30 Sep, 2009
Pitt’s American Civil Liberties Union student group will hold a rally today at 5:30 p.m. on the William Pitt Union lawn for students to share their stories about police action Thursday and Friday nights and show support for “arrested yet innocent students,” the group’s president, Genevieve Redd, said.
The rally will open with an open-mic segment from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m., during which students can share accounts of police enounters. The ACLU has counseled arrested students not to speak publicly for legal reasons. Students will then be encouraged to break into small groups of five to seven and discuss their own experiences. Organizers will distribute a list of questions with phone numbers for public officials and a public phone number for each official’s office.
The ACLU will ask students to sign a petition that will be directed to University and city officials “seeking reconciliation, asking for an open and public investigation, asking for fair hearings for students and legal representation if requested and asking for an apology from the city for what has happened to our community,” Redd said.
There will be four to five police officers on site to ensure student safety. No violence is anticipated, and the goal is peaceful assembly to hold discussion and sign petitions, followed by peaceful dispersal, according to Redd.
At 4:30 pm. on the Cathedral lawn, the Thomas Merton Center will train peace guides who would like to mediate conflict and keep atendees focused on the task of peaceful reconciliation, Redd said.
ACLU-PA will be on site to collect legal statements from students about their experiences. ACLU-PA staff attorney Sara Rose will be present to answer questions and ensure on-site legal protection for students should violence occur.
The idea for a rally came from independent students who observed or felt the police presence on campus Thursday and Friday nights. These students reached out to Pitt’s ACLU for help in organizing the rally and obtaining a permit. One student, acting independently, printed and distributed fliers for an event on the Cathedral lawn today dubbed Black and Blue and Gold.
The flier said, “Speak out in support of Pitt students and all others unjustly arrested, gassed, shot, beaten, sprayed, locked out of their homes, shoved off their sidewalks and dehumanized by an overwhelming military and police clampdown on our soil.”
There is no permit for this event, despite claims made on the flier, and it will not take place. The student who made the flier is now in coordination with the ACLU rally for Thursday night, Redd said.
Dean of Students Kathy Humphrey’s office approved only the reservation for the Pitt ACLU event.
Comments
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh used to be a great city, but it's quickly on its way to becoming another run-down urban hellhole devoid of humanity. What's all this about needing "permits" to assemble? What part of "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceablely to assemble" does Pittsburgh's city officials not understand? What part do the mindless automatons running the University of Pittsburgh fail to comprehend? You attempted to trade your liberty for security, but now you have neither.
If students at the University of Pittsburgh were serious about protecting their rights (which they aren't), they would be calling for the dean's head, as well as that of the incompetent mayor of Pittsburgh, Puke Ravenstal. I still give you an "A" for effort in trying to obtain a permit to use your rights, though. Maybe you'll have better luck getting a permit to be free from unreasonable search and seizures or rapes when the Pittsburgh Police break down your door in the middle of the night.
Oh, by the way, enjoy the new education tax that is going to be levied on you by Puke Ravenstal. Paying thugs to violate your civil rights is expensive, you know.
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