Remembering a protest, planning action

Three days after police surrounded Schenley Plaza to disperse what they declared an unlawful… Three days after police surrounded Schenley Plaza to disperse what they declared an unlawful assembly, students met there to voice their opinions about police actions in Oakland over the past weekend.

More than 30 people, mostly Pitt students, met in Schenley Plaza last night to discuss organizing a group to protest police action during the G-20 Summit.

The group lacked a formal agenda, but it agreed on several points.

As part of the meeting, students introduced themselves to each other and shared thoughts about the police handling of protests in Oakland last Thursday and Friday. Most of the students expressed anger at police actions.

Kevin Fischer, a Pitt senior and industrial engineering student, said that he left Schenley Plaza early on Thursday night and was hesitant to go out Friday night.

“I’m really happy no one died,” Fischer said of Thursday and Friday night.

The group allowed everyone to speak their feelings and propose ideas to those assembled.

Ryan Olander, a traveling student organizer, said, “The story that is out there is pretty far from the truth.”

Olander also commented on the number of student arrests.

“They were easy targets to pick up off of the street,” Olander said. “They’d never been through anything like this before.”

Joe Hogle, a sophomore majoring in communications and philosophy, founded a Facebook group called “Hold the Police Accountable: Oakland G20” which had more than 500 members as of Monday.

“We’re here to talk about what went on and what we can do about it,” Hogle said at the meeting.

Jessica Benner, a member of the Thomas Merton Center’s anti-war committee, encouraged the group to work closely with the American Civil Liberties Union and help to change the official narrative by sending their stories to the ACLU and the media. The ACLU and related groups also plan to provide counseling for people traumatized by the events last weekend.

They expressed a consensus that the police actions in Oakland were unjust and disappointment with the University’s actions on Thursday and Friday.

They wanted to consolidate the various groups that had evolved to protest police action over the weekend and try to work together. Olander and Pitt students Matt Schultz and Justin Wasser founded a new website, whathappenedatpitt.com, to link to all of the groups.

“There is justice to be had here,” Hogle said.

The group agreed to meet again on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. and emphasized that the meeting was open to everyone.