Protesters flock back to military recruiting station on Forbes Ave.

Members of a local progressive organization gathered outside Oakland’s Army recruiting station… Members of a local progressive organization gathered outside Oakland’s Army recruiting station Saturday to protest the arrests, detentions and injuries that followed a similar rally in front of the recruiting station a week ago.

David Meieran – a member of the Pittsburgh Organizing Group, which planned the event – said the decision to hold Saturday’s protest came soon after the police used what he described as unprecedented violence against certain protesters, who picketed at the military recruiting station on Forbes Avenue last week.

The Post-Gazette reported on Tuesday that during the protest “a woman was shot with a Taser stun gun and another was bitten by a police dog.”

“We weren’t going to let the police scare us,” Meieran said.

Sgt. Bart Stack, of the Pitt Police, said Saturday’s protest ended without incident. Stack added that Pitt Police were not involved in the incidents that followed last week’s protest.

The media relations department of the Pittsburgh Police Department was not available during the weekend.

Nearly 100 people gathered near the corner of Atwood Street and Forbes Avenue from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, passing out fliers and brochures and holding up signs that read, “Drop Tuition, Not Bombs” and “Bomb Texas. They Have Oil.”

Some protesters wore pink bandanas over their faces and others wore T-shirts protesting the war. Many people driving past the demonstration honked their approval, and some even leaned out their windows to high-five the protestors.

“Guess the cameras scared away the Tasers today,” one protester said.

Nathan Shaffer, a Pittsburgh Organizing Group member who plans on graduating from Pitt in December, said that they demonstrated for two reasons: to show that the police could not scare them away and to promote an anti-war message.

Shaffer said he strongly opposes the war in Iraq and feels that it could lead to an “economic draft,” in which people with fewer economic resources would be targeted for service.

Other members of the group had personal reasons for wanting to stop military recruitment.

Elliot Shields, the son of City Councilman Doug Shields, said he has friends in the Marines and doesn’t want to see them leave for Iraq. He said he attended the protest to show support for peace and to speak out against violence.

“I have plenty of respect for the soldiers,” Shields said. “Just not the people leading them.”

The Army recruiting center was unavailable for comment.

Assistant News Editor Andy Medici contributed to this report.