PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Blockade at National Robotics Engineering Center right now!
by anonymous Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 12:00 PM

There is currently a blockade at the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC), a branch of Carnegie Mellon University that develops robotic vehicles and weapons delivery systems for the U.S. Army and Marines. This blockade is happening as a part of the Pittsburgh Organizing Group's Barricade the War Machine call to action; for more information, please see http://organizepittsburgh.org/m2/ .

Both gates to the facility (NREC) are blocked, as of 615 AM this morning.

At the rear gate, roughly 16 individuals are blocking the entrance with the help of "lock boxes", sometimes referred to as sleeping dragons, which connect the individuals to one another, and make it very difficult for them to be moved. Roughly 20 police officers are present, both from Carnegie Mellon University Police Department, and the Pittsburgh Police Department. People in the lock boxes have been informed by the police, as of 645 AM, that the police have been training in disabling "lock boxes", and that at present, Pittsburgh Police are en route to remove the devices, without force, and place the individuals under arrest. The police have also said that force will be used if the individuals do not cooperate.

At the front gate, 6 individuals are blocking the gate, and one individual is sitting atop a tripod above the gate, making the front gate currently impassable.

The road leading to the main (front) gate of NREC also provides access to a quarry nearby. As such, a bulldozer is clearing an alternate path for employees of the quarry to bypass the blockade. Because the road is shared for ingress by both NREC and the quarry, the cleared path will also allow an alternate route for cars of employees of NREC.
More updates will follow

organizepittsburgh.org/m2/