Getting ‘kettled’: What can Pittsburgh learn from the London G-20?

LONDON — A quick search on YouTube for “G-20 Protests London” turns up hundreds of videos… LONDON — A quick search on YouTube for “G-20 Protests London” turns up hundreds of videos of the riots that ensued when world leaders gathered here in April.

Many of the videos show protesters throwing objects at police and how the police subsequently “kettled” — or contained — the protesters for hours, preventing them from leaving the areas.

The most disturbing video shows a police officer assaulting Ian Tomlinson, who was apparently diverted on his way home from work when he wound up being kettled. As Tomlinson walked away from the officer with his hands in his pockets, the officer struck his leg with a baton and shoved him to the ground.

Tomlinson collapsed and died moments later.

Why did all of this happen, and what can Pittsburgh police and residents learn from the chaos of the London G-20 Summit?

James Lloyd, a member of the legal team for Climate Camp, a group that protested in London, said police need to balance their duty to protect the world’s leaders with the protesters’ right to be heard.

“The test of a democratic society is how [world leaders] deal with dissent,” Lloyd said.

He believes a crucial characteristic of democracy is the right of citizens to disagree and be heard.

Both city and Pitt police told The Pitt News they will allow people to protest as long as they refrain from acts of outright civil disruption, such as threatening someone else’s safety or property.

Pitt police Chief Tim Delaney said in an e-mail that he met with officers from both Scotland Yard, London’s police headquarters, and Washington, D.C. Both locations have hosted the G-20. Delaney said he couldn’t comment of the specifics of their discussions but that he “took some positive points from their experience.”

Lloyd saw how police dealt with the protesters in London and said, “The idea that protesters incited a riot is utterly ridiculous.”

Shortly after Tomlinson’s death, the Metropolitan Police released a statement saying that protesters were throwing objects at officers as they surrounded and tried to revive Tomlinson. But when the video footage was released, Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson changed his tone.

“The images that have now been released raise obvious concerns,” Stephenson said in a statement. “And it is absolutely right and proper that there is a full investigation into this matter, which the Met will fully support.”

The officer seen shoving Tomlinson in the video was not wearing his shoulder number, which Met officers must wear at all times, and he covered his face. After his supervisors learned his identity, they immediately suspended him. The officer’s identity has yet to be revealed, and a criminal investigation is ongoing.

About a mile down the road from the Bank of England, where Tomlinson died, Climate Camp held a demonstration. Lloyd attended as an official legal adviser and described Climate Camp as more of a festival than a protest. The groups’ members held workshops and gave speeches about climate change.

In London, protesters do not need to obtain permits. Organizers need only to inform police of their actions beforehand. Climate Camp followed this procedure.

“The only thing Climate Camp did wrong was obstruct a highway,” Lloyd said.

But the police contained everyone in the area for hours without letting anyone leave to get food or go the bathroom, according to Lloyd, who was there with some members of Parliament, also known as MPs.

“We were given reassurance that members of the media and MPs would be able to move freely,” he said.

Lloyd and MP Tom Brake were among several officials to be contained by police in the area for five hours.

The protest turned violent when police tried to clear the area.

“I was there in the crowd as an observer, and it was one of the scariest experiences of my life, with a large and often violent crowd surging backward and forward within the police cordon in response to police charges,” Brake told CNN.

“I saw police smashing people with their shields against their heads and using the sides of their shields to bash down on people’s arms,” Lloyd said. “These were people who had their arms up in the air in front of their face to protect themselves.”

“People were sitting on the floor saying ‘This is not a riot,’ and the police were actually stamping on them,” he said.

London-based Imperial College student Maria Rathbun said she believes that the police were the ones acting foolishly, not the protesters.

“The opinion around here seems to be that it was the police who provoked the protesters, not the other way around, which is what a lot of people feared going into the G-20,” Rathbun said. Rathbun, a global studies major, had intended to go to the protests outside an RBS bank, but officers wouldn’t let her near the area.

“I was not allowed through the police line, and they weren’t letting anybody out — even people with medical needs,” she said.

Lloyd said that months before the summit occurred, police used their resources to set a negative public mood toward the protesters, citing a February article that ran in The Guardian — a British daily newspaper — where police warned the public of a “summer of rage” because of the economic downturn.

Superintendent David Hartshorn, who heads the Metropolitan Police’s public order branch, told The Guardian, “We’ve got G-20 coming, and I think that is being advertised on some of the [activist’s] sites as the highlight of what they see as a ‘summer of rage.’”

He said that the rise in unemployment would lead to more angry and violent protests. And on April 1 in London, that is exactly what happened.

Lloyd believes the attitude toward the protesters was partly to blame, as the police used briefings to convince people that the protesters were simply out to cause harm.

“Police were running meetings with companies for how to protect themselves against the protesters,” he said.

Is this happening in Pittsburgh?

City and Pitt police officers held a roundtable discussion with business owners, property owners and University officials in Oakland on Tuesday. According to the Post-Gazette, the officials told attendees that while the Summit might be Downtown, protesters might try to cause disruptions in Oakland to draw officers there. Officers then listed some of the potential targets, such as Starbucks, McDonald’s or the Gap.

The police might be trying to protect these businesses, but Lloyd believes there is an underlying motive to craft a negative public opinion toward any activists.

He advised Pittsburgh police that if they act reasonably, the protesters will do the same.

“It has been proven time and time again that there aren’t just a few ‘bad eggs,’ it is the police who are inciting the issues,” he said, citing the fact that Climate Camp held another demonstration in London that police did not monitor, and the protests were entirely peaceful.

There is an important difference between Pittsburgh and London, though. London is so large that the areas disrupted by the Summit and protests constituted a very small percentage of the city. Nearly all of Downtown Pittsburgh will be closed to traffic, and many schools are also closing.

Lloyd questioned the authority of the G-20 to disrupt daily life.

“These people are self-appointed. It’s not the UN,” he said. “Where do they get the authority to disrupt your liberty and livelihood?”

He suggested that the next summit meeting should be held in a field in Colorado.

While the G-20 Summit might be a disruption and a burden, it is also an opportunity. Lloyd believes there is a lot to be learned from these groups, and he wants the people of Pittsburgh to realize that those protesting aren’t all extreme anarchy groups.

“Read between the lines. Learn about the issues, and engage with the protesters,” he said. “There is a lot to learn from opening your mind.”