They are arresting people who drive through protesters here in Pittsburgh now.

[fastfredracing]

Can we keep this out of parf?
What do you think? We had a cop shoot a young kid in the back, who was fleeing from a traffic stop. Kid was supposedly involved in a drive by moments before.
That is a whole other story.
They have been protesting for 3 weeks now, blocking highways, major arteries , and city streets here. Basically , non violent .
2 guys have driven through the protesters, also, non violently, slowly, and not hurting any of the protesters. They were both arrested.
Not sure how I would re-act if I was sitting in my truck with my family, and facing an angry mob of protesters. I can promise that if I felt threatened, all bets are off.
What are your thoughts on this? Criminal to drive on through?
The world is falling apart around us.

[speeder]

What were the charges against the people who drove through? Need more info.

[wdfifteen]

driving through a crowd of people is dangerous -to you. Stupid to do it. I'm not sure what the charges would be, but some people need to be protected from themselves.

[fastfredracing]

One could also argue that blocking public streets is dangerous - to you.
Its just a matter of time before someone gets hurt, then all hell is going to break loose . My.02

[javadog]

I would not arrest someone that drove slowly through a crowd without incident but I probably would arrest anybody blocking traffic in a street. People have a right to protest but that right doesn't extend to protesting in the streets, unless you have a permit to do so. Personally, I would go around the crowd. If the police would do their jobs, this other kind of problem would not occur.

[Hugh R]

IMHO, you without a permit blocking me from legally traveling about my business is you unlawfully restraining me. I wouldn't drive thru the crowd, but I'd sure as hell like to make them uncomfortable.

[Baz]

I don't have ALL the facts of the situation but here are my thoughts.....

1. These people who protest in a way that inconveniences other folks who have nothing to do with their grievance are idiots and should be either arrested or fined for doing stuff like that.

2. There are ALWAYS more productive ways to protest, if one uses their brain

3. I would never try to harm someone myself but there's an old saying...do stupid tricks...win stupid prizes.....so wouldn't surprise me that someone is hurt when this stuff happens

4. Bottom line for me is law enforcement IN CONJUNCTION WITH community leaders are ultimately responsible for maintaining order in any community, so that's where the buck stops

5. Consider this...if any safety vehicle had to go through a crowd....they would go through with lights and sirens and if anyone gets arrested it wouldn't be the drivers...it would be the "protestors"...

[Baz]

[recycled sixtie]

There is no point in driving through a crowd of protesters. Take the long way round and avoid the protesters. It is simply not worth risking driving through some potentially angry protesters. I have no idea what the legal rights of protesters are. Common sense should prevail.

[speeder]

OK, the OP claims that “people are being arrested” for driving through protestors. Are there others, besides the guy in the video clip Baz posted? Because it sounds like he was arrested for ADW, his vehicle being the deadly weapon. If you intentionally drive your car into someone standing in the street, regardless of why they are there or how you feel about it, you are beyond stupid and will pay dearly for your stupidity.

This guy is probably looking at 6-figures in lawyer fees and serious jail time. He’s a special guy, he did it on camera, in front of dozens of cooperative witnesses and possible even in front of the cops. Brilliant.

I get that people are extremely annoyed when someone is blocking your way by standing in the street. If you drive in any major U.S. city these days, some zombie-like homeless person w a shopping cart will be crossing against a red light or just wandering down the middle of the street, blocking your passage. It’s no different than protestors to me...if I nudge one w my car, it could be prison and that person blocking me owning all of my stuff.

[cabmandone]

AFAIK we have a right to peaceful assembly. We do not have a right to block streets or stop others from travelling. The people blocking the streets should be arrested.

[BK911]

Reginald denny.

[Tobra]

Mr Denny is what sprang to mind for me too.

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

There is no point in driving through a crowd of protesters. Take the long way round and avoid the protesters. It is simply not worth risking driving through some potentially angry protesters. I have no idea what the legal rights of protesters are. Common sense should prevail.

Pretty sure it is illegal to back up on the interstate, what if they are blocking one of those, or you can't go around?

What about when they start pounding on your hood, or beating on your windows?

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by cabmando

AFAIK we have a right to peaceful assembly. We do not have a right to block streets or stop others from travelling. The people blocking the streets should be arrested.

I agree with this, seems like a major failure of law enforcement. Total right to protest, but they should not do it on a public street.

As for driving through the protesters, I have a really hard time justifying that. If they are violently attacking your car that's a different story altogether, but I don't see that as the case here. Turn around and go another way, while muttering about how they are morons.

[sammyg2]

They are arresting people who drive through protesters here in Pittsburgh now.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Turn around and go another way, while muttering about how they are morons.

I regularly do this even when no one is blocking my way.

[fintstone]

Policing problem. They should be arresting the folks in the street.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Let them eat Watermelon and Fried Chicken.

[Gretch]

shoot some more of the protesters....... that will scatter the bastages.....

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I remember how hard it was for our Founding Father's to get permits to protest. Those British were bastards with all their rules and regulations.

Fuch permits, protest isn't meant for safe spaces. Don't like being inconvenienced? Move to another country. We don't need inconvenienced Americans. Just get the fuch out of the country.