Pittsburgh officials denounce weekend disturbances during Downtown protests

Pittsburgh Public Safety officials Tuesday condemned “the actions of a few protesters” during weekend protests, reiterating a pledge to protect the First Amendment and prosecute those who break the law.

“People have the right to dine in public without being accosted and without vulgarities being thrown at them,” Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said in a statement. “What we saw this weekend was assault and battery. It was embarrassing.

“The vast majority of the protests in Pittsburgh have been peaceful, but this weekend was anything but peaceful,” he said.

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The ongoing Civil Saturdays demonstration began about 3 p.m. near the intersection of Liberty Avenue and Stanwix Street, and viral video out of the ensuing march showed clashes between protesters and the public that drew criticism from President Trump.

Organizers could not be reached for comment.

“Those of us who have been activists, those of us who are leaders in our community, all of us, we want everyone to know that it is completely unacceptable behavior,” Kimberly Ellis, the founder of Black Politics Matter, told Tribune-Review news partner WPXI . “We do not approve. It does not represent us. This is not about coddling white feelings or respectability politics.”

The disturbances prompted a tweet from the president, who referred to the protesters as “anarchists.”

Authorities said they are using the video to identify suspects who appeared to hit a person carrying a bicycle with a skateboard and shout at restaurant patrons.

One of the protesters, Nique Craft, said Monday that one scuffle began after bicyclists rode through the crowd using “racist rhetoric” and got into a fight with demonstrators.

That’s when a man dining outside Bakersfield restaurant on Penn Avenue started calling them names — “disgusting and an embarrassment,” Craft said.

“When we were on our way back to the crowd, there were people at Bakersfield that were yelling at us for harassing and bullying these people on the bike, even though they had just literally stood and watched what happened,” Craft said. “I was not OK with those comments being made.”

Pittsburgh police have released photos of the bicyclist and the individual who allegedly hit him with a skateboard. They’re seeking to identify both.

Pittsburgh police Chief Scott Schubert called the events disturbing, saying they cannot continue.

“Sadly, the protesters’ message gets erased when you have certain organizers inciting violence, which is what a handful of them are doing,” he said in a statement. “It creates a dangerous and volatile situation. Our goal, now and always, is to maintain safety for everyone, and that includes protesters, residents, visitors, business owners and patrons and our police officers who are working under difficult conditions to serve the public.”

One of the videos showed Craft take a beer from a table outside Bakersfield and drink it, which Craft said was misconstrued. Craft said a woman seated with a man shouting at demonstrators offered to buy them a beer and talk it out.

“I said, ‘I don’t have time to wait for the beer you’re going to order me,’ ” Craft said Monday. “I walked in, I picked up her beer, I drank it, I sat the glass down.”

Bakersfield representatives declined to comment.

Public Safety spokesman Chris Togneri said police are working with the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office to identify potential suspects from the video.

Protesters later moved the demonstration to Mayor Bill Peduto’s home in the city’s Point Breeze neighborhood. The protesters were met with several Pittsburgh police officers forming a line across Peduto’s front stoop. The situation prompted an early morning response from the mayor on social media that included a link to video footage of the protesters outside.

“The First Amendment doesn’t protect you to close down streets, without a permit,” he wrote. “Yes, we have granted extra rights to assure free speech. But continual denial of law will end up in arrests. Actions have consequences.”