Feature Photo: March for Peace protests Carnegie Mellon’s defense contracts

On Oct. 5, 2019, the Pittsburgh March for Peace walked from Schenley Plaza to the Software Engineering Institute, and then to Carnegie Mellon's campus entrance to protest the university's involvement with the United States military. In one distributed pamphlet, organizers stated that "your presence [at this protest] shows the militarists, CIA goons, and war hawk politicians that people in America are sick of war and are willing to do something about it."

The protest was endorsed by several local organizations, among them, the Allegheny County Democratic Black Caucus, the Green Party of Allegheny County, the Thomas Merton Center, and the Veterans for Peace of Western Pennsylvania.

As the group marched from the Software Engineering Institute to Carnegie Mellon's Walking to the Sky, protesters chanted, "No tech for ICE." Protesters objected to the development of technology for law enforcement and the military at Carnegie Mellon. In a Veterans for Peace of Western Pennsylvania description of the protest, organizers note that they seek to "end Pittsburgh’s role in the global military industrial complex that exploits so many in the name of profit rich and wealthy."

The protest had 3 main demands, according to another distributed pamphlet. They were: "1. We demand an immediate end to all forms of war in which the United States is currently engaged. 2. We demand an immediate reduction of the U.S. military budget by at least half, including nuclear weapon divestment, with reinvestment into social and infrastructure programs. 3. We demand an end to the militarization of domestic law enforcement organizations."