PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Commuters were greeted by a spate of banner drops today in various Downtown and South Side locations. Today marks the day that the U.S. had originally designated for "handing over sovereignty" to the Iraqis, but as it turned out they did so on Monday. Of course, tens of thousands of troops continue to occupy the country. The pictured banner could be seen on the parkway westbound.

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Six Greenpeace activists climbed a 700 smoke stack of the Hatfield’s ferry power plant on Wednesday to protest the Bush administrations policy towards clean air. Hatfield is a coal fired power plant located 50 miles south of Pittsburgh on the Greene/Fayette county line and is owned by Allegheny Power.

The activists scaled the smoke stack early Wednesday morning. Around 1pm they unveiled a 122 foot long banner with a skull and cross bones wearing a cowboy hat and saying "WARNING The Bush Energy Plan Kills CLEAN ENERGY NOW." The activists remained there till 9:30pm when they began to climb down. They were arrested when they reached the bottom and were arraigned early Thursday morning. They face 7 charges which include burglary, criminal trespassing and rioting. The FBI is also investigating if they broke any federal homeland security laws.

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As leaders of world's richest nations gather in opulent Sea Island, Ga., nearby Brunswick is under military occupation. The Governor has declared a state of emergency; thousands of police, federal law enforcement and national guard have swarmed the region, outnumbering activists by a factor of ten. Ongoing surveillance and harassment of anyone suspected to be a protester, a community organizer, or even a sympathetic resident has exacted a heavy toll. Despite these pressures, about 200 turned out for a United for Peace and Justice anti-war march yesterday morning; several hundred visitors attended the Fair World Fair and the "Other" Economic Summit; another 70 or so travelled to St. Simons (accompanied by armored vehicles) Island for a vigil. A march in Savannah--60 miles away from the Sea Island resort--had more military and police than it did protesters.

Meanwhile, on the Pacific Coast, activists have organized a counter-convergence called Reclaim the Commons in solidarity with the Georgia G8 protests as well as against the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) convention. Yesterday morning, several hundred activists poured into San Francisco's streets to protest the BIO meeting. They were greeted by a large and heavily armed police presence and 32 arrests were made. Later in the day, at a Reclaim the Streets G8 solidarity march, 200 protesters were surrounded by 300 cops; within a few hours, the police arrested at least 131 peaceful protestors.

More protests are planned in Brunswick, Savannah, and San Francisco for the remaining two days of the Summit and the BIO convention.

[ Atlanta IMC | No G8 | Bay Area IMC | Biotech IMC | Reclaim the Commons ]
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On a Saturday around noon, about thirty protesters gathered in East Liberty to protest the abuse and torture of prisoners in Iraq. Organized by the Thomas Merton Center's Anti-War Committee, some protesters re-enacted the infamous photos of Abu Ghraib prison abuse. The event was scheduled to occur before the weekly peace vigil in East Liberty held by Pittsburgh's chapter of a group called Black Voices for Peace.

The demonstration was similar to a recent action in Boston which resulted in felony charges against the protester.

Members of Pittsburgh Indymedia's Radio Collective went to Downtown Pittsburgh to interview people on their response to the images of torture at Abu Ghraib, and how they felt the response has been. A wide range of opinions were represented.

[ Demonstration against Iraqi Torture | Street Interviews on Abu Ghraib Torture]

Ghost bikes, bright white bicycles with placards declaring "cyclist struck here," are appearing around Pittsburgh as roadside memorials to cyclists struck by motor vehicles.

The people behind this project call themselves Ghost Bike Pittsburgh. GBP is a group of concerned bicycle commuters who have seen lives destroyed by the lack of concern by city government and automobile drivers in general. They see Pittsburgh as a city with an uninviting transportation infrastructure, a government reluctant to accommodate their needs, and a set of laws that leans toward the rights of motorists and ignores unprotected bicyclists.

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