Tension increases as protests continue for 2nd day outside Pitt's Cathedral of Learning

A barricaded, pro- Palestinian encampment continued Monday outside the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning and protesters continued to gather in the area, with more than 300 people on the grounds, some of whom clashed with police.

A University of Pittsburgh Police officer briefly aimed what appeared to be a beanbag shotgun at a small group of protesters that attempted to rush up steps toward an encampment at the Cathedral of Learning.

Another Pitt officer confirmed it was one of their less or non-lethal tools.

Students erupted into chants of “put the gun down” and “hands up, don’t shoot” in response to the officers’ actions.

Many people lobbed water bottles over the police line to people in the encampment during the commotion. At least one chant leader with a megaphone lost their voice.

Police could be seen on a TribLive video shoving some people who tried to enter the encampment.

Prior to that incident, a couple of protesters talked with reporters. One student, who only identified themselves as Katelynn, said they used a pulley system in order to get food and water from the lawn to the encampment.

“We’ve just been chanting (and) educating anyone who has any questions and has been coming up,” Katelynn, 21, said. “Just doing our best to spread the word about what’s going on here and why we are here.”

Katelynn is among the students who disapprove of Pitt having investments in entities that support Israel.

“I pay tuition here, a buttload of money and I don’t know where that money goes,” she said. “We are uncovering more and more where that money is going. Now we realize it is helping to fund a genocide. As a student who is a person of color and comes from poverty and being first gen, I can’t allow myself to stand for something like this.”

Another protester who identified themselves as Ilyas, 20, is entering his junior year at Carnegie Mellon University.

Ilyas also noted students’ efforts to get hygiene supplies and other things across a police line and into the encampment.

“Many people have family in there that go to Pitt. This is for us as much a personal issue as standing up for Palestine is a personal issue. … This is my city. I’m a Pittsburgher. This is part of my fight as a university student. This is as much as Carnegie Mellon as it is about Pitt.”

Pitt senior Joshua Minsky, a member of the Jewish student organization Hillel International, said many of the people in the protest do not know what they are talking about and are just following a few loud leaders.

“This is a protest led by non-student groups. This is property of the University of Pittsburgh and they should not be here because only students should be here. … Most people here are following along. They don’t know what they’re saying. What went on in April at Schenley Plaza is very different.”

He said the group on Pitt property Monday night were more aggressive than those who protested in April.

Minsky also said protesters’ comments of “globalize intifada” and calling the Israeli military a genocide organization that is trying to slaughter children is “ridiculous and disgusting.”

“They’re saying that we want to do things like kill children and slaughter Palestinians (and) that’s simply untrue,” he said. “We have no grievances with the Palestinian people. We have grievances with the terror groups which govern them. I like to tell people, they never listen to me, but I like to tell them that it’s important to think independently and know what you’re repeating. … Think before we talk. People here are just being told what to say and they are all repeating without question. … It’s very sad and it shows the state of our current political discourse.”

Pitt leaders issue statement

The circumstances surrounding the renewed encampment were called into question earlier Monday by officials, who asserted that protest leaders demanding meetings with campus leadership are not affiliated with the university.

A message to campus from Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel said the encampment, unlike an earlier one in April, has included vandalism to the Cathedral of Learning and antisemitic graffiti scrawled on the Frick Fine Arts Building.

Her message to campus came hours after an array of community groups participated in a news conference outside the Cathedral to show support for the encampment, which is intended to to decry civilian casualties in Gaza in the Israel-Hamas War and urge a ceasefire.

“I’m writing with some unsettling news,” Gabel began her message to students, faculty and staff regarding 150 to 200 protesters who converged on campus Sunday evening.

“The protesters originally claimed to be a group of autonomous students supported by Pitt Divest from Apartheid, which is not a registered student organization and is not affiliated with the University in any capacity,” she wrote. “Now, a group of self-proclaimed leaders is emerging and insisting on meetings. None of these leaders are students, and their affiliations are with organizations that also have no connection to the University.”

She added, “Several of the protesters brought young children into the barricaded area, and the Cathedral of Learning has been defaced, including the placing of materials in the revolving doorway nearest the encampment with what appeared to be the intent to ignite those materials. The exterior of the Frick Fine Arts Building was also defaced with antisemitic graffiti, and a weapon was thrown through a window.”

She reiterated that Pitt is committed to free expression as a core university value.

“Our senior leadership team remains committed to meeting with students, faculty and staff to hear concerns,” she said. “Since last night, many of the protesters have left on their own, and there are no longer any children on site. Ultimately, our goal is a peaceful resolution.”

Earlier in the day, community groups representing such interests as Palestinians, labor, race representation, the environment and reproductive rights urged Gabel to meet with students and said it was inexcusable that had not already occurred.

“They deserve to know how the university is spending their money. They deserve to have their calls for divestment be answered,” said Tanisha Long, community organizer with the Abolitionist Law Center. “They deserve for the chancellor to come and speak with them.”

Some of the protesters used bullhorns to chant “free Palestine” and other messages from a collection of tents set up on the Cathedral’s Fifth Avenue side. Those inside the encampment were surrounded by railings and by police from campus and other departments.

The protesters issued a list of demands including a call for Pitt to divest from holdings and institutions in Israel, including those believed to be aiding the military campaign in Gaza since the attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

On Sunday, two demonstrations in Oakland converged on the Cathedral’s lawn, said Jared Stonesifer, senior director of external communications for the university.

“The group of demonstrators quickly erected wooden barricades and fencing, and other structures with tents inside before our public safety team could intervene, stating their intent to reestablish the Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” he said in a statement issued shortly after midnight.

The statement from Pitt Divest said “the encampment has been reestablished on University property to send a clear message to Chancellor Joan Gabel, Board of Trustees Chair Louis R. Cestello, Chief Investment Officer Jeffer Choudhry and the rest of senior administration and the Board.”

The protester was arrested by university police. That person was not affiliated with the university, said Chuck Finder, a Pitt spokesman.

Donald Johnson, 33, of Pittsburgh was charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest and obstruction, Stonesifer said.

Some who spoke at the news conference Monday decried what they called overly aggressive tactics by police in moving protesters and in making Sunday evening’s arrest. Pitt says the protesters do not have a permit , and Stonesifer has not said how long they will be allowed to remain.

An organizer with Pitt Divest, who declined to give her name, said the group was unwilling to talk with TribLive, because it had named a protester arrested during an encampment in April.

Both the Cathedral and William Pitt Union nearby were closed for a time during Sunday’s protest.

The encampment follows a wave of encampments that swept universities in the days and weeks leading up to commencement. The earlier one at Pitt lasted a week.

Some speakers at Monday’s news conference said they were not part of the protest but were there to show support.

Mizanoor Biswas, a member of the Islamic Center whose son graduated from PItt, said more respect should have been paid to students’ and other protesters and their calls for divestment.

“Thirty-nine thousand dollars each year in pharmacy school and that’s what we get? Where is the chancellor,” he asked. “Whether they agree or disagree doesn’t matter. This is what we get as a consumer of this university?”

At an unrelated news conference Monday, Mayor Ed Gainey mentioned the ongoing protest and said city police have not been actively involved so far in the protest on Pitt property.

“I urge our national and international leaders to find a path to end this conflict,” Gainey said, calling on the community to “support our local Jewish community as we see a rise in anti-Semitic behavior and the crimes,” while also acknowledging that he “cannot ignore the innocent Palestinians who have lost their lives” in the recent violence.

Pitt officials had no response when asked Monday how long the encampment would be allowed to remain. Protesters have tied their stay to accomplishing their goals.

The university also had no immediate comment on allegations of rough police tactics and a video posted to social media that appeared to show a demonstrator falling down stairs after being pushed.