Group demands action after officers confront protesters during march for Jim Rogers
By: Shelley Bortz and Jessica Guay/KDKA-TV News
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A group gathered on the steps of the City-County Building Monday to address alleged police brutality at a march protesting the death of Jim Rogers last weekend.
Two people were arrested at the protest after an altercation. Video surfaced after the march on Saturday showing a Wilkinsburg police officer allegedly punching one of the protesters. Now the group wants all officers involved fired.
"This protestor was an unarmed young black trans person who posed no threat to these two grown men who were armed police officers. How can this be reformed?" said Devon Adwoa, who is with the Justice for Jim Rogers organization. "We stand with the victims of police brutality who endured arrest and violence at the hands of Wilkinsburg police last week,"
The group held a news conference Wednesday with the two people arrested on Saturday front and center. They say the very thing they are fighting for -- justice for Rogers, a man experiencing homeless who died last year after being tased repeatedly by police -- happened again.
The march on Saturday, they say, proceeded peacefully until the group attempted to cross from Point Breeze into Wilkinsburg at the intersection of Penn and Centre avenues.
According to the group, police wanted them to leave. Shouting erupted and then it looked like a Wilkinsburg police officer punched a protester who stepped between officers trying to detain two other protestors, a mother and daughter. That woman was arrested along with another protestor.
The group is now calling for action. They're demanding all officers involved in the alleged police brutality be fired immediately.
"I'm calling for the officers to be charged. I would be charged if the tables were turned. And a separate lawsuit, Wilkinsburg, we'll get to that because there was no reason to address in a manner that they did either," Tiffany Hale said.
It's not clear if charges will be filed against the two protestors who were detained at the march. The group said they are not sharing their names and they will not be speaking.
Adwoa also said the organization's goal for Rogers' family remains the same. They want the officers who were involved in the tasing incident last year to be arrested and charged.
There's been no word yet from Wilkinsburg police.