The American Civil Liberties Union is offering to help University of Pittsburgh students who were arrested during the Group of 20 economic summit in Pittsburgh—some of whom say they weren't even protesting. ACLU attorneys made the offer at a rally Oct. 1 attended by some 150. They say police conducted unlawful mass arrests and used excessive force.
Among those arrested was Emily Rowe, an 18-year-old freshman from Duncannon, a small town about 150 miles east of Pittsburgh. She says she wasn't protesting but went outside to see what was going on and got trapped by police. She says she was hit in the head with a tear gas canister and needed to get four staples to treat her injury.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has praised police, saying they prevented serious injuries and minimized property damage. (AP [2], Oct. 1)
We heard similar stories at the last G-20 [3] and G-8 [4] meetings, and at last year's RNC in Minneapolis [5].
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