As some of you are no doubt aware, the G-20 international summit is in Pittsburgh today and tomorrow. This, I thought, would not affect me in any manner, as I don’t go through any of the roads planned for protests. Well, evidently, the po-po disagreed. At around 4PM, we saw large numbers of hipsters travelling not as a pack but more as a stream of people down the street behind our office (which used to be in front of our office, until the GetGo convenience store bought the parking lot). About 30 minutes of that, and then they taper off, no doubt due to the large number of police that lined up on the street. There were more police than there were people walking towards downtown. So, I go back to working on messing with Microsoft’s nmake, until it’s time to leave. I grab my laptop and ipod, head out the back to the garage. I reach the street to observe several ranks of police, each about 50 officers ’strong’, about 50 yards apart. They’re not really doing anything useful, just standing about in vague ‘ready to form up’ positions. I cross the street between two ranks, and walk along the sidewalk. About halfway between two ranks, there is a cluster of about 5 officers, most of whom are sitting. The one standing was about 2 meters away from the rest, and my path would have taken me between the officer and his cohorts. There is also a group of about 5 hipsters behind me by 3 or 4 steps who would also pass through this gap. The officer felt it necessary to order (he asked in a tone of voice which indicated a beating if there was no compliance) all of us to either go right or left, but not through his personal space. Not really in the mood for a beating, I just walked left around through a small parking lot. As I reached my car, I realized I had left my cell phone in the office. So, I dump my laptop and iPod, head back to the office. After picking up my phone, I return the exact way I came. As I (and 2 other guys from the office) approach to about 3 meters from the first line that I would have to pass by, one of the officers yells, “I NEED A LINE!” and the other officers take up the call, “LINE FORMATION! WE NEED A LINE!” and immediately move to block the entire width of the road and sidewalks. I say something to the effect of “My car is right over there, can I go by?” The officer on the end replies, I shit you not, “Negative! Please find an alternate route. May I suggest around the block?” Well, again, no desire to receive a beating, so around the block I go.
I looked online just now, and heard of minor clashes between police and protesters. I can’t help but think that if the city had been more organized and thoughtful when managing the protests, none of this would have happened. Oh, I’m sure some bad apple would have thrown a rock (as happened), but instead of punishing the entire city, just punish the fucktard. They locked down the entirety of Baum Boulevard from Liberty Avenue to probably Downtown. With lines of police ranging from 50 to 100 every 50 yards. They didn’t bother blocking Liberty Avenue, which also goes Downtown, and is right there. The police are just flexing their muscle and being assholes, and I can understand why people are upset at the abuse of power and abuse of civil rights.
In the end, this will likely end up as a minor skirmish compared to, say, the WTO riots in Seattle. But it just goes to show again that the many governments that run our society (and those that rule other societies) don’t really have our best interests at heart.