delicious!!!    

Quote:By: WPXI.com News Staff
Updated: August 18, 2020 - 9:13 PM



PITTSBURGH — About 300 people gathered in East Liberty Tuesday night to protest the plainclothes arrest of a man during another protest on Saturday.
According to Pittsburgh Public Safety, the protest started at the intersection of Penn Avenue and Centre Avenue. The crowd then moved along Centre and then outbound on Fifth Avenue.

Officials said protest organizers did not share their planned route with police, but investigators said they are marching to Mayor Bill Peduto’s house in Shadyside. Police said there are rolling road closures as the protesters continue to march.  The crowd took over the intersection at Beechwood Boulevard and Fifth Avenue around 7:15 p.m. Public Safety confirmed the protesters were on Hastings Street going in the direction of Peduto’s house.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH LIVE VIDEO FROM CHOPPER 11 OVER THE SCENE

Multiple police officers on bicycles were blocking the front of the mayor’s house, separating the home from protesters.  Hours later, protesters camped out in front of the home and said they won’t leave until Peduto talks to them.  On Sunday, a large crowd protested outside the mayor’s house and called for him to be removed from office or resign after what happened Saturday.

Police said Matthew Cartier, 25, was blocking an intersection unnecessarily, stepping in front of cars and trying to direct traffic -- which led to the arrest. He was charged with failure to disperse, disorderly conduct and obstructing highways and other public passages, and he was released on recognizance bond Sunday.

Sunday afternoon, city leaders addressed what happened Saturday -- including public safety officials and Peduto. Public safety officials said they have been having cooperation issues with protesters and organizers over the past few weeks -- and Saturday’s incident was a prime example of that.

Meanwhile, Peduto said that seeing that arrest yesterday with an unmarked vehicle, plainclothes officers, and a “pop-out,” made him uncomfortable, and he’s expressed that to police leadership. He said he’s asked for explanations as to when a pop-out is appropriate and when it is, why it is.

This was Peduto’s statement Monday:

Quote:JUST IN: Mayor @billpeduto releases statement condemning the arrest of a protest marshal over the weekend, saying he will “never tolerate these tactics being used at peaceful protests again”.

Quote:PITTSBURGH — Days of protests led to Wednesday night’s conversation between Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and protesters on the front porch of the mayor’s home in Point Breeze, but it didn’t produce the result protesters were hoping for.

The dialogue quickly devolved after nearly two hours, and the night ended with police clashing with protesters in Mellon Park -- resulting in one arrest and an officer injured.

“He was listening to reply, you’re not listening to understand,” said Alexis Mighty, coordinator of the group Pittsburgh I Can’t Breathe. “Because every response was just, ‘oh, but the police.‘”

Protest organizers told Channel 11 they have done everything they can to get Peduto to listen to their message, to no success.
Mighty said remaining peaceful and avoiding destroying property or creating too much chaos for local neighborhoods is a huge part of getting their message across.

Beth Pittinger, executive director of the Citizen’s Police Review Board, said it is no one’s fault the dialogue was unsuccessful.  “That was just not the venue, the time, or the place to do that,” she said. “And I think I would look for him to follow up with some invitation to the individuals to come forward and set a time and location.”  Pittinger also said they had previously raised questions about whether private retaliation is acceptable for public acts.  “They determined that there are limits to the extent you can go to someone’s residence and disrupt the entire neighborhood and put people in a fearful situation,” she said.

But the protesters said they weren’t causing a disruption and that most neighbors actually supported their actions by offering food, bathroom breaks and chanting with them.  And Mighty told Channel 11 they are not just protesting, but Peduto hasn’t been giving them the forum to speak.  “We tried to sit in on city council meetings. We called the right people, the authorities. It’s just like, how much more are we gonna have to do?” she said.

Mighty said when the conversation Wednesday ended, police told them to leave the area and directed them to Mellon Park. Police said the park was then closed, and the situation escalated from there.  “They started tear-gassing and spraying people like directly in the face like right here, and people were trying to run and disperse because now the residue is hitting everyone else,” Mighty said.

Meanwhile, Pittinger said as far as she could tell from videos online, protesters were following directions while exercising their rights. She said the “overt use” of force against the people who followed what they were told to do needs to be reviewed.  “Yes, they were loud, they chanted. There was a lot of yelling and screaming. Thus far, I have not seen any evidence on video that there were any overt threats made from the protesting group to the police,” Pittinger said.

Police officials said they are in the process of reviewing what happened Wednesday night.

(08-24-2020, 09:04 PM)Zombie.Hunter Wrote: Unfortunately Mayor Dumbass isn't gonna give up his seat anytime soon.

(08-30-2020, 09:01 PM)Zombie.Hunter Wrote: But the thing is, If they don't want to be arrested... STOP BREAKING THE LAW ASSHOLE!!!

Quote:PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto had to address another protest outside his home, after tensions were high Tuesday night in Point Breeze.

A group gathered in the mayor’s neighborhood again last night. At one point, one of Peduto’s neighbors got angry and confronted protesters.

According to Christian Snyder -- an independent journalist who was at the protest and tweeted out numerous videos from the scene -- that neighbor became agitated and started to spray water toward the crowd. He was heard in this video saying that if it were up to him, “you’d (the protesters) all be dead.”

Quote:One of Peduto’s Trump-supporting neighbors comes out of his house and threatens the group, using a neighbor’s garden hose to spray water. He then says he wishes the protesters were dead. pic.twitter.com/tXHmBTSadM
— Christian Snyder (@csnyderj) September 23, 2020

The mayor said Wednesday that he feels more for his neighbors in general than he does himself for everything that is going on.

“Protest is a part of democracy, and we have not only permitted but gone beyond what the city code allows in allowing these protests that continue,” Peduto said.
Officials told Channel 11 another neighbor threw rocks at the crowd, and police showed up shortly after.

The group of protesters eventually left the mayor’s neighborhood.