G20 Protesters Want Park All Week

Groups planning to protest during the G20 summit say sharing Point State Park for a day is not good enough. Several groups have proposed their own "tent city" for the park at the same time police and Secret Service plan to use that space as a staging area. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has suggested the park could be shared on September 23rd, the day before the G20 summit begins. But groups like Code Pink, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and 3 Rivers Climate Convergence say they want to use the park for various activities all week. Joyce Wagner with Iraq Veterans Against the War says her group also objects specifically to sharing the space with police.

Several groups are also planning to participate in a march planned by the Thomas Merton Center on September 25th. Board President Michael Drohan says a permit for the march from Oakland to downtown has not been officially denied yet, but he's been told protesters will not be allowed to get as far as the Federal Building, their planned destination.

Jules Lobel with the Center for Constitutional Rights says his group and the American Civil Liberties Union will represent protesters if they are not given a timely response to their permit applications, or a suitable space for them to make their voices heard.