As a precaution, city is prepping for protests if Trump fires Mueller

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Plainclothes Pittsburgh police detectives are being asked to bring their uniforms and protective gear to work so they are prepared for possible demonstrations if President Donald Trump fires Robert Mueller, the special counsel.

Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich confirmed Wednesday that the decision was precautionary and not based on any specific intelligence. But plans for possible protests are underway.

More than 2,300 people have registered to participate in a protest in Pittsburgh if the president fires Mr. Mueller or takes action to curtail his investigation. The protest would be part of a nationwide series of demonstrations called Nobody Is Above The Law.

According to the event page, any protest would gather at the City-County Building before 6 p.m. that day if the president were to fire Mr. Mueller before 3 p.m., and at noon the next day if he were to fire him after 3 p.m.

Other regional locations for planned demonstrations listed on the event’s website include the Beaver County Courthouse, IRMC Park in Indiana, and the federal building and courthouse in Wheeling, W.Va.

Republican leaders in Washington, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have said this week that they do not believe Mr. Trump will fire Mr. Mueller for his investigation of potential ties between Russia and Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign as well as possible obstruction of justice by the president.

“We receive intelligence on a routine basis that we analyze and we take a look at through the Pittsburgh police intelligence unit, and we prepare for any type of incident, whether it be weatherrelated, man-made, demonstration, whatever. This is just another precaution that we take. We have no information whether or not it’s credible or not,” Mr. Hissrich said. “We have no inside information. It’s our job to be prepared.”

Mr. Hissrich added that the detectives who work out of the major crimes squad at police headquarters on the North Side — detectives who investigate homicides, robberies, burglaries, sexual assaults and narcotics, for instance — are being asked to bring their uniform and protective gear to work.

“You can’t have officers out in suit and coat. But part of the uniform is the appropriate gear that they have,” Mr. Hissrich said.