2009-09-25
POLICE in Pittsburgh have arrested 66 people after a night of battles with protesters who tried to march on a summit of the world's top leaders, the FBI says.
Twenty-four people were arrested yesterday when groups of diehard youths refused to disperse when police used pepper spray and fired bean bag rounds to break up an unauthorised demonstration of around 1000 protesters.
Anarchists had attempted to march on the conference centre hosting the Group of 20 summit of the world's leading economies, which anti-capitalist activists regard as an unaccountable group that ignores the world's poor.
A further 42 people were arrested when protests erupted in Schenley Plaza near the University of Pittsburgh in the evening, the FBI said in a statement today.
Three protesters and two police officers were injured or suffered reactions to the chemical pepper spray that was fired at the protesters by the police. One police officer was treated for heat exhaustion.
At least 19 businesses had their windows or doors smashed in. Many of them were in the Oakland neighbourhood, near the university.
Most of the protesters who were arrested in the afternoon were in their 20s, and at least one was a minor. Several of the protesters refused to give their names and are listed in the FBI statement as John or Jane Doe.
Details of the arrests made in the evening were not immediately available, the police said.
Most of those arrested have been charged with failing to disperse, but a handful face more serious charges, including aggravated assault or inciting a riot.
A huge rally against the leaders of the world's top economies who are in Pittsburgh for the Group of 20 summit is planned for today.