Leaders condemn furtive arrest of protester
City and county leaders on Monday condemned Pittsburgh police using plainclothes officers in an unmarked van to arrest a protester Saturday.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said the protester shouldn’t have been detained, noting that low-level offenses should proceed by summons rather than as misdemeanors.
“On Saturday, Pittsburgh Police, directed by the public safety director and the mayor, chose to proceed by arrest and criminal complaint on charges that should have been handled via summons,” Mr. Zappala wrote in a statement.
He added, “Pending the review of body worn camera footage which my office obtained earlier today, this matter appears to be a summary offense at best and should be handled by the Pittsburgh Police Department in a summary hearing.”
Public safety spokesperson Cara Cruz deferred questions on Mr. Zappala’s statement to the mayor’s office.
Mayoral spokesman Timothy McNulty said, “We are in receipt of the DA’s statement and will work with him on appropriate next steps.”
Attorney Lisa Middleman is representing the protester, Matthew Cartier, 25. Ms. Middleman, who ran against Mr. Zappala last year, said it is up to the district attorney’s office to decide whether the charges are handled as summary offenses or misdemeanors.
“It is fortunate that the illegality of the arrest has been recognized, even if it is in the context of a petty political feud between Zappala and city officials,” she said.
“We clearly have a lot of work to
do in terms of rethinking ideas of policing and prosecution,” Ms. Middleman added.
County Controller Chelsa Wagner criticized the mayor’s handling of the protest and said the city’s “decision to deploy authoritarian tactics resembling a criminal abduction against a peaceful protest leader on Saturday is as inscrutable as it is distressing.”
City Councilmen Daniel Lavelle and Ricky Burgess released a joint statement, with Mr. Burgess comparing the arrest to the case of Jordan Miles. In 2010, three plainclothes officers pulled up in an unmarked car and tried to arrest Mr. Miles, who they thought had a gun. The officers claimed they identified themselves as police; Mr. Miles, who was beaten during the arrest, disputed their claim.
“No policy should allow police officers to jump out of an unmarked vehicle and arrest protesters,” Mr. Lavelle wrote.
Pittsburgh police on Saturday arrested Mr. Cartier, of Pittsburgh, alleging in a criminal complaint that he was creating a hazard by blocking busy intersections to make way for about 150 marchers, “startling motorists” and causing them to “stop suddenly and unsafely.”
During the arrest, a team of heavily armed, plainclothes officers took Mr. Cartier away from the scene in a white, unmarked van.
Police said uniformed officers told him multiple times to stop, saying he was creating safety hazards on the high-traffic area of Fifth Avenue, including disrupting hospital access. He is being charged with failure to disperse and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors, and obstruction to highways or other public passages, a summary offense, according to court documents.
In the account of events that Mr. Cartier shared on Twitter, he said, “When I approached the van to provide directions the passenger grabbed me and multiple other men sprang out of the back of the van heavily armed to arrest me.” He said officers then searched him and took him to Allegheny County Jail.
He was arraigned Sunday and released on his own recognizance pending an Aug. 24 preliminary hearing.
On Sunday, Mayor Bill Peduto spoke at Pittsburgh police headquarters along with Chief Scott Schubert and Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich.
“I was very uncomfortable, just to be honest,” Mr. Peduto said Sunday. “I saw it like anybody else saw it. It’s like, why are we having plainclothes officers in an unmarked vehicle arresting somebody through a pop-out tactic? I let leadership know of my concerns today.”
He didn’t rule out the tactic in all circumstances but said it “has to be really further explained. It needs to be that the public understands that when they’re walking down the street, they’re safe” from abduction from police “jumping out of a car.”
Mr. Peduto’s initial response was met with criticism, and later Sunday, about 100 protesters marched to Mr. Peduto’s Point Breeze home. The protesters said he was trying to shift the narrative of the arrest.
“This is about Pittsburgh not accepting that treatment,” said one protest leader, who asked not to be identified. “It’s about Pittsburgh saying ‘no’ to government vehicles abducting us on the street. It’s about Pittsburgh saying ‘no’ to our ‘progressive’ mayor rolling over every time.”
On Monday, Mr. Peduto released a statement about the arrest.
“It is hard to find the words for how livid I was after seeing the online videos of the disturbing arrest at Saturday’s protest. I have taken the time to review all the video and information that has been made available to me. As Mayor, I will never tolerate these tactics being used at peaceful protests again.”
In an email, Mr. McNulty, the spokesman for Mr. Peduto, wrote that “the Mayor wanted to review the video at length and speak with the officers in charge. He did that yesterday, then followed up with a formal statement today after his remarks to reporters yesterday.
“He has directed the Public Safety Director and the Police Chief to ban these methods in future peaceful protests.”
Mr. Peduto initially held off on condemning the arrest, saying previous attempts at “trying to provide information within a few hours, in order to present transparency” were failed efforts.
“Just a quick reminder of Constitutional rights,” he tweeted Saturday night. “They have restrictions. The right to assemble is a guaranteed right, the right to shut down public streets, is a privilege.”
He pointed out that the laws and codes for protests were developed with the American Civil Liberties Union — but the organization responded that it disagreed with the mayor’s assessment of the situation.
“Mayor Peduto is correct that the ACLU of Pennsylvania consulted with the city in drafting guidelines for how to handle protests, specifically unpermitted protests that block roadways,” Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, wrote in a statement. “However, based on eyewitness accounts, the arresting officers were in clear violation of their own guidelines.”
Some area activists have been arrested in recent weeks following allegations of unlawful behavior at protests, including charges of terroristic threats and rioting. However, there have been few instances of protesters being arrested during protests, other than those declared unlawful by police.