community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
Blockade at National Robotics Engineering Center right now!
by anonymous
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 7:00 AM
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
Update 8:00 AM
by anonymous
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 8:15 AM
Update 8:00 AM
As of 8:00 AM, the blockade at the National Robotics Engineering Center, a branch of Carnegie Mellon University that develops robotic vehicles and weapons delivery systems for the U.S. Army and Marines, is still ongoing.
Those individuals "locked down", preventing entrance to the facility, were given orders to disperse by the police, which was videotaped by the police. The 'blockaders' were subsequently told that they were under arrest (allegedly for not leaving after being given orders to disperse).
The fire department is now on the scene as well. Those "locked down" have been encircled by riot police. The police are currently moving in with a saw and a hose, and have started to try to dismantle the lock boxes, with the aid of the saw.
A march of demonstrators in support of those locked down has also arrived. The police have tried to separate the demonstrators from the group that is locked down, but have yet to have much success in doing so.
Approximately 30 to 40 people remain in the area. About half of the crowd is reported to be demonstrators, with the other half comprised of media and observers.
The bulldozer that was clearing a path for the concrete company (which shares use of the road that leads to NREC with NREC) has finished. The path is being used by the concrete company for its trucks, but as yet no one has entered the National Robotics Engineering Center, according to observers.
any more info?
by concerned
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 10:33 AM
does anyone have a more recent update on what is happening? i hope everyone is ok.
Update 10:20 AM
by anonymous
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 10:35 AM
Update #2: 10:20 AM
As of 10:20 AM, all 16 protestors previously locked down at the rear gate of the NREC facility have been removed from the 'lock boxes' by law enforcement, and taken into police custody.
Those blocking the front gate still remain, including the demonstrator perched atop a tripod about 15 feet above the ground.
For more info and updates, please see: http://organizepittsburgh.org/m2/
media coverage
by anon
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 11:03 AM
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/11153286/detail.html
War Protesters Lie Down In Street, Block CMU Facility
PITTSBURGH -- Dozens of students and anti-war activists are trying to temporarily shut down a Lawrenceville facility developing robotic vehicles for the U.S. Army.
The nonviolent demonstration is taking place at Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center.
There is a large Pittsburgh police presence already, and 43rd Street is closed between Willow and Railroad streets.
Click here to find out more!
Protesters are physically blocking the entrances to the facility. Some are laying down in the street.
Pittsburgh Organizing Group is the main organizer of the event. The group often arranges protests outside the Army recruiting station on Forbes Avenue in Oakland.
According to a news release, the group claims that CMU has become one of the largest academic military contractors in the country, with computer science and robotics funding from the Department of Defense.
tripod?
by i jut don't know
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 11:12 AM
what exactly is a tripod?
more media coverage
by anon
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 11:20 AM
http://www.wpxi.com/news/11153465/detail.html#
A protest is under way on a Pittsburgh street.
Chopper 11 was over the scene Friday morning at a Carnegie Mellon University facility in Lawrenceville.
Anti-war activists are lying on the ground with their arms bound together at the National Robotics Engineering Center.
It is a research center funded by the Pentagon.
WPXI will follow this story and have more for you on Channel 11 News at noon.
11 AM UPDATE: Channel 11's Andy Briggs says the police left with the 14 people they cut free. Five protesters remain chained to another gate.
10 AM UPDATE: Channel 11 reporter Andy Briggs says police have arrested approximately 10 protesters and the protesters are being dragged by police into police vehicles. People there are cheering the arrests and we’ll have the latest on Channel 11 News at noon.
http://www.whptv.com/news/state/story.aspx?content_id=4b3e84bd-7545-48aa-bbd6-a52e6e677b34
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Dozens of anti-war protester are lying on the ground with their arms bound together at the Carnegie Mellon University National Robotics Engineering Center.
The activists, from various Pittsburgh area groups, oppose the work at the center, which includes the development of vehicles and other devices used by the United States military.
The group says they plan to target others involved in the U-S "war machine."
tripod
by anon
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 11:22 AM
three or more large poles arranged in a teepee shape, with a human being suspended at the top (generally fairly high up). tripods are designed so that any attempt to remove the individual will result in the collapse of the structure, possibly injuring or killing said brave activist.
Update 11:30 AM
by anonymous
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 11:39 AM
Update #3: 11:30 AM
It has been announced that Carnegie Mellon University has closed the National Robotics Engineering Facility (NREC) for the day!
NREC is a branch of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) that develops robotic vehicles and weapons delivery systems for the U.S. Army and Marines.
Those blockading the front gate have hence released themselves from the gate, and the individual previously atop the tripod has safely come down.
The individuals previously taken into police custody at the rear gate remain in police custody.
Nearly all of the police previously on the scene have left, and demonstrators have begun to leave as well.
This action was part of the Pittsburgh Organizing Group's efforts to "Barricade the War Machine." For more information and background on that effort, please see: http://organizepittsburgh.org/m2/ .
just plain awesome
by Violet F. Green
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 12:22 PM
As I read this from far away i want to say thank you to everyone who participated in this action today, because you made my day. pog and everyone else who was there, you kick ass. way to shut it down!!!!!!!
awesome
by anon
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 2:24 PM
Great job, POG! We love you.
Great Job Today...not over
by Erik
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 2:47 PM
badluck7@gmail.com
032_019.jpg, image/jpeg, 1544x1024
Today was a great event and a great success in shutting down the NREC, but everyone remember we have 14 of our comrades in police custody. See everyone at the jail tonight at 6 for solidarity, right?
Public Safety
by A. Nonymous
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 3:25 PM
Good thing the firefighters and police officers could spend all morning un-lockboxing everyone instead of... oh, I don't know... fighting fires and catching bad guys?
Come on -- making a statement is one thing, but why put the safety of your fellow residents at risk for a quick blurb on the evening news?
Right !
by 6PM
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 3:33 PM
see ya'll there
re. public safety
by .
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 4:01 PM
we didn't make the police come... and there was a crazy amount of police there. pog and the supporters have nothing to do with how many police show up or how they deal with the situation.
Go on wit your disillusioned self!
by C.
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 6:12 PM
You're right.
You didn't make the police come by laying in the road and blocking off a federal-or-state-sponsored-whatever building. It maybe that there was a black person nearby, and the police and the system hate that. So THAT's why the cops came. It had nothing at all to do with pog doing things the authorities typically frown upon. Nada. Nilch. Can't control that can we?
Why does it have to be this way? Just admit it. You needed the cops to come with the media in tow. The tactic only works if someone knows about it.
For god's sake, stop playing the hurt and stung child everytime you wave a bat at a hornets nest! Alot more people, including myself, would support you.
Jail Support
by Patrick
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 8:59 PM
I just got a call from the people at the court house. Out of town people are being let go on $100 bail, folks with in state addresses get to go free.
Come to ACJ to meet folks as they get out!
times like these...
by call for this photo
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 9:27 PM
hellz yeah.
by some dumb kid
Friday, Mar. 02, 2007 at 10:46 PM
best sign ever
solid
by elbow
Saturday, Mar. 03, 2007 at 12:37 AM
what an amazingly creative display out there. the tripods were quite a touch. my hats off to all involved for an all around successful effort to shut down and shed light on this lesser known project of cmu's robotics institute....funded by our tax dollars to breed the future of war. hmm.
solid work.
march is going to be a busy month...hope everyone is ready for the ride!
C, the delivery boy
by I said extra ranch
Saturday, Mar. 03, 2007 at 8:20 AM
Who played the hurt and stung child? I don't hear any of the folks involved complaining in any in any way. They tend to be elated at this point.
I guess you've suffered a head injury, since you started posting on this site, because you comments keep getting stupider.
POG notified the media (and by extension, the police) well in advance, a tactic I disagreed with, but I have to admit it made the action a success. The local news loops are playing footage of the action every half-hour, and Pittsburghers who were unaware of the the purpose of NREC now know what goes on there.
Did the police need the SWAT team, the bomb squad? Obviously not, but they like to play with their toys as much as anyone. I don't chain myself to to nothing for nobody (unless there's a hurricane) so I don't know how they treated the arrestees, but the police behavior on the scene appeared to be pretty mellow for people who work as paid-terrorists.
The rescue EMS folks were actually grateful for the training exercise, and since it was announced in advance, they were able to get public safety personnel to work overtime to participate.
Wacky Jackie
by I said extra ranch
Saturday, Mar. 03, 2007 at 10:48 AM
Let me start by saying that the police behaved in remarkably professional manner yesterday. Days like that make it alot easier to see them as working class people (although with a license to kill), with horrible bosses.
More often than not not, police overreaction and the occasional breakdown in command structure is the source the cause of disturbances. If you ignore us, we'll tend to go away, but arbitrary displays of force tend to invoke reaction, we're all just fucking mammals. What do you expect?
No, most, if not all of the people who participated in these actions realize the the officers (from the word "overseer"-the first paid cops were slave patrols in Barbados)don't exit to to foil their nefarious plans, or whatever assumption you stated.
All of the individuals involved also recognize that they choose to be in situations involving law enforcement and that the bigger problem is that many people can't walk down the street without risking violence and intimidation from the police.
I'm lazy, so here's some copied dictionary stuff-
Some people would say these definitions would just be considered good police work, as far as North American protests are concerned:
ter·ror·ism–[ter-uh-riz-uhm]
-noun
1. the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.
2. the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.
3. a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.
"blatant disrespect for the businesses you blocked"
by a clue
Saturday, Mar. 03, 2007 at 11:18 AM
"blatant disrespect for the businesses you blocked"
yeah, right. go down to 43rd street and the river and try to find some businesses.
if you read the newspaper articles on this event you'll see that CMU didn't even want the cops to remove the protestors, which is why the protestors who were locked down on CMU property were not arrested. the only arrests happened on city "property", right next to the CMU facility and not near anything else. (but sure, keep repeating the old cry of "poor businesses" or keep trying to find some other fictional "victim" of the protest)
so, apparently the only thing this blockade disrespected was some police commander's ego, because nobody else even wanted the lockdown to be moved.
good job...
by x412x
Saturday, Mar. 03, 2007 at 12:13 PM
sorry, i couldn't be there. i'm proud as hell of you guys. good job.
Get a job, jokers
by capitolman
Saturday, Mar. 03, 2007 at 12:42 PM
The robotics institute is doing a lot of good things to reduce casualties in war. If CMU and all universities agreed to end defense-sponsored research, more honorable men and women would die for a hopeless cause.
War will never end but we can employ methods to minimize the impact on the lives of the loyal soldier and the innocent citizen. That's why CMU's research is so important. It's realistic.
Now, given the unqualified success of this carnival show why don't the trapeze artists and professional protestors "blockade" Bethesda Naval Base? Give me a break. <a href="http://www.darnnews.com>capitolman
Real World
by Husker Du
Saturday, Mar. 03, 2007 at 2:18 PM
Real World
People talk about anarchy
And taking up a fight
Well I'm afraid of things like that
I lock my doors at night
I don't rape, and I don't pillage
Other peoples' lives
I don't practice what you preach
And I won't see through your eyes
You want to change the world
By breaking rules and laws
People don't do things like that
In the real world at all
You're not a cop, or a politician
You're a person too
You can sing any song you want
But you're still the same
I can't think of anything
That makes me more upset
People talk all this rhetoric
Forgive but not forget
I don't rape, and I don't pillage
Other peoples' lives
I don't practice what you preach
And I won't see through your eyes
re: re: wacky jackie
by Dr. Anarchist
Saturday, Mar. 03, 2007 at 5:36 PM
Lots of law abiding citizens get shit from the cops all the time. Their skin is usually darker than a paper bag.
Jackie
by peppy
Saturday, Mar. 03, 2007 at 6:08 PM
you are so white....
Jackie
by sara
Saturday, Mar. 03, 2007 at 6:24 PM
Studying things does not asure anybody that they undersand things at all. Many people and kids study for chemistry tests and math tests and it does not mean they understand shit. Studying and research my help you geting facts about things and information but it doesnt mean you understand what ever it is you're studying. What is the good of reading and studying if you dont leave the studying space or the library?
ANd, what would I do if my bike got stolen??? I'll tell you what I did when my bike got stolen....not call the cops, but instead I looked for it myself, I told my friends and the people who cared about me and who care about bikes....that's what I did.
try and study white privilige and see if you understand it, maybe it will be in your dictionary too...
On my own comment
by sara
Saturday, Mar. 03, 2007 at 6:27 PM
I spelled privilege wrong. My apologies to anyone who might be offended by my missuse of your english language.
Ms.
by Rent-a-cops rock!
Saturday, Mar. 03, 2007 at 6:49 PM
As a cop wannabee, who has recently graduated from Pitt, and who has the advantage of being a white female, you have a very different view of the nature of law enforcement, than those of us who don't share your background.
"Law" is just a code word for "violence which benefits the already rich and powerful". The example you give is to advocate violence (an arrest is an act of violence) towards non-violent drug offenders, and the imagainary rock that hit the imaginary building. Is flesh and blood less sacred than the fumes of a dried plant or a building made of rock, being hit by a rock. You're a scary person, if that's really how you feel.
Law enforcement is selective. City cops are very unlikely to stop someone who is smoking a joint, walking down the street, whereas the suburban cop would probably react differently. Same goes for open air drug dealing. City cops profit from the street drug trade, suburban cops, not so much. Until they moved the Zone 1 police station in North Side from Federal Street to Brighton Road, crack cocaine and heroin were openly sold directly across the street from the police station. This is no exaggeration. Since they relocated to Brighton Road, you have to walk back one block.
When police use force against political activities, but ignore, say sports riots, that's terrorism. They are using violence against people who disagree with the current system, and then ignoring people who are genuinely destroying property and blocking access to business. Don't get me wrong, I waited 26 years for the Steeler riots, but I know I accomplished more property damage, with no police interference than I ever had at a protest.
Since you claim to be some kind of terrorism expert, you may want to study a little law enforcement history, from a different perspective.
Check out
Our Enemies in Blue-Police and Power in America by Kristian Williams
http://www.softskull.com/detailedbook.php?isbn=1-932360-43-3
ÿØÿà
Nice job, POG
by marat
Sunday, Mar. 04, 2007 at 4:43 PM
Congrats to the POG for a innovative and effective action which gives a badly needed boost to antiwar activists everywhere who are ready to notch it up a bit. An example for local activists who live near the corporate headquarters of Halliburton, Boeing and other war profiteers raking it in from the blood and carnage in Iraq.
POG GETS SLAMMERED
by soy latte
Sunday, Mar. 04, 2007 at 10:14 PM
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