March 20 anti-war protests planned for Oakland

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Gary Rotstein
March 11, 2004

Activists who continue to oppose the U.S.-led war against Iraq are planning to hold protest demonstrations March 20 in Oakland, some of them with careful pre-planning with police and others that lack government sanction.

The Thomas Merton Center and numerous other groups have joined to obtain city permits for a 1 p.m. rally that Saturday at Schenley Park's Flagstaff Hill, followed by a march on closed streets to the William Pitt Union for more speeches and discussion. Protest organizers have told police to expect about 1,000 participants, Tim Vining, executive director of the Merton center, said yesterday.

At 3 p.m., members of the Pittsburgh Organizing Group plan to split off from the official protest and march without a permit to Carnegie Mellon University for a "sit-in" at a building not yet identified, said Marie Skoczylas, a spokeswoman for the group. She said the demonstrators intend to stay until they receive a meeting with Carnegie Mellon administrators to discuss the university's military-related research for the U.S. Defense Department.

Carnegie Mellon spokeswoman Chriss Swaney said university officials were unavailable to comment on the group's plans or demand. Campus police will be cooperating closely with city police to handle March 20 events, she said.

Pittsburgh Police Chief Robert W. McNeilly Jr. said yesterday that his department has been coordinating with other law enforcement agencies to plan for the protest and ensure public safety.

McNeilly said he imagined some arrests will take place. Although a vast majority of the protesters are expected to be law-abiding citizens, McNeilly said he anticipates an element that will be disruptive.

"We take it very seriously because these are the same people that protested here on previous occasions, and there have been arrests and incidents of criminal mischief," he said.

During past demonstrations in the city, Pittsburgh police officers have provided a fair amount of latitude to protesters before making arrests. Officers will again make efforts to be accommodating, but within reason, McNeilly said.

"We understand and we respect and we will try to do whatever we can to ensure they have their opportunity to be heard, but we still have to be responsible for public safety, traffic flow and other people's rights," he said.

The Pittsburgh protests are part of anti-war demonstrations planned for the same day throughout the nation and in cities worldwide to mark the March 19 anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Local organizers said more than 50 groups in the region have endorsed the anniversary events, which also include a memorial commemoration at noon next Friday in Market Square, Downtown.

Certain protests last year led to confrontations between police and demonstrators and arrests of participants, while other events were marked by a high level of cooperation between authorities and activist leaders. The March 20 march and rally is intended to be the latter, Vining said.

"Our goal is to get our message out to the American people -- not to be disruptive," Vining said. "We support any activities that are nonviolent."