Criticism from the right

From Timothy McNulty

Not all the criticism of the Pittsburgh Police is coming from the left -- here's a post yesterday by Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit:

POLICE VIOLENCE AT THE G20: A law school classmate of mine, Curt Vaszquez, emails:

I just wanted to say that my daughter Martha, a 19 year old sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh, on Thursday night was rousted by police from the school library where she was studying, ordered to leave her belongings behind and herded into the street where she was tear-gassed, sound cannoned and hit by a plexiglass shield for exercising her right to be a young person outdoors on her campus on a pleasant fall night. I suppose I should be grateful because other kids were roughed up much worse by the police that night. This is just one aspect of the G20 that will never receive the attention it deserves. You have no idea how bad it was here.

Also, you might be interested in the linked article in which Pitt's police chief pats himselfs on the back for his handling of the situation and cynically refers to the victims as "innocents" who chose to put themselves in harm's way. Note the Chief's presumption that the police have the right to break up any assembly. Very disturbing.

I regard the G20 protests as idiotic, but that doesn't excuse police overreaction. Violent protesters deserve to be arrested, but the reaction here does seem to have been excessive.

Reynolds also links to this post at Below the Beltway.

Posted Sep 28 2009, 12:52 PM by Timothy McNulty

Comments

The Big Story wrote More local takes
on Mon, Sep 28 2009 1:44 PM

Here are some local takes on G-20 goings-on: Infionymous writes about the library incident we noted earlier

Twitter Trackbacks for Criticism from the right - The Big Story - post-gazette.com [post-gazette.com] on Topsy.com wrote Twitter Trackbacks for Criticism from the right - The Big Story - post-gazette.com [post-gazette.com] on Topsy.com
on Mon, Sep 28 2009 1:45 PM

Pingback from  Twitter Trackbacks for                 Criticism from the right - The Big Story - post-gazette.com         [post-gazette.com]        on Topsy.com

The Big Story wrote Nordenberg finally reacts to protests
on Tue, Sep 29 2009 5:14 PM

From Timothy McNulty Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg released a long statement today on the G-20 events

Student Bystanders Trapped & Pepper Sprayed By Riot Police During G20 Protests « Daily Liberty Research wrote Student Bystanders Trapped & Pepper Sprayed By Riot Police During G20 Protests « Daily Liberty Research
on Wed, Sep 30 2009 12:10 AM

Pingback from  Student Bystanders Trapped & Pepper Sprayed By Riot Police During G20 Protests « Daily Liberty Research

sdkeller wrote re: Criticism from the right
on Wed, Sep 30 2009 3:13 AM

Pitt students should organize a massive student withdraw next term unless the chief of police is fired for his actions and statements.  Let's see how long the school stays open with no money coming in the door.  The only thing these idiots understand is money, hit them where it hurts - their bottom line.  If a cop ripped my student out of a library where he or she was studying and beat and gassed them, I would sue the university until I owned it, and I would not rest until the officers that did that to my child were unemployed and homeless.

This country is hurting for exports, I say lets export our thug police force from across this country, klets turn them into a commodity.  We could get top dollar for them in China.  It would truly be a win win for all.