At a recent march in Pittsburgh organized by the group Black Young & Educated, a peace marshal who was helping protect demonstrators by blocking off the streets was suddenly abducted by armed plain clothes thugs in an unmarked van. On the ground no one was able to verify if it was cops or right wing extremists. Protesters were able to later verify it was Pittsburgh Police when the department tweeted that they had arrested a protester for obstruction of traffic at the intersection in Oakland where the kidnapping happened.
The marshal tweeted the day after his abduction: “When I approached the van to provide directions the passenger grabbed me and multiple other men sprang out of the back of the van heavily armed to arrest me. I was driven to the busway where officers searched me and transported me to ACJ. [Allegheny County Jail].” He was charged with blocking the roadway and several other offenses all for attempting to provide directions around the march.
The cop who abducted and arrested the marshal was identified as Sgt. David Viscomi, who has a history of deadly brutality. In 2006, Viscomi and another officer, Kevin Wilson, observed a vehicle driving at high speed. The cops followed the car until the driver crashed and emerged from the vehicle, holding a gun and began to flee on foot. Viscomi reacted by firing shots in the back and back of the head of the driver. The driver survived and was arrested, but while incarcerated filed a civil suit which resulted in the magistrate judge ruled that “other than the visible possession of a weapon and flight, there is no indication in the record that [he] posed a threat to anyone when Viscomi made the decision to shoot.”
Viscomi appears to be in the newly formed “Damage Assessment Accountability” task force that is composed of nine local, state and federal agencies that was specifically set up to target and investigate “Violent protesters, vandals, and looters.”
Mayor Peduto’s fake progressive posturing
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto took to twitter to claim “The right to assemble is a guaranteed right, the right to shut down public streets, is a privilege. That privilege is sanctioned by laws and codes. In Pittsburgh, we worked w ACLU & CPRB to create our codes.” The ACLU responded to the mayor in a statement refuting Peduto’s claim and stated that the ACLU does not support the kidnapping of protesters. Peduto, despite his usual liberal rhetoric, ultimately comes down on the side of police repression by claiming that people have no right to march on the street.
Though certainly not a new phenomena, police repression and violence has been rising in the city the past months. This June a peaceful protest was met with police violence and mass arrests of over 20 people. One protester at this demonstration has lost permanent vision in his right eye after being hit directly by a “non-lethal” projectile.
Police attack demonstration outside Mayor’s home
In spite of this, protests have not wavered. Demonstrations were immediately planned outside of the mayor’s house in response to the kidnapping to show that these scare tactics are not working on the people of Pittsburgh and that they will continue to march in support of Black Lives Matter.
These protests were also met with brutal police repression. Many protesters who were there say they feel they were intentionally lured and kettled inside Mellon Park on the second night of demonstrations outside Peduto’s home. Protesters were ordered to disperse at 10:00 p.m. When they began to do so they were ordered to get off the street and get on the sidewalk outside the park. When they got on the sidewalk, the police line moved in on them and told the protesters to move further into the park.
It was at this point that the police began using batons and pepper spray on the protesters. Police told protesters that the park closed at 9:00 p.m. (it actually closes at 11:00 p.m.) and again ordered them to disperse from the park after deploying more pepper spray and batons. Photos began circulating online of protesters who had suffered bruising and chemical burns as a result of the police violence.
This is the role that the police play in a capitalist society — armed agents of the rich and powerful. No amount of progressive posturing will fool the movement, and the struggle will continue against Mayor Peduto and his racist police force.
