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G20/20 Vision: This protest has been officially sanctioned and brought to you by Iron City Beer
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
G20/20 Vision: This protest has been officially sanctioned and brought to you by Iron City Beer
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| Photo | Nate Boguszewski |
| For more of Nate's G20 photos, click the photo or here. |
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Matt Stroud is a Pittsburgh-based freelance writer. He’s written for City Paper about porn star Stoya, subterranean Philadelphia, juvenile life sentences and anarchist newspaper The Defenestrator. He writes regularly at True/Slant (where this piece first appeared) and will be filing daily reports from the G20 Summit this week.
Today's protests seemed surprisingly peaceful. At least where I was — marching with I'd guess about 2,000 people along Fifth Avenue from Oakland toward the City County Building —the streets had been blocked off, police and military were posted on sidewalks and sidestreets, and no authority figure was (as far as I could see) instructed to intervene forcibly. This was, as advertised, a "sanctioned" rally — which apparently means no one gets gassed. Knowing this, one might ask: Why didn't Pittsburgh Organizing Group — the Anarchist group largely responsible for yesterday's gathering — get a permit to lawfully assemble yesterday?
A Post-Gazette article last week — working off a press release — implied POG's mission was to wreak havoc. But speaking to a few sources today — who asked not to be named (because that's what many young Anarchists tend to do) — POG applied for permits through the city and were denied.
"They go through the same horseshit at every political event like this," said my unidentified source. "[The City tells] every organizer a host of totally inconsistent things about what's required to get a permit, then they change their story consistently until the week before the event. They hand out permits seemingly at random and that's the plan — to disrupt and disorganize any semblance of unity."
Take what you will from that. Obviously, both the City of Pittsburgh and POG have interests in this regard:
- First, it vilifies police if they're forced to violently repress "peaceful protesters." This morphs into positive marketing for POG — who can use the police's tear gas and fired pellets as activist ammunition for future anti-capitalist rallies.
- On the other hand, it makes the city look supportive if they treat permitted protesters well; it makes them look strong if they have no trouble censuring groups who haven't filled out the proper forms.
If POG did, in fact, apply for and get denied for permits, why did the city refuse their application and support today's protest instead? Is it possible that was the best option for everyone?
Anyway. While we're on the topic of unclear messages: The legendary Dave Mansueto posted some interesting footage from the protests yesterday, where John Oliver, of Daily Show fame, made some pointed commentary about 1) Pittsburgh's ridiculous police presence and 2) the protests general lack of cohesion:
The police do, in fact, have their message straight.
Check next week's print issue for answers and commentary about G20 and Pittsburgh's moment in the international spotlight.
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