Police officers in Pittsburgh are investigating videos that show violence during demonstrations that took place over the weekend, a police official confirmed to The Epoch Times on Sept. 7.
One video shows a demonstrator shoving a megaphone into the face of another man, who was holding a bicycle. The man holding the bike swatted the megaphone. Then another demonstrator smacked the man in the head with a skateboard.
Another clip shows the man with the megaphone using it to shout at people dining at outdoor tables at a restaurant.
“You are an embarrassment,” the man shouted as other people in the crowd jeered.
Another man went up to two diners and told them, “[Expletive] the white people that built” something, before calling a man a derogatory term.
That’s when a woman wearing a “Nazi Lives Don’t Matter” shirt strode up to the diners’ table, grabbed a beverage, and drank it.
In the background, demonstrators could be heard chanting “No justice, no peace,” a common Black Lives Matter slogan.
The videos circulated widely on social media. One accrued more than 3 million views on Twitter alone.
No arrests have been made.
A police official confirmed that officers are investigating, before referring The Epoch Times to the Department of Public Safety for more information.
The department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Harassment of diners has become an increasingly popular tactic during protests and riots. The tactic was seen during recent unrest in Rochester, New York, and Washington, D.C.
Seven percent of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that took place between May 24 and Aug. 22 were violent, according to a recent report.
The protest in Pittsburgh was organized by Black Lives Matter activists, local media reported.
Demonstrators later marched to the home of Mayor Bill Peduto, a Democrat. Police officers stood outside the front door as people chanted.
Peduto wrote on Twitter early Sept. 6: “Tonight at my home—private property. The 1st Amendment doesn’t protect you to close down streets, without a permit. Yes, we have granted extra rights to assure free speech. But, continual denial of law, will end up in arrests. Actions have consequences.”
Peduto said the police were at his home “because twice protestors tried to enter through the front door.” He said people threatened to attack his house.
“Same protection that would be given to any resident under similar threats,” he wrote.
