Pittsburgh businesses clean up from G-20 protests; afternoon march with permit is planned

Pittsburgh businesses clean up from G-20 protests

PITTSBURGH — Businesses vandalized during Group of 20 protests were cleaning up broken glass and getting back to work Friday while demonstrators pledging nonviolence planned an afternoon march to protest environmental, health care and other policies.

An umbrella group of G-20 protesters had encouraged morning demonstrations at various Pittsburgh businesses, but police said there were no reports of large gatherings or vandalism and downtown Pittsburgh was quiet.

The Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project had targeted more than 80 Pittsburgh businesses that it said symbolize greed and global economic policies, including a dozen or so close to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, where world economic leaders were meeting.

But those businesses were well prepared, either boarded-up and shuttered or protected by fences, razor wire, concrete barriers and a mix of police, private security officers and National Guard troops.

Meanwhile, in the Oakland section of the city, five businesses near the University of Pittsburgh had windows smashed during an overnight protest. A diner, McDonald’s, Rite Aid and Subway sandwich shop were among those vandalized.

Subway employee Teena Santos, a 21-year-old accounting student at Pitt, said it had been a slow, quiet evening when black-clad protesters suddenly swarmed the street and attacked the storefront. Santos said they must have used a hammer or another object to smash the window because no rocks or bricks were found.

Workers and customers locked the door and waited with her until the crowd passed.

“I was pretty scared, pretty shaken up,” she said.

Michele Mazzella, co-owner of Pamela’s Diner, said employees were at a loss to explain why their windows were broken. The business has several locations, including one that hosted first lady Michelle Obama on Friday for breakfast.

Co-owner Tim Blosat said: “We’re just a locally owned business and a victim of circumstance, I guess.”

Blosat said a man who had been with the protesters returned Friday morning to apologize for the broken window and offer $20, which Blosat accepted.

“I need to fix my windows,” he said.

On Friday afternoon, The Thomas Merton Center, a Pittsburgh peace organization, was planning a “People’s March” from the Oakland section of the city to the downtown. Bolstered by smaller “feeder marches,” the group planned a mid-march rally near a local government building and then another one in the late afternoon.

The march had a city permit and organizers pledged to keep it nonviolent.

That was not the case with a Thursday afternoon march that ended with clashes between police and anarchists.

Police, in an overwhelming show of force, declared the march illegal almost as soon as it began. Small bands of anarchists responded to officers’ overwhelming show of force by rolling huge metal trash bins, throwing rocks and breaking windows. Police fired rubber bullets and canisters of pepper spray and smoke.

On Friday, local businesses were trying to send messages to potential vandals, declaring themselves family- or locally owned.

A handwritten sign at Zorba’s Restaurant urged, “Keep the Peace,” and suggested business is hurting because of the summit: A typical visitor spends about $7 on the lunch-only eatery, but the sign read, “G-20 $0.”

Associated Press writers Michael Rubinkam and Daniel Lovering contributed to this report.