Students gather in Schenley Plaza to join Arsenal Park protest

By Kelsey Shea / Contributing Editor

published: Thu, 24 Sep, 2009

Roughly 200 student protesters gathered in Schenley Plaza early this afternoon to join a larger protest in Arsenal Park.

The protesters in the plaza as well as the ones they planned to meet had no permits from the city to protest.

Joining the protesters were street medics from Eastern Seeds of Peace and representatives from the ACLU.

Student protesters from as far as the Coal River Valley in West Virginia and Minnesota waved black flags, chanted and wore goggles and bandanas to protect their faces as they walked down Fifth Avenue towards Lawrenceville.

One group organizer, who refused to give his real name and instead referred to himself as Damage, said the protesters expected and were prepared to deal with police confrontation.

“Our goal is to last as long as possible, get as close to the convention center as possible and when we get arrested cause as much trouble in jail as possible,” said Damage.

Damage added that once arrested, the protesters were told not to give their names and they planned to employ tactics like hunger strikes in prison.
The protesters represented and were marching against a wide variety of causes, such as neo-liberalism, globalization, free-trade markets and an end to coal mining.

As the protesters lined up to begin their march and one leader with a megaphone looked for someone to play the drum, another protester, who refused to give her name, admitted that she was apprehensive about the situation.

“I’m afraid. Really afraid. I’ve never been afraid to go to a protest before, but there are so many cops here,” she said.