PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) — Pittsburgh Public Safety caught wind of a group of protestors traversing their way through the Downtown area on Wednesday evening.
Straight from the Pittsburgh Public Safety's Twitter account, they've followed and took note of a group of protestors and made attempts to make contact and seek answers on the procession, to no avail.
A Twitter alert originally went live with the group moving down Grant Street.
Efforts were made by Civil Affairs officers, specifically, to seek clarity on the intent of the protest, but there were not any responses.
Police quickly started monitoring the situation and made pre-emptive preparations to close roadways as needed.
The group halted at the intersection of Grant Street and Sixth Avenue.
They then moved up Sixth Avenue and hung a left onto Wood Street.
The destination and intent were still unknown at that point.
The protestors traveled onto the Boulevard of the Allies, headed in the direction of Smithfield Street, and doubled back down Grant Street to the City-Council Building, the nascency of the march.
At 6:36 p.m., the group arrived peacefully back at the front of the City-Council Building; Grant Street was closed off.
Nothing violent or uncivil had occurred up to the point of the protestors' rearrival.
At 7:36 p.m., the crowd had mostly cleared out, but a smaller faction of protestors began marching once again.
The purpose or motives were still unclear as the subgroup moved away from the City-Council Building on Forbes Avenue.
The faction then traveled as followed: toward Washington Place, onto Bedford Avenue toward Hill Street, and back to the City-Council Building again.
At about 7:50 p.m., Pittsburgh Public Safety reported that the splinter group had begun to topple street signs and knock over trash cans.
The mini-group of protestors threw signs and trash cans to the ground as they moved inbound on Wylie Avenue.
The group then moved back onto Washington Place, returned to Grant Street, and walked back to the City-Council Building yet again.
The splinter group, at this point, brandished a banner that said "Don't vote. Fight for revolution."
One of the protestors also spray-painted the City-Council Building.
In the most recent Twitter update, the splinter group balkanized into several smaller units.
At the time of writing, three arrests had been made for the destruction.
As mentioned, all reports came from the Pittsburgh Public Safety Twitter, and the accounts of the protest can be followed chronologically.
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