civil liberties groups :" police overreacted in pittsburgh"

Discussion in 'Freedom and Liberty' started by Tango3, Sep 25, 2009.


  1. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

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    AP <!-- google_ad_section_start(name=article) --> Civil liberties groups: Police overreacted at G-20
    By MICHAEL RUBINKAM (AP) – 33 minutes ago
    PITTSBURGH — Police used all the nonlethal tools at their disposal to thwart protesters at the Group of 20 summit this week, firing bean bags, hurling canisters of smoke and pepper spray, using flash-bang grenades and batons and deploying a high-tech sound-blasting device meant to push back crowds.
    It was all a bit much for civil liberties groups and protesters.
    They decried what they called a heavy-handed and unwarranted police response, saying riot officers focused on largely peaceful, if unsanctioned, demonstrations when they should have been paying more attention to small groups of vandals that smashed windows of city businesses.
    "It's not just intimidation, it's disruption and in some cases outright prevention of peaceful protesters being able to get their message out," said Witold "Vic" Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. "In a week when we need freedom of speech more than ever, free speech died in Pittsburgh this week."
    He added that "the deployment of police seems to be more geared toward suppressing lawful demonstrations than actually preventing crime."


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