ON THIS DAY: September 24, 2009, President Barack Obama hosts G-20 Pittsburgh Summit

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — After plans to hold the 2009 Group of Twenty (G-20) summit in New York City fell through, the administration of President Barack Obama announced that Pittsburgh would host the gathering of world leaders. The nations represented controlled 85% of the world’s economy.

Pittsburgh was chosen partly to highlight its recovery from the collapse of manufacturing in the latter half of the 20th century, just as world economies were struggling to emerge from the 2008 global financial crisis. Reformation of the International Monetary Fund was a key agenda item at the summit.

The announcement immediately placed Pittsburgh in the spotlight of protest groups eager to repeat the vigorous demonstrations seen at the prior April summit in London. Security details of member nations as well as federal, state and local law enforcement started executing plans to control access to the summit’s venues and ensure the safety of summit delegates.

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As preparations were made throughout the city-- and particularly at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, which was the summit’s primary venue-- Pittsburghers were urged not to be alarmed by the security fences and increasingly large presence of the military. Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters circled downtown as heavily armored Humvees surrounded by soldiers blocked streets and gunboats patrolled the rivers.

The summit was classified as a “National Special Security Event” and security was coordinated through the Department of Homeland Security and the United States Secret Service. Over 4,000 officers were deployed on the streets, most of whom were from outside agencies (the Pittsburgh Police Bureau, under Chief Nate Harper, had fewer than 900 officers at that time). These contracted officers were joined by more than 1,000 state troopers in what was one of the largest deployments in the history of the Pennsylvania State Police.

Protests and an alternative event called The People’s Summit started the weekend before the summit began. Tent cities appeared downtown and demonstration marches wove through traffic as Greenpeace activists hung a large banner from the West End Bridge in the days leading up to the official start.

As world leaders began to arrive on Sept. 24, the Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project held a march through Lawrenceville. Police attempted to disperse the crowd, estimated to be over 500, by using a long range acoustic device (LRAD), in what was believed to be the first time the sound cannon was used in the U.S.

Officers in riot gear pursued hundreds of black-clad demonstrators through four city neighborhoods throughout the day, using oleoresin capsicum (OC) gas, before the crowd reconstituted and grew even larger in Oakland, near the first official event of the summit.

President Obama and his wife, Michelle, greeted leaders and their spouses for a reception at Phipps Conservatory in Oakland. Later that evening, spouses left for a separate event at Teresa Heinz’s Rosemont farm in Fox Chapel.

While the reception went on without incident, protests in Oakland began to escalate. Agitators in the crowd smashed numerous windows throughout Oakland and along South Craig Street as they tried to get closer to Phipps Conservatory.

Students from Pitt and CMU became caught up in the protests as police maneuvered their lines. Eyewitnesses said that orders to disperse were difficult to comply with, as police fired more gas and rubber bullets as they moved to encircle the crowd and make arrests. Numerous injuries were reported and many students said they were falsely arrested on their own campus.

Footage of violent scuffles between police and protesters quickly began to fill social media. Other incidents were caught by news photographers, including the arrest of a bicyclist, Lauren Wasson, who was repeatedly struck by police after she appeared to throw her bike at an officer in frustration. She claimed to have been an innocent bystander caught up in the protests and faced multiple charges.

OTD: Arrest of Lauren Wasson

Damage to area businesses was estimated to be over $50,000. David Japenga was attributed with causing $14,000 in broken windows when he was arrested with a bike lock after being identified by an undercover state trooper. Japenga was sentenced to 6 to 18 months in jail.

Allegations of a heavy-handed police response to the protests led to another standoff in Oakland the following night, on Sept. 25, as outraged students joined the G-20 protesters in a repeat performance. Police again fired OC gas and then encircled the crowd, arresting over a hundred people.

The account of Pitt student, Kyle Kramer, was typical of many when he said when he was caught up in the arrests while returning to campus from a pizza parlor. He was captured on video being posed in a handcuffed “trophy picture” taken by contracted Chicago police officers. The widely viewed video led to a formal investigation and the eventual reprimand of two officers.

Over two dozen people filed lawsuits against the City of Pittsburgh following the two nights of protests in Oakland. The city tried to settle claims of false arrest and excessive force by offering $8,000-per-person payouts to students. Eleven accepted, including Kramer.

In a separate wrongful arrest lawsuit, the City of Pittsburgh agreed to pay Robert Dew, a reporter for the Alex Jones Radio Show, $27,500 when he was arrested while taking video of the protesters in Schenley Plaza.

The summit concluded with the announcement that the G-20 would supplant the G-8 as the new permanent council for international economic cooperation.

Cox Media Group