Did Pittsburgh become a police state?

here are some videos of the riots:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tNk6h2_khA

Police brutality at University of Pittsburgh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etv8YEqaWgA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bopZT_zhwj4

This is insane. I just can't imagine what would happen when the next G20 comes to Toronto.

Originally Posted by MasterXan

here are some videos of the riots:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tNk6h2_khA

Police brutality at University of Pittsburgh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etv8YEqaWgA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bopZT_zhwj4

This is insane. I just can't imagine what would happen when the next G20 comes to Toronto.

We're also hosting the next G8 as well.

It's nothing new when there are these large international gatherings.

The next one will be in Huntsville actually for security reasons. They may still conduct protests in Toronto though.

That's far from a police state. The protesters were disturbing the peace and the police responded accordingly.

If protesters knew how to obey the law during their gatherings, then these things wouldn't happen.

Originally Posted by Talamasca

The next one will be in Huntsville actually for security reasons. They may still conduct protests in Toronto though.

G8 in Huntsville a definite. G20 is a maybe. CTV reports that as of Friday, folks were still questioning if Huntsville can handle both.

Either way, it is not going to happen in Toronto because 1. it will tie up traffic (among other things) like mad, and 2. the sh*t will hit the fan in epic proportions with the primarily economic agenda. 'Cause our more passionate Torontonians (and more passionate Canadians, by extension) are like that. It'll be easier to handle stuff (re: security) in the small, cozy town of Huntsville.

That kid at the end of the 3rd video is an absolute idiot. He seems to think the police don't have the right to gas anyone and everyone in the vicinity during an unlawful assembly/riot, but he couldn't be more wrong.

During an unlawful assembly or a riot, the police can and will use force and anyone and everyone in the area. In Canada, anyone in the vicinity of a riot is considered to be disturbing the peace tumultuously and force will be used against them. The wording may be slightly different in Pennsylvania and I'm not sure exactly what the act/law is called, but I can assure you it would be very, very similar to Canada's riot act.

Once the Pittsburgh police gave an order to vacate the area, those students should have left immediately. Instead, they chose to stay and "observe" (as that idiot student put it) and in doing so became participants of an unlawful assembly/riot (not sure which it was legally classified as).

It's students like him that give university students a bad name. Generally speaking, university students think they are smarter than they are. They tend to be very book smart but when it comes to street smarts, they are sorely lacking. This student is a perfect example of that. He thinks because he's read a few textbooks in class that he knows the law. He starts going on about his rights being violated, when in fact he's the one that was breaking the law and could have been arrested and charged if the police so desired.

As for the force used against him, I've had OC Spray (a much, much less potent form of CS gas, which is what the Pittsburgh police used) in my face probably 30-40 times and I can assure you, the amount of pepper spray used on those students was next to nothing.

Originally Posted by Shaner

That kid at the end of the 3rd video is an absolute idiot. He seems to think the police don't have the right to gas anyone and everyone in the vicinity during an unlawful assembly/riot, but he couldn't be more wrong.

During an unlawful assembly or a riot, the police can and will use force and anyone and everyone in the area. In Canada, anyone in the vicinity of a riot is considered to be disturbing the peace tumultuously and force will be used against them. The wording may be slightly different in Pennsylvania and I'm not sure exactly what the act/law is called, but I can assure you it would be very, very similar to Canada's riot act.

Once the Pittsburgh police gave an order to vacate the area, those students should have left immediately. Instead, they chose to stay and "observe" (as that idiot student put it) and in doing so became participants of an unlawful assembly/riot (not sure which it was legally classified as).

It's students like him that give university students a bad name. Generally speaking, university students think they are smarter than they are. They tend to be very book smart but when it comes to street smarts, they are sorely lacking. This student is a perfect example of that. He thinks because he's read a few textbooks in class that he knows the law. He starts going on about his rights being violated, when in fact he's the one that was breaking the law and could have been arrested and charged if the police so desired.

As for the force used against him, I've had OC Spray (a much, much less potent form of CS gas, which is what the Pittsburgh police used) in my face probably 30-40 times and I can assure you, the amount of pepper spray used on those students was next to nothing.

As a former douchebag protester in my younger days, I've been gassed and pepper sprayed on multiple occasions. I'd say it goes Police pepper spray > CS gas > OC spray (trust me, the over the counter OC spray is nothing compared to the police/military stuff - your face will swell up for a week).

Believe it or not, I never did anything even remotely illegal to deserve what I got, just standing in the wrong place at the right time. I was in the "general area" of where people were doing bad things, but the enforcement personnel get pretty liberal once they get going.

I recall the FTAA protest in QC (the last one I was ever involved in), there was a red zone, a yellow zone and a green zone for protestors. The green zone was over 2km away and had politicians (NDP), union leaders, families and women with strollers. 100% peaceful and even they got CS gassed. I felt so terrible for them since they weren't even remotely prepared for it as the yellow or red zone protesters were. Plus there aren't too many people that would support gassing infants in strollers.

I know it's tough to incorporate restraint when you're on the other side of the fence, but they definitely get out of hand sometimes.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are police agitators in the crowd that are acting the part to allow police to move in.

Good for the police

Originally Posted by Qbit

I wouldn't be surprised if there are police agitators in the crowd that are acting the part to allow police to move in.

That's remarkable unlikley. There may be police plants to observe what the protesters are doing from the inside, but there's not a single cop out there that wants to deal with a riot. Maybe you got this idea from TV or something.

Originally Posted by Qbit

I wouldn't be surprised if there are police agitators in the crowd that are acting the part to allow police to move in.

*dons tinfoil hat*

Originally Posted by i6s1

That's remarkable unlikley. There may be police plants to observe what the protesters are doing from the inside, but there's not a single cop out there that wants to deal with a riot. Maybe you got this idea from TV or something.

Montebello would disagree with you.

Hey Shaner, how are the streets of Kingston tonight?

http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/701606
'Riot police await Queen's debauchery'

http://twitter.com/queensjournal (tweeting the 'action')

Originally Posted by Rehan

Hey Shaner, how are the streets of Kingston tonight?

http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/701606
'Riot police await Queen's debauchery'

http://twitter.com/queensjournal (tweeting the 'action')

A few years ago I went down into the student ghetto after the bars to check out the chaos. I wasn't partying with any of the students, but I knew it would get out of hand so I decided to take a look. That was the year they lit that car on fire in the middle of the street, overturned a small boat and wrecked a lot of other things. The police were very, very close to moving in and would have if they had been more prepared.

After that, I decided it's best to stay away. One of these years it's going to go bad and like I said earlier in this thread, when that happens, everyone in the vicinity is treated like a criminal (and rightly so, IMO). The last thing I need is to be in the area of a riot when the police are rushing in.

Haven't heard any first hand stories yet though.