More suspects charged for violent behavior during Pitt encampment last spring
Three of the suspects are charged with aggravated assault
Criminal charges were filed last month against five anti-Israel activists who were involved with the an illegal encampment erected at the University of Pittsburgh in June.
Charges were already pending against more than a dozen others related to confrontations with law enforcement at the June encampment. Some of those charged are affiliated with the university and others are not.
The five rioters who were charged last month with obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct are named in legal filings as Nesta Collins, Nicholas Marco, Jonathan Powell, Samuel Weiner and Gabriel Weiner aka Alexandra Weiner. Marco, Samuel Weiner and Alexandra Weiner also are charged with aggravated assault.
The criminal complaint states that on June 2, an encampment was erected at Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning without permission. Tents were erected and police were unable to enter.
“Riotous behavior occurred during this time when a group of protesters armed with makeshift shields, attempted to place combustible materials in a Cathedral of Learning revolving doorway in an attempt to set the materials on fire and prevent the police from entering,” according to the complaint.
The complaint also refers to a physical assault on a counter-protester, which prompted the police to set up metal barriers to keep people secure and to prevent other people from entering the encampment.
On June 3, the complaint alleges, 30 people rushed the security barrier and tried to dismantle it. Protesters threw items into the encampment and some officers were injured by those items.
Body cam footage showed that as an officer approached the line of protestors, one protester assaulted the officer while another protester — identified as Alexandra Weiner — struck the officer with a plastic garbage can “shield,” the complaint states. A third individual, identified as Samuel Weiner, was “also wielding a plastic garbage can shield” and shoved the officer away with the shield.
Preliminary hearings for Collins, Marco and Powell were scheduled for Feb. 4. Samuel Weiner’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 4. No preliminary hearing for Alexandra Weiner has been scheduled. PJC
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