University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
A device, later described as a smoke bomb and firework, went off outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review
Pittsburgh Police stand outside the O’Hara Student Center at the University of Pittsburgh during a protest against anti-trans activist Michael Knowles on Tuesday, April 18, 2023 in Oakland.
Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review
Trans-rights supporters protest the appearance of anti-trans rights speaker Michael Knowles on Tuesday, April 18, 2023 outside the University of Pittsburgh O’Hara Student Center in Oakland. Knowles was invited by a student group to speak at the O’Hara Student Center on Tuesday night.
Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review
Protesters chant Tuesday outside the Pitt O’Hara Student Center at the University of Pittsburgh in response to an appearance by Michael Knowles, an anti-trans rights activist who was invited by a student group to speak.
Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review
Trans-rights supporters protest the appearance of anti-trans activist Michael Knowles on Tuesday at the O’Hara Student Center on the University of Pittsburgh campus.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
A device, later described as a smoke bomb and firework, went off outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
Police detained two suspected protesters during a protest outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
A device, later described as a smoke bomb and firework, went off outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Massoud Hossaini | Tribune-Review
University of Pittsburgh students participate in a protest to support transgenderism outside the O’Hara Student Center in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Protests raged into Tuesday night on the University of Pittsburgh campus during a debate with Daily Wire host Michael Knowles about transgender rights inside the O’Hara Student Center.
The university closed buildings and reported a “public safety emergency” as a protest crowd grew and an “incendiary device” went off. Police later described the device as a smoke bomb and firework. There were no reported injuries. Medics were called to the area as a precaution.
A body dummy with a picture of Knowles’ face was also set on fire on the street.
More than 250 people protested outside the O’Hara Student Center as Knowles debated with libertarian journalist Brad Polumbo. The event called “Should transgenderism be regulated by law?” started around 7:30 p.m. The Intercollegiate Studies Institute sponsored the event, which was hosted by Pitt College Republicans.
Pittsburgh police trying to disperse crowd at Pitt protest. Protest going since 3.06 pm, police said over bullhorn pic.twitter.com/NMcDYjqJQG
For more than two hours, the university sent out tweets saying that some Pitt buildings were closing early, the university was restricting access to others, including certain residence halls, and other buildings were temporarily locked down.
Knowles appeared to leave the event in an SUV around 9 p.m. Around that time, the crowd had dwindled down to 50. Police officers from Pittsburgh, Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University were on the scene.
About 10 minutes later, Pittsburgh police ordered people to leave the area and go home. The majority of the crowd dispersed.
At 10:23 p.m., the university tweeted that “all buildings are returning to normal operations.”
When the situation was over, the university summarized it in this way in a tweet:
“On the evening of April 18, 2023, an Emergency Notification Service message was sent alerting the campus community to an incident happening outside of O’Hara Student Center.
There were several groups gathering, including guests arriving for a speaker event and counter demonstrators in the vicinity.
In addition to several devices which produced significant smoke, an incendiary device was thrown in the direction of officers, triggering the message.
As the situation evolved, several buildings were temporarily closed and visitors to residence halls restricted as a safety precaution.
Throughout the evening, the university posted updates online.
Knowles, in a speech to a recent gathering of the Conservative Political Action Committee, drew backlash from some for saying that “transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely.”
Many of the protesters chanted and carried signs that read “No hate in Appalachia,” “Trans Rights are Human Rights” and “Trans Power.”
The event was posted on YouTube. Protesters could be heard yelling “Trans rights are human rights” when Knowles took the podium.
“There they are,” Knowles said of the protesters. “That sounds like they’ve gotten into harmony. It’s not even melody anymore. I guess there was an opening act.”
Police escorted the protesters out and the audience applauded.
Protesters are blocking the entrance to O’Hara Student Center where Michael Knowles is rumored to be speaking. Current scene in Oakland @TribLIVEpic.twitter.com/txpl7pCwfo
