POG was formed in 2002,[1] and since then it has been responsible for the most persistent local protests against the Iraq War[2] and claims to be one of the largest radical groups in Pittsburgh.
[3] The group has organized protests, pickets, vigils, direct actions, street theatre, concerts, teach-ins, conferences, and rallies.
The group opposes the way the American justice system works, and it chooses to settle what would normally be criminal cases without involving law enforcement.
On September 1, POG held its first public event, a teach-in in preparation for the fall meetings of IMF and World Bank in Washington DC.
[17] On March 2, 2007, POG members blockaded the Center, a venture of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) that receives tens of millions of dollars from the Pentagon and has become a world leader in development of robotics used in warfare.
[21] The Marine recruiting center was later vandalized that night, to include smashing of windows and anti-war slogans spray painted in large letters on the building [3], though POG denied any involvement [4].
The military recruitment center protests are part of a "counter-recruitment" strategy by the group aimed at lowering the numbers of people who enlist.
[22] On August 8, 2007, POG announced plans to hold a camp-out and fast for 26 days outside the main military recruiting station in Oakland in protest of the war in Iraq.
On July 19, 2011 POG officially disbanded[30] citing that "[they] have not been a means through which to effectively respond to the priorities individual members have often articulated is indicative of the fact we lack the common ground required to collectively organize."