This much is clear: early on February 11th at about 1:30 AM officers from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police shot and killed 39-year-old Mark Daniels near the intersection of Brushton Ave. and Bennett Street in South Homewood. All other details of the shooting remain obscure.
Pittsburgh to Host 2018 Fight Toxic Prisons Conference
Fight Toxic Prisons has announced that their annual conference will take place in Pittsburgh this year from June 8 -11. Ramona Africa has been confirmed as a speaker. Further speakers and workshops are still in the planning stages, and the venue has not yet been chosen. This post will be updated with details as they become available.
Pittsburgh NLG to Host J20 Benefit Film Screening on January 20
The Pittsburgh chapter of the National Lawyers Guild has announced a benefit screening of America is Waiting, a documentary about the inauguration protests in Washington DC last January.
From their announcement : On January 20, 2017, racist billionaire Donald J. Trump was sworn into office as President of the United States. Thousands of protesters flocked to DC to disrupt the inauguration, and to express their disgust and outrage at the idea a bigoted serial assaulter running the country. In response the DC police, in violation of DC law, their own policy, and the US Constitution, kettled and arrested over 200 participants in a protest march at which a handful of windows were broken. Most of those arrested are now facing federal felony charges that could potentially land them in prison for over 50 years.
Director Georg Koszulinski’s film ‘America is Waiting’ serves as a chronicle of the day’s events, employing effective approaches to observational documentary coupled with on-the-street interviews with protesters and pro-Trump supporters alike. By presenting the day’s events in reverse chronological order, the film reflects on the nature of constructed memory, image making, and the production of meaning across an historic event, calling into question the ways in which narratives of historical events are shaped and condensed within popular discourse.
The event will take place in Pitt Law School’s Barco Law Building, 3900 Forbes Avenue, in room 107 at 5:00 PM on January 20. There is a $5 to $15 suggested donation, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. All proceeds will go to the legal defense of protesters arrested at the inauguration.
Don’t Panic: The Internet Isn’t Dead Yet
In the wake of the Federal Communication Commission’s repeal of net neutrality rules on December 14, CrimethInc. teamed up with Bill Budington of the Electronic Frontier Foundation to produce a jeremiad entitled “Anarchist Perspectives on Net Neutrality: The Digital Enclosure of the Commons” (Digital Enclosure henceforward). It offers a distorted, highly oversimplified, and unduly pessimistic view of the net neutrality situation that tacitly assumes zero resistance on the part of anyone but a few anarchist geeks.
Sit-In at Pitt in Progress!
Pitt students are occupying the second floor of the Cathedral of Learning, demanding kicking cops off campus and disarming Pitt police, among other things. They could use food and bedding, not to mention moral support and solidarity actions. More as we get it…
UPDATE: One occupier was arrested in the Pitt library for handing out flyers. As of press time Pitt officials were still deliberating whether to add a terrorism enhancement to the charges…
FUTHER UPDATE: The occupation was evicted from the cathedral early Wednesday morning. More details at IGD.