PITTSBURGH, PA –The Democratic Mayor of Pittsburgh, Bill Peduto, tried to show the world how ‘woke’ he was in refusing to speak ill of the Black Lives Matter protests in the city.
Peduto is known for caving to them as many times as possible.
However, when those protests came to his neighborhood, he suddenly had a change of heart and condemned them.
Outside @billpeduto house pic.twitter.com/PYSxajpZVy
— Don Carpenter (@AnarchyWaltz) August 19, 2020
On August 19th, Peduto was less than impressed when protesters from BLM showed up outside of his home and made themselves feel welcome.
The protesters, who were harassing anyone in the area and sounding sirens and stereos seemed to be okay in other places but not outside of his front door.
Peduto gave a statement to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette regarding the protest. In it, he said that he “strongly believes Black Lives Matter, that we are in a historic fight for civil rights in this country,” but…
“What I cannot defend is any neighborhood in our city – and their residents and families -being disturbed through the night and morning, and a peaceful protest devolving into unacceptable conduct in which residents are being harassed and threatened.
“This crosses a line that cannot be allowed to continue, causing those committing crimes against residents to face possible legal consequences for their actions. Using protests to create conflict and division, as some are doing, only impacts the ability of others to exercise their constitutional rights safely.”
In other words, he is appearing to say the protests, riots, and looting are okay, as long as they are not in his neighborhood.
CBS Pittsburgh spoke to a co-owner, Jesse Seager, of Point Brugge Café which is near the Mayor’s home. Seager said:
“There definitely are neighbors that are scared. I talked to multiple neighbors that left for the evening that have kids, that have elderly people in the house.”
A neighbor of the mayor’s told WTAE:
“It’s been bad because we’ve all had to shut our windows, and 11pm, when it’s time to go to bed, they’re out there beating drums and playing music and making a whole lot of noise.”
HotAir writer Jazz Shaw said:
“As long as the demonstrations remained in the downtown area, both Mayor Bill Peduto and many of the police seemed content to let the situation play out. But Peduto’s attitude took a decided turn toward the less tolerant side when the protests moved to a new location.”
Shaw has a point, in June as the protests and riots began to grow, Peduto said:
“Reform doesn’t happen overnight, and we don’t have all the answers right now, but the work has begun and we will continue to work directly with our communities to create a city that’s livable for all.
“Black neighbors, residents, partners -we hear you. Your voice is important and necessary to rebuilding. We will have phases of policy reform and we’ll talk and walk together the whole way. We will better collect racial and demographic data so that we know who we are serving and who we are not so we can do better.
“I do believe that we are a city where when we are met with adversity, we pull together to take care of our neighbors and come out stronger. It’s time again for us to go to work. Let’s work harder and let’s work better for ALL of our neighbors. Especially our black neighbors who need our support right now. Our Black Neighbors Matter. Black Lives Matter.”
Peduto has done his best as of late to side with members of Black Lives Matter in order to get their support. But when they showed up on his lawn, demanding his resignation, maybe his thoughts are starting to change.
He and the Chicago mayor would get along great. She just banned protestors from being near her house, because she believes her safety is more important than that of everyone else disrupted by these anarchists.
CHICAGO, IL- Remember this…there are two sets of rules. One for the ruling class—and one for the servants—you know the regular old taxpaying residents.
Let’s go back to last week when rioting thugs looted stores in the downtown Million Mile area of the city? Remember that? Yeah, we do too. So, while thugs were cleaning out stores in Chicago, where were police resources being allocated to?
How about the neighborhood where the “ruling class” in Chicago lives. And while Chicago’s mayor gives cover to violent protests in other parts of the city, the Chicago Police have banned protesters from demonstrating in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s neighborhood.
The hypocrisy in Chicago knows no bounds.
Do you remember back at the beginning of April, when Lightfoot was producing public service announcements admonishing residents of the city to stay at home and obey executive orders in order to flatten the curve, in fact saying “getting your roots done is not essential?
Do you remember when Mayor Lightfoot violated her own order and got a haircut because, as she said, “I’m the public face of the city. I’m on national media and I’m out in the public eye?” Yeah, we do.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago PD have effectively prohibited protesters from exercising their “right to ‘peaceful’ protests” [as Lightfoot and other Democrats have referred to them] in her Logan Square neighborhood.
The Tribune reported that a directive was discovered from a July email sent by then-Shakespeare District Commander Melvin Roman to officers assigned to his district.
The email did not differentiate between so-called “peaceful” protesters and those given to violence. Since the demonstrations began at the end of May, Lightfoot has expressed support to protesters, including those who tended to be destructive.
She did say that after protesters had been warned, “it should be locked down,” presumably meaning the demonstrations.
Hypocrisy doesn’t just occur in Chicago, as we have seen politicians such as New York Mayor Bill de Blasio cut over $1 billion from the police budget, but then direct NYPD officers to guard “murals” paying tribute to a group that wants to eliminate them, both fiscally as well as wanting them dead, Black Lives Matter.
In Los Angeles, a city councilman who has voted to cut millions from the LAPD budget has called the department eight times in the last month or two to deal with alleged threats.
In Chicago, officers have worked to block protesters access to Lightfoot’s block, both with groups of officers as well as barricades. Police have contained protesters in a specific area just outside the block, however as the Tribune reported, one standoff last month resulted in police bringing in an armored vehicle in the event things got out of hand.
Residents who live in Lightfoot’s Logan Square neighborhood have railed against the city’s approach in that area, complaining that police check IDs prior to letting residents into the area to their homes.
One such resident, Ron Kaminecki, a 69-year-old attorney who also owns a bicycle shop expressed the frustration that some have been feeling due to the constant police presence as well as the barricades.
“I came up with the name ‘Fort Lori’ because it’s so hard to get in and out,” he said.
Last Friday, dozens of protesters were sent back out of the area after trying to march to Lightfoot’s home to protest in support of an initiative to remove Chicago police officers from the city’s schools.
According to the police department and upon questions from the Tribune, officials said that both state law, as well as Chicago’s municipal code prohibit protests in residential areas.
“CPD remains committed to facilitating First Amendment rights, while also protecting public safety. CPD continues to enforce state law and the City’s municipal code regarding public assembly,” said Margaret Huynh, CPD spokeswoman in a statement.
“The block is open at this time.”
When asked to identify instances where the city’s residential protest ban was enforced not including those near Lightfoot’s house, Huynh said, “every situation is evaluated by the size of the protests and the available space,” however she could not or would not provide any examples.
One of Lightfoot’s neighbors who has lived in the area for three years said that he personally didn’t see anything with the protests. He noted that at times this summer there have been as many as 50 police officers within two blocks of Lightfoot’s house.
“The visual of that, I think could strike a person as kind of chilling,” he said, refusing to divulge his name for privacy reasons the Tribune said. “Seeing such a strong police presence, I would say it can feel intimidating, whether or not it’s intended that way,” he told the paper.
As to Lightfoot, she’s “important,” remember? She said that due to alleged threats she “receives daily,” she and her family need increased security.
While she refused to elaborate on specific threats, she said that she receives them daily against herself, her wife, and her home. She told the Tribune that attempts to compare her protection by the Chicago PD to that of former mayor Rahm Emanuel were not legitimate, because “this is a different time like no other,” Lightfoot told reporters.
“I think that residents of this city, understanding the nature of the threats that we are receiving on a daily basis, on a daily basis, understand I have a right to make sure that my home is secure,” she said.
Lightfoot, along with Chicago police Superintendent David Brown were being questioned by reporters at an unrelated news conference about Chicago police being stationed in her neighborhood to ban protesters from access to her home, with orders to arrest anyone who refused to leave.
According to the paper, neither city activists nor police sources could identify instances where the city blocked access to Emanuel’s residence. Likewise, when former President Obama and his family lives in the city, access to his home was not shut down until after he was elected president.
Lightfoot once again had an excuse, saying that any such comparisons “don’t make any sense,” with Brown identifying the coronavirus pandemic and the civil unrest following George Floyd’s death while in police custody in Minneapolis.
“I’m not going to make any excuses for the fact that, given the threats I have personally received, given the threats to my home and my family, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure they’re protected,” Lightfoot said. “I make no apologies whatsoever for that.”
Some police sources complain that the expanded police presence in Lightfoot’s neighborhood draws valuable police resources away from other areas within the district.
Brown said that police have allowed some “leeway” with some demonstrations, however he also said that some “peaceful” protests have been “hijacked” by troublemakers, which he gave as a reason for keeping demonstrators off of Lightfoot’s block.
“We have seen very peaceful First Amendment protests for the most part but embedded in each of those protests have been very violent people. And they’re embedded. They put up umbrellas. And they come for a fight,” Brown said. “So, we have to prepare for what we’ve seen.”
So just remember—”two sets of rules—one for thee, one for me.”- Lori Lightfoot
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