People rallying for #JusticeForAntwon are blocking Rt 30 outside of PGH after protesting outside of East PGH’s mayor’s house & holding moment of silence where #AntwonRose II was shot. Traffic at standstill. “Come & join us, you’ll be here for a while,” they say to those in cars. pic.twitter.com/pVeAwOGmR4
— Stephanie Strasburg (@StephStrasburg) July 8, 2018
Dozens of protesters rallying for social justice in the wake of last month’s police shooting of 17-year old Antwon Rose II marched along Route 30 in East Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon, temporarily blocking traffic.
The demonstration began around 3 p.m. outside the home of East Pittsburgh Mayor Louis Payne. Participants then held a moment of silence near the intersection of Grandview Avenue and Howard Street in East Pittsburgh, at the spot where Antwon was fatally shot.
At Route 30, protesters lined up in the outbound lanes and kept traffic at a standstill. They yelled, "Come and join us, you'll be here for a while.”
A motorist attempted to make his way through the group, and was taken into custody by police. Several protesters were hit but no major or life-threatening injuries were reported.
Nicky Jo Dawson, one of the march leaders, said that the point of blocking roadways and shutting down business districts is to enhance their visibility.
“So many times, that’s the condition – we’re not seen or heard, until we’re dead and buried,” Ms. Dawson said. “They see it as an inconvenience, but it’s an inconvenience to come out in this heat and demand justice, when it should’ve been given in the first place.”
“Just everybody coming together and seeing all races – it’s going to take everybody to see a revival, to see something happen, see change, no matter the colors,” 24-year old Isaiah Jefferson of Monroeville said while holding a banner in an intersection by Route 30.
“We want to show our respect even though we didn't know him,” 14-year-old Marcus Taylor of North Versailles said about participating in the protests.
He carried a “Justice for Antwon” banner with four other people as they walked across the George Westinghouse Bridge.
The demonstration was the latest among a series that have taken place in the wake of Antwon’s death. Antwon was shot three times — in the face, elbow and back — and killed on June 19 by East Pittsburgh police Officer Michael Rosfeld after he ran away from a vehicle during a traffic stop. The vehicle Antwon was traveling in was suspected minutes earlier in a drive-by shooting in North Braddock, but surveillance videos have shown that another passenger in the car, Zaijuan Hester, 17, was the shooter and not Antwon.
Police and volunteer firefighters from several nearby jurisdictions shut down the portion of Route 30 where the protest took place and routed traffic around the group, mostly mitigating any major traffic disruptions.
Officer Rosfeld is under house arrest and has a preliminary hearing at 11 a.m. July 27.
Dan Gigler: dgigler@post-gazette.com; Twitter @gigs412.
First Published: July 8, 2018, 8:03 p.m.
