Protests broke out almost immediately Friday night in Pittsburgh after a jury found white former East Pittsburgh officer Michael Rosfeld not guilty in the shooting of unarmed black teenager Antwon Rose. Less than a day later, those protests came to Pitt’s campus, where hundreds of protesters circled through Oakland, demanding justice for the memory of 17-year-old Rose.
The Saturday protest began shortly after 5 p.m. as a circle of about 50 people gathered in Schenley Plaza. Organizers of the protest began call-and-response chants, including “Who did this? The police did this.” They emphasized Rose’s age, and read a widely-circulated poem he had written at 15 about growing up black in America.
The protesters listed their demands on a prominently displayed sign. It read: “Initial demands: 1) Fire racist FOP president 2) Fire Stephen Zappala 3) Support Allegheny County Police Review Board.”
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Bader Abdulmajeed | Staff Photographer
Protesters’ demands included the dismissal of Allegheny County’s district attorney Stephen Zappala and the local police union president, as well as the formation of a police review board.
Zappala, Allegheny County’s district attorney, oversaw the trial of Michael Rosfeld, the police officer who shot Rose three times in the back in June 2018. Zappala released a statement after last night’s verdict was announced.
“While I respectfully disagree with their verdict, it is the people of this commonwealth who decide guilty or not guilty and they have spoken to this matter,” he said.
Activists have also previously called for the firing of Ronald Swartzwelder, the president of the local police union Fraternal Order of Police Fort Pitt Lodge 1, after a grand jury report found he had impeded investigations of two shootings, one fatal, where police were involved.
The idea of a community police review board, which would consist of community representatives and retired law enforcement officers, gained support in the wake of Rose’s shooting.
[Read: Jury finds Rosfeld not guilty in Rose shooting case]
At one point, organizers led the protest into The Porch, a restaurant in Schenley Plaza.
“Why do you care if you can’t eat right now?” one organizer said to patrons who were dining. “Antwon can never eat again.”
After exiting The Porch, the protesters, joined by an increasing number of newcomers, moved to stand in the crosswalks on all four sides of the intersection of Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard. They blocked traffic for about ten minutes, though they allowed emergency vehicles to pass.
As drivers who were unable to cross Bigelow honked, protesters turned their chant on the drivers, asking, “You can’t get by, but did you die?”
The protest followed a circular path, moving down Bigelow to Fifth Avenue, where protesters turned and marched as far as Atwood, eventually returning to Schenley Plaza via Forbes Avenue.
Organizers periodically made announcements for the benefits of new protesters, reminding the crowd that it was possible there were undercover police officers and that the protest was intended to be peaceful. There were medics on hand with food and water for anyone who needed it, they said.
The march made a brief stop by the Fifth Avenue entrance to Litchfield Towers, where organizers stood on the steps address the crowd. Several Pitt Police officers blocked off the top of the stairs, preventing protesters from going further.
[Gallery: Rosfeld verdict protest]
Dee Wilkerson from East End, who had brought a young child with her to the protest, pointed at the police officers.
“You can’t trust them,” she told the child.
Wilkerson said she was upset by the pattern she saw in Rosfeld’s shooting of Rose.
“I’ve seen this happen my entire life and I am so tired of black men, of unarmed black men, being shot by the police,” Wilkerson said. “It has to end.”
The protest lost a few members as it moved through Oakland, but gained many more, growing large enough to fill the intersection at Forbes Avenue and S. Bouquet Street. Clara Grantier, a junior environmental studies major, joined the protest with her friends after hearing the chanting outside. Though she wasn’t familiar with the organizers’ specific demands, Grantier said she joined because she was unhappy with the jury’s finding.
“Students should get more involved with causes like this and holding a protest is a good way to do that,” Grantier said. “I don’t think justice was served.”
Brian Gentry and Neena Hagen contributed reporting to this story.
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