Aaron Smith had trouble traveling around Pittsburgh last week. While trying to reach a protest in front of the Steel Workers’ Union, Smith had to rely on riot police to move through traffic. Smith said once the police let him pass, he pulled his Nissan Frontier into an illegal spot and set up a makeshift guerilla food stop to feed protestors.Smith, studio art senior, went to Pittsburgh with “Everybody’s Kitchen,” an all-vegan mobile food station that supplied thousands of people protesting the Group of 20 summit last week.Everybody’s Kitchen usually operates for the benefit of the homeless but also responds to disaster situations.Though Smith said their activities were peaceful, he said they were hassled by police like many others during the summit.Smith took time to march in one of the protests Friday. He said though he was there to deliver food to protestors, something was inherently political in his endeavors.”Vegan is strictly tied to anti-capitalism because it’s rejecting the agribusiness,” Smith said.Pittsburgh streets overflowed with demonstrators and police Sept. 24 through Sept. 26, with smaller demonstrations on the days leading to the summit.The protest groups came from a wide range of backgrounds, but each arrived in force to demonstrate against the meeting of 20 of the world’s most important economic powers.The group represents around 85 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product and around 90 percent of the world’s market exchange rate, according to the G-20 organization. The organization includes 19 of the world’s most influential developed or developing powers and the European Union.The demonstrators varied in protest messages, from Green Peace activists and several anarchist groups to the anti-capitalist Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project. “Everyone who was there was against this meeting of world elites trying to get more money for themselves,” Smith said. “There is a whole group of people who won’t stand for this lack of representation.”To protect the city, the Secret Service took control of the city’s security during the summit. Because Pittsburgh normally has fewer than 900 officers, 67 police departments from across the nation were dispatched to patrol the city.According to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, 191 people were arrested between Sept. 23 and Sept. 25.At least 12 planned demonstrations were held peacefully and without arrests, according to the PBP. But dozens of unplanned protests sparked conflict with the riot police, who formed lines of plastic shields around some of the town’s most important streets and buildings. The arrests were made when protestors refused to disperse after numerous orders, according to Diane Richard, public information officer for PBP.Many of these conflicts ended with pepper spray. The Pittsburgh police also resorted to firing beanbag rounds from riot shotguns and using a truck mounted Long-Rang-Acoustic Device, a sound weapon used to pacify crowds.Smith said by the time he arrived Sept. 20, the police were already making things difficult for Everybody’s Kitchen.
Smith said at least 20 police vehicles surrounded the kitchen-bus that night and demanded to search the bus and 18-person crew. He said they were accused of terrorist activities, concealing biological weapons and housing prisoners.”It was just a way to show the powers-that-be can suppress any mass of people,” Smith said.Smith, who drove his own vehicle around the city while handing out food, said his group was able to feed a few hundred people during the first few days. He said his job became more difficult when the police tried to break up unplanned protests with pepper spray. Smith said Everybody’s Kitchen was able to feed about 3,000 people Friday. —-Contact Adam Duvernay at [email protected]