Night- Day 1. Riot City.

Oakland

10:30 p.m.

Of all the things that I witnessed during the G-20 summit, this was the most insane. Between 10:00 and 10:30, students and others began to gather outside between Towers and Bigelow Boulevard. Police were out in groups vastly disproportional to those of civilians, most of whom had no intentions of protesting.

Around 10:30, it seemed as though the police made the decision to take preventative measures against the crowd, declaring the gathering around Schenley Plaza to be illegal, and threatening arrest to those who remained.

The crowd was initially slow to disperse, but the use of smoke bombs soon caused panic. Moving off the streets, we watched the scene unfold from our suite in Bruce Hall.

As you can see, Forbes Avenue was completely closed off to traffic; it was pretty much wall-to-wall police vehicles well into the night.

The patio of the Union. You can see students running from the police on Bigelow.

At this point, the police decided to prove to the crowds still gathered that they weren't messing around. They fired off smoke bombs in an effort to clear the crowds. Watching all of this from the window, it was like we were in some different country. My suitemates and I could barely believe what we were seeing-- for us, situations like this had only previously existed on the television, and yet, here it was in our own backyard.

Some of the hundreds of S.W.A.T. enforcements on the street. Helicopters were also circling Oakland, shining searchlights down on the streets below.

Confrontations between police in full riot gear and students continued as the security teams began to corral the crowds down Forbes Avenue toward Bouquet Street. In this incident on the patio of the William Pitt Union, the S.W.A.T. team moves in on a crowd of people loitering after multiple warnings have been issued. I'm not sure if tear gas was used in this particular instance, but it was present--shortly after this, everyone in my suite who had been looking out the window started coughing, likely having inhaled a small bit of it.

The mob makes its way down Forbes toward Bouquet street. The cheer is "Let's Go Pitt". Clearly, these were not hardcore political protesters.

The mob continues down Forbes. The path of destruction left windows smashed in several businesses, including an Oakland favorite, Pamela's Diner.

And that's just Day 1...

Evening- Day 1

Oakland

5:30 p.m.

While Medvedev spoke in the Cathedral, attention shifted over to Schenley Plaza. On a grey evening with a sky that continuously threatened rain, a small contingency of students and advocacy groups congregated.

Save Darfur groups.

S.W.A.T. teams were brought in to secure the area around Phipps Conservatory, the site of a working dinner scheduled for the heads of state on the first evening of the summit. Arriving in red Port Authority buses (marked "Special"... we laughed at that a little-- the great and powerful S.W.A.T. team arrived on the special bus!), the police got off the buses and marched en masse toward Schenley Park.

Just to give everyone an idea of how many S.W.A.T. guys there were...

The march to Schenley Park

The perimeter.

Medvedev Visits

4:00 p.m.

Oakland

I walked out of Alumni Hall at around 4:00 p.m. to find Fifth Avenue preparing for the Russian motorcade to arrive. Hoping to catch the event, I waited at the corner of Fifth and Lytton and watched as the streets were slowly closed off to traffic.

S.W.A.T. team securing the perimeter of the Cathedral. Medvedev's motorcade pulled in right

here.

More S.W.A.T. presence on the street...

There are no words to describe what it's like to see snipers looking down at you from the upper floors of the Cathedral.

At around 4:30, the call came that the motorcade was on its way. Police kept pedestrian onlookers off the street as the caravan of state vehicles, security and escort vehicles rolled through.

And the Russians have arrived!

More From Day 1

More scenes from Day 1 around Oakland

A veiled statue outside the Carnegie Library

Motorcycled Police pull into Bigelow Boulevard as part of the force that would secure the perimeter for Medvedev's talk.

Bigelow security on the first day of the summit also included members of the Pennsylvania National Guard.

Diplomats arrive.

More security on Bigelow.

Above: At 11:30 a.m. the Cathedral was closed off to non-University personnel. Entrance to students was granted only via the ground floor doors.

Police presence on Fifth Avenue. Students made their way around campus as normally as possible throughout the morning-- only this time, they wove through groups of armed police officers, not groups of their peers.

Morning- Day 1

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

September 24th, 2009

9:45 a.m.

Calm and quiet was the vibe on the streets of Oakland this morning. On a day when Pittsburgh prepared to welcome the world, the atmosphere was eerily placid.

Police and security were visible, though-- many museums and buildings throughout the city were boarded up in anticipation of rioting protesters, and members of the Pittsburgh police department were in place even before life began to emerge.

Fences block off entrances to the Hillman Library

Early morning police presence at Schenley Plaza in Oakland.

At right, Pittsburgh protects statues outside the Carnegie Library from potential riot damage.

While the University advocated that business continue as usual, it was obvious from a quick walk around the block that the day would be anything but the usual. Bigelow Boulevard was barricaded between Fifth and Forbes, used as

a causeway for police vehicles, motorcycles, and diplomatic cars.

As the morning went on, local police were joined by members of the Pennsylvania national guard, and SWAT teams, who prepared for the arrival of special guest speaker Dmitry Medvedev, the president of Russia.

Medvedev is Coming to Town...

Russia's head honcho will speak at Pitt at 4:00 p.m. today.

G-20: A Prelude to Protest

Today, Pittsburgh steps up onto the international stage as it hosts the G20 summit, welcoming the heads of state of 20 industrialized nations, who will convene to discuss the world's pressing economic situation and financial crisis.



The G20 has a long history of leaving violent protest and destruction in its wake, and the city is bracing for the worst in the face of the unknown. Protestors began pouring into the city earlier this week, and some-- like Greenpeace-- have already begun staging demonstrations and rallies.

Protesters bungee jump from the West End bridge in a demonstration to raise environmental awareness

On the University of Pittsburgh Campus in Oakland, the morning of the summit dawned quietly, with the streets eerily quiet on a day that is predicted to see its share of chaos. With a handful of class cancellations likely keeping some students in bed and off the streets, police set up barricades on Bigelow, and posted themselves in front of Schenley Plaza, bracing for whatever events the day might bring. Quiet preparations were also being made in the Cathedral of Learning, which will host Russian President Dmitry Medvedev later today.

The atmosphere walking down Forbes Avenue past police barricades on deserted streets was certainly that of a city on the edge, just waiting for something to begin...


Keep an eye on this blog for my firsthand account of the G20 experience. It should be an interesting ride...