Video post of altercation in pizza shop spurs protest

spokeswoman Alicia George pointed to “misinformation” on social media and stated that the police were not called to the restaurant.

“We were called to the hospital to take the report,” she said. She could not identify which hospital. Zone 2 police detectives are investigating the incident.

About half a dozen police officers were stationed in their cruisers or stood outside Pizza Milano on Saturday at 2 p.m., as protesters like Dale Williams talked with others among the crowd.

“This is not just a case about black and white. It’s about right and wrong,” Mr. Williams said.

The employee is white and Ms. Martin is black.

Referring to the employee on the video, he said. “He beat that woman’s head off the ground, like literally. Not one time, not two times, but multiple times. The door was right there. If you wanted her outside the establishment, why wouldn’t you drag her out the door? Why drag her further into the store to cause more of a commotion and humiliate her like that?”

The victim’s cousin, Neondra MacMillan, said she first saw a video without sound on Facebook. Friday night, she interacted with commenters to find out what was going on and learned her cousin was the victim. “I was shocked,” she said.

With the incident occurring at the start of Martin Luther King weekend, protesters said they are organizing for a larger presence in front of Pizza Milano starting at noon Monday.

“We’ll be back here with six different community organizations at least to make sure that our presence is shown down here,” Mr. Hall said “We’re going to come back in a positive state to make sure . . . we’re sending a symbol of Martin Luther King Day, that our presence is felt here, and they’re not allowed to divide us any further, especially when it comes to violence and when it comes to violence against women. We’re not going to stand for that.”

Inside Pizza Milano, there were no customers beyond a few police officers sitting at tables. The restaurant appeared fully staffed. No one from the business would talk to the Post-Gazette about the incident. An employee escorted a reporter to the door.