Protests, rally before G-20

PITTSBURGH - The limos will roll past Flagstaff Hill this evening as the leaders of nations representing 85 percent of the world's wealth officially open the Pittsburgh summit, the long-awaited gathering of the Group of 20.

In separate dinners at the Phipps Conservatory, the heads of government and their finance ministers will begin their discussions of the world's economy. Tomorrow, the conversations shift to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, amid the tightest security Pittsburgh has ever experienced.

As has become traditional in such gatherings, the world leaders were being greeted with demonstrations ranging from the whimsical to the confrontational.

Protests began at midmorning yesterday with a daring stunt by Greenpeace, the environmental organization known for sometimes confrontational tactics.

Two squads of Greenpeace activists tried to rappel simultaneously down the sides of the Fort Pitt and West End Bridges. Police nabbed the five activists on the Fort Pitt Bridge, but eight protesters at the other bridge managed to unfurl an 80-by-30-foot banner proclaiming "Danger: Climate Destruction Ahead," while dangling above the Ohio River as police waited them out.

By early afternoon, those protesters climbed back up and were all arrested, along with a ninth team member who remained on the bridge to assure police that the activists were peaceful and were experienced, equipped climbers.

All 14 demonstrators were taken to the Allegheny County Jail.

But Greenpeace was stymied in later attempts throughout the day to unfurl other banners from atop city structures. A plan to drop a banner at the Andy Warhol Museum ended when a crew arrived to find National Guard troops inspecting the site and a phalanx of state police in a nearby side street.

A bicycle ride by Critical Mass, a group that occasionally takes over downtown streets on weekend rides, brought a disappointing turnout, with city bicycle police outnumbering the protesters.

Stronger stuff is anticipated today when a yet-to-be-determined number of protesters gather at Arsenal Park in Lawrenceville for an unpermitted march downtown toward the convention center.

Representatives from various protest groups gathered last night at the headquarters of the Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project, an umbrella group of anarchist organizations that has provided a gathering point.

The council, which was closed to the media, was expected to be the site at which various groups indicate which of a myriad of corporations and other locations they expect to hit in "direct action." That could range from a protest to a sit-in to attempts to close the location, as well as to block city streets.

City police acknowledged yesterday that they had kept several locations and groups under surveillance.

The security presence, in addition to the 900 officers of the Pittsburgh police force, includes federal agencies ranging from the Secret Service to the Coast Guard, along with 1,200 state troopers. Pittsburgh police also have help from officers from scores of other departments across the country.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl yesterday swore in about 1,000 visiting law enforcement agents in a ceremony at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum.

Yesterday evening, hundreds of people gathered at the downtown Point State Park for a pro-green-jobs rally backed by the Alliance for Climate Protection, a group founded by former Vice President Al Gore; the United Steelworkers union; and a Steelworkers-Sierra Club coalition. The event included performances by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, and other musical artists.