Here's how the pro-Palestine protest at Pitt ended without incident

Intervention by the region’s top two politicians helped end overnight a 30-hour occupation of part of the University of Pittsburgh’s campus by hundreds of pro-Palestine activists.

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey on Tuesday said he joined Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato in conversations with people from a barricaded camp that was hastily erected Sunday on the lawn outside the Cathedral of Learning in the city’s Oakland neighborhood.

More than 300 people filled the encampment. Tensions flared Sunday and Monday evenings as some protesters clashed with police, leading to at least one arrest. Police could be seen on a TribLive video shoving some activists who tried to enter the camp.

Gainey said the situation had become unstable.

“We wanted everybody to go home safe,” Gainey said during a Tuesday news conference.

He said city officials “made it clear to them that this was not an endorsement of demands” but an effort to end the tense encampment peacefully.

The mayor said he told protesters there could be arrests if things escalated and offered to help them leave the camp safely.

“They made the decision to leave Pitt’s campus safely, and we facilitated that,” Gainey said. “It’s up to us to keep our neighbors safe. It’s up to us to keep our city safe. And we can only do that when we do it together.”

Innamorato said she spoke Monday night with students and teachers representing the Jewish and Palestinian communities. She said she listened to their concerns and stories, including one tale of harassment relayed by a student with family in Gaza.

Their requests, she said, were predominantly directed at Pitt’s leadership, not the mayor or county executive.

“Last night, we were able to keep the peace in Oakland,” Innamorato said.

The people officials spoke with “self-identified” as Pitt students and faculty, said Gainey spokeswoman Maria Montaño. She said Pitt officials were not present at the conversations that Gainey and Innamorato had with protest leaders.

Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt said additional police had arrived on the scene earlier in the day after “a bit of an escalation.”

If the situation had escalated further, Schmidt said, responses could have included the use of tear gas or other nonlethal options to disperse the crowd. Schmidt said the hope was always to resolve the situation through dialogue.

“Our ultimate goal with public safety is always de-escalation, and de-escalation happens through conversation,” he said.

Pitt officials, in a statement Tuesday, said protesters left the encampment voluntarily.

“The mayor’s office, in close coordination with university leadership and public safety teams from the University of Pittsburgh, City of Pittsburgh Police, Allegheny County Sheriff’s office, and Pennsylvania State Police led negotiations with protesters who were largely unaffiliated with the university,” the statement said. “The Cathedral of Learning lawn is now cleared, and the rest of the campus is open and under normal operations.”

Protester Cory Roma posted on X that the encampment was dispersed peacefully about 1:50 a.m. after negotiations between campers and local officials.

As of 1:50 AM, the encampment outside of the Cathedral of Learning was peacefully dispersed via negotiations between campers and local officials.

I was here when this camp started, and I’m here when it ended. And I’m proud to of been a visible & vocal participant. pic.twitter.com/nA3MNkkUWo

— Cory Roma ???? (@__C_M_R__) June 4, 2024

“I was here when this camp started, and I’m here when it ended. And I’m proud to (have) been a visible & vocal participant,” Roma wrote.

The protesters were calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, asking Pitt to divest from any investments related to Israel and seeking demilitarization of the campus police force, among other demands. The group called Pitt Divest was apparently leading the protesters.

It is unclear what negotiations were made, and Pitt Divest has yet to issue a statement.

On Monday, university officials condemned the protesters and claimed that protest leaders were not affiliated with Pitt in any way.

Protesters denied these claims and said their leadership was made up of students, staff and faculty at Pitt.

A cleanup crew on Tuesday picked up remnants of the encampment. No damage could be seen at the Cathedral of Learning. Otherwise, all was fairly quiet.

Staff writers Bill Schackner and Megan Trotter contributed to this report.