page_title: 2009 G20 Pittsburgh summit
section_title: Protests
hierarchical_section_title: 2009 G20 Pittsburgh summit / Protests
caption_attribution_description: English: The Peoples' March, held during the 2009 G 20 Summit in Pittsburgh, begins its journey toward East Allegheny, after a series of speakers lectured in front of the City-County Building.
context_page_description: The 2009 G20 Pittsburgh Summit was the third meeting of the G20 heads of state/heads of government to discuss financial markets and the world economy.
  The G20 is the premier forum for discussing, planning and monitoring international economic
  cooperation.
  The summit was held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States on September 24–25, 2009. Announced shortly after the April 2009 G20 London summit, U.S. President Barack Obama volunteered to host this summit, initially planning to hold it in New York City and coordinating it with the opening of the United Nations General Assembly. However, due to coordination issues, on May 28, 2009, the Obama Administration announced a change of venue to Pittsburgh in order to highlight the city's economic recovery following the collapse of its manufacturing sector in the latter half of the 20th century. In response to the Global credit crisis, a G20 summit in one year was proposed shortly after the London summit in April 2009.
  Amongst the issues discussed was a proposal to radically reform the International Monetary Fund.
context_section_description: After numerous denials of permits for groups such as Code Pink and Three Rivers Climate Convergence to assemble peaceful demonstrations, the ACLU of Pennsylvania successfully sued to force the city of Pittsburgh to allow demonstrations around the G20 Summit.
  Participants in the protests surrounding the summit included peace, environmental, labor and social justice organizations.
  The first of the alternate events was a Peoples' Summit, involving an all-day session of speakers, panels and workshops on September 19, the Saturday before the G20 Summit, drawing about 500 participants, and continuing on Monday and Tuesday evenings, each drawing between 100 and 200. The Peoples' Summit included outright opponents of the G20 (such as radical historian Howard Zinn, who addressed the gathering via special video) as well as some who hoped to influence it in what they considered to be "progressive" directions. The Pittsburgh City Council proclaimed "that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby commend the Peoples’ Summit, all associated institutions and organizations, and the citizen volunteers who worked tirelessly to make it a success. Their outstanding efforts are certain to create a greater understanding about the challenges we face, the solutions we should explore and the social dialogue that is necessary for the realization of a better world. Furthermore, the citizens of our region are encouraged to seize the opportunity to participate in this significant and historic event." The Peoples’ Summit itself advanced some of the themes that surfaced in protests when the G20 Summit actually met: "We envision a world in which basic rights—freedom of expression, freedom of thought and religion, freedom from fear, and freedom from want—are enjoyed by all people. This is not the reality of our world today. Yet, in our diversity and plurality of orientations, inspired by mutual respect and the spirit of solidarity, we share the conviction that another world is possible."
  This was followed by a number of tent cities, demonstrations and other summits. There was also an alternative conference on Tuesday called the Freedom Conference 2009, stressing conservative grassroots solutions and free-market approaches.
  At around 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, September 23, Greenpeace activists hung a banner, warning of the dangers of increased CO2 emissions, from the deck of the West End Bridge facing downtown Pittsburgh over the Ohio River. While traffic was held up for a period, all eight activists were placed under arrest after surrendering peacefully.
  On Thursday, September 24, the Pittsburgh G20 Resistance Project held a march and a day of direct action at Arsenal Park in the city's Lawrenceville neighborhood. Police fired pepper spray at a crowd of an estimated 500 demonstrators to disperse a protest march a few hours before the start of the Summit.
  Police also used a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) to remove protesters from an area after warning them several times to disperse.  This was believed by city officials to be the first time that an LRAD had been used to disperse protesters within the United States.  Since then, LRADs have been used to peacefully disperse crowds on several occasions.
  Later in the evening, another small crowd gathered in Schenley Plaza, as world leaders met that evening at the Phipps Conservatory nearby for a working dinner. Hundreds of police swarmed and encircled the peaceful crowd, which spilled over onto Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard near the Cathedral of Learning. An estimated 300 riot police lined the sidewalk behind the William Pitt Union, with 200 more officers blocking Forbes Avenue nearby to contain the protesters. However, the crowd quickly grew to about 500 as nearby University of Pittsburgh students—evident by shouts of "Let's Go Pitt!" heard—curious about the sirens and police presence, joined the crowd. Police shot several rounds of pepper spray into the crowd. Nearby businesses along Forbes Avenue and Craig Street were also vandalized after the police attempted to break up the demonstration. 
caption: The Peoples' March begins its journey toward East Allegheny, after a series of speakers lectured in front of the City-County Building.
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