Anti-war protesters involved in a weekend scuffle with Pittsburgh police decried the department's tactics as brutal and excessive and demanded an independent investigation of the incident, in which a woman was shot with a Taser stun gun and another was bitten by a police dog.

Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette At the Thomas Merton Center, in Garfield, Nathan Shaffer, center with black t-shirt, of the Pittsburgh Organizing Group, says he believes the Pittsburgh police used excessive force to break up a demonstration in front of a military recruitment station in Oakland. On the far left is Jonathan Robison, to the right is Carol Wiedmann, behind her is David Meieran, in front of the fan is Rebecca Reid and daughter Chenoa, 3, and the far right is Reid's husband Vincent Eirene and his daughter Caitlin, 7. Click photo for larger image.

"To respond to messages of peace with outright violence is absolutely outrageous," said James Kleissler, executive director of the Thomas Merton Center, which hosted a news conference yesterday at its Garfield headquarters.

The Pittsburgh Organizing Group, People Against Police Violence and the Merton Center also called for a moratorium on Taser use by city police officers and demanded that charges be dropped against four adults who were arrested Saturday and an unidentified juvenile cited for disorderly conduct.

Police Chief Robert W. McNeilly Jr. declined interview requests yesterday. In a previous statement, he said the use of force would be reviewed by staff at the bureau's training academy.

Two investigators and an intake coordinator from the Pittsburgh Citizen Police Review Board were at the news conference to listen to witness accounts. Executive Director Elizabeth Pittinger said the board was in the process of taking complaints from nine people about excessive force and unbecoming conduct.

"City police are typically accommodating until something goes wrong, and now the determination has to be what went wrong," Pittinger said. "We're particularly interested in looking at how Taser was deployed."

One of the protesters, De'Anna Caligiuri, said she felt an excruciating pain "for what felt like an eternity" after a police officer used a Taser on her. Caligiuri said she had already been subjected to pepper spray and questioned why police felt the need to incapacitate her further.

"It was horrifying," she said. "I couldn't believe that after I had already been sprayed and on the ground that they would then proceed to Taser me."

Police identified the officer who used the Taser as Samuel Muoio of the Zone 4 station in Squirrel Hill.

A brief video that was played at a news conference showed Caligiuri being restrained on the ground by a Pittsburgh police sergeant and a University of Pittsburgh police officer as Muoio fired his Taser. It was not clear from the video clip what immediately preceded the Taser shot.

A Pittsburgh police affidavit said Caligiuri, 23, of Bloomfield, was arrested for trying to thwart officers from arresting another protester by pulling on the protester's arm in an effort to free him.

Caligiuri refused to answer questions at the news conference.

Pittinger said she had seen a portion of the video and wondered why a Taser needed to be used.

In separate footage shot by a KDKA-TV news photographer, the woman is seen struggling with as many as five police officers on a sidewalk as a crowd gathers. One officer stumbles to the ground as he and the others try to subdue the woman and at least two male protesters.

One of the male protesters overturns a garbage container as he struggles with officers.

The woman continues to struggle even as she is lying on the ground. After she is subdued by two officers who hold her hands behind her back, a third officer approaches and uses his Taser on the woman. She screams in pain.

During the protest, several dozen people marched in Oakland to an Army recruiting station to draw attention to the government's recruiting policies. The protesters did not have a permit, and organizers of yesterday's news conference insisted that a permit was not required.

However, Mayor Tom Murphy's administration said the protest required a permit.

The apparent flashpoint for violence occurred when a protester, identified by police as Edris Robinson, got into an argument with Thomas Sypula, a freelance photographer working for WPGH-TV.

According to police, Robinson, 23, of Shadyside, hit Sypula's camera and caused it to bash his face. Police said Robinson repeatedly threatened Sypula, told him to leave and said, "This is a secure area, we're taking over," before striking him, according to a police affidavit.

Police said Officer Heather Bristow warned Robinson several times that he was blocking the sidewalk and entrances to businesses. When Bristow tried to identify Robinson, the crowd tried to hold her back, the affidavit said. Bristow and Pitt Officer Brian Kopp chased Robinson and had to struggle with him.

Sypula, 54, said he moved away from the crowd to shoot a poster on the recruiting office door when he was assaulted.

After being struck, Sypula said, he regained his balance and pointed the camera at his attacker.

"He looked right at me and said 'Get out of here right now,' " said Sypula.

Sypula said he walked about 10 feet and told a police officer that he had been assaulted and wanted to press charges. As he was approaching and pointing out his attacker, he said, protesters surrounded him and the officer.

Also arrested were Justin Krane, 31, of Mount Washington, and David Strouthers, 27, of Greenfield.