Monday, September 21, 2009
This just in: As previously reported, the ACLU will be appearing before federal Judge Gary Lancaster this morning. But since our previous report, there is a new cause for legal action: Members of the group Seeds of Peace were apparently detained last night for littering.
Other reports of police harassment have since come in. Landslide Community Farms says that yesterday morning, "more than 40 uniformed police officers" came to their Hill District urban-garden site in unmarked vans. According to a statement from the farm, the police did not explain their purpose, "but some officers indicated that their presence was in relation to the upcoming G-20 summit."
The officers spent several hours on the site, the statement says, and "were repeatedly told that they were on private property and asked to leave, but refused to comply with the request until tax receipts indicating ownership of the land were presented.
"At several delicate plants were trampled in the investigation but the extent of the damage is unknown."
Meanhile, as the Post-Gazette reports today, the police have interfered even with marches that had every legal right to be taking place. A march to the convention center, carried out by a religiously-affiliated organization called the G-6 Billion, was rerouted by police around the convention center. A police sergeant on the scene later admitted this was a mistake, and that he hadn't read the permit closely enough.
It's nice the officer in question manned up and admitted the mistake, but this doesn't bode well, doesn't it?
More details on the way.
Tags: Slag Heap