Police Brutality towards Students at G-20 Conference

Okay, so I have to admit: I love Twitter. Is it entirely useless? Yeah, pretty much. But I’ve grown to love it. I don’t go out of my way to follow a lot of people, but I do keep in touch with one of my close friends, Katy, a sophomore at Oberlin College. Around 1 a.m. on Sept. 26, she posted: “Peter V arrested in a park while G20 medic-ing. Arrested w/ large group of people, so hopefully will be let out. Jesus – this is my friend”.

Those last words hit me the hardest. “This is my friend.” Imagine sending one of your best friends to help out at a major national event, and the next thing you know, he or she is arrested for no particular reason.

The G-20 economic conference took place in Pittsburgh this past week. The conference is a meeting of 20 economic powers comprising 85 percent of the world’s gross national product. Every year, certain Oberlin students choose to go to the conference to protest. Though the conferences promote international cooperation and economic discussion, they also encourage a focus on capitalism, and in turn, draw thousands of protestors every year. This past year 30 Oberlin students attended the conference; three of them spent time in jail.

The two students I have a particular interest in are Mary Claire Erskine, a freshman at Oberlin, and Peter, Katy’s good friend. Arrested in the same group of about 56 students, neither of them was doing anything particularly wrong. The two were trying to leave a park that was the site of a late night rally. When the police closed in around the park (which closed at 11 p.m.), things started to get out of control.

Students weren’t allowed to leave peacefully, as all of the surrounding streets had been blocked off, and in turn, students were forced to go into this park. There, the police forced everyone in the area to lie down and put their hands behind their backs. And then they were all arrested. And for what? Trying to leave? Peter was actually a medic at the event, attempting to help students who had been tazed or tear-gassed.

They were detained for an evening, where police were in no way respectful. They took the battery from Mary Claire’s phone after she tried to call the ACLU, and even after her release, it was not given back. Additionally, multiple students had nervous breakdowns in the process of being detained, and Mary Claire (who was not a trained medic, but knew enough to help) was not allowed to consult or help them calm down. In many cases, it seemed like the Pittsburgh police acted with less maturity than some of the student protestors.

As I read more about the goings-on at the G-20 conference, I found myself truly concerned. How unimaginably terrifying to have been arrested in a city that you don’t live in for a crime you didn’t commit. Or, how equally frightening to have a good friend innocently detained for who knows how long.

The incidences at the G-20 conferences and the abuse towards students shocked me. Not only is the concept of being arrested horrifying, but to also have to deal with police who wouldn’t un-handcuff students to let them go to the bathroom; police who arrested a girl going out for a jog and not even involved in the G-20 conference at all; police who fed these students a maximum of two oranges and some saltine crackers over a time span of about 36 hours.

The happenings at the G-20 conference couldn’t simply go unnoticed, and for students at Oberlin—not much different than the ones here at K—it felt all too relevant. I hope the issues that occurred in Pittsburgh gain more attention around the country, so this kind of unfair treatment doesn’t happen again. Exercising freedom of speech and assembly are basic American rights, and for college students to face punishment for nothing goes against the very foundations of this country.