The handful of protesters who camped out overnight in front of Mayor Bill Peduto’s Point Breeze home were dispersed Wednesday morning after Pittsburgh police declared the small contingent an unlawful gathering.

A protest group that grew from about 150 to more than 300 Tuesday night marched from East Liberty to Peduto’s Hastings Street home, where many stayed late into the night and early morning hours. The few that remained in the morning stayed the night, making themselves known with sirens and chants calling for the mayor to speak with them.

The mayor on Wednesday released a statement on the activity in his neighborhood.

“I have long defended First Amendment rights to peaceably protest. I strongly believe that Black Lives Matter, that we are in a historic fight for civil rights in this country, and that it is right for people to take to the streets to demand much-needed reforms to policing in our cities,” he said.

“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,” he continued. “This crosses a line that cannot be allowed to continue, causing those committing crimes against residents to face possible legal consequences for their actions.”

Activist Shawn Green, who goes by Lorenzo Rulli, was among the protesters.

“I think the most upsetting thing is that when Black lives are under attack, our mayor should stand up and speak out at least, at the bare minimum,” Rulli said. “He hasn’t supported us, he hasn’t lifted us up, he hasn’t made a Tweet that actually stands for us outside of trying to cover himself.”

About a dozen officers arrived on the street shortly after 9:30 a.m.to break up the remaining protesters, reading a statement declaring it an unlawful gathering. They warned that demonstrators could be arrested if they didn’t leave.

Kristina Ruane lives on Gettysburg Street, which is one block over and runs parallel to Hastings. She said she heard helicopters and the sirens of the protesters’ bullhorn all night. Despite the noise, she said, she supports the protesters.

“They’re peaceful, and everyone has the right to assemble,” she said. “Even if I disagreed with them, they absolutely have the right to assemble and bring attention to their grievances.”

The most disconcerting thing, Ruane said, was when she looked out her window and saw police cruisers and unmarked white vans rolling past. An unmarked van is what plainclothes officers used in a controversial arrest Saturday during a protest in Oakland. The arrest is what, in part, sparked the ire aimed at Peduto.

“I screamed for my husband and said we need to get our phones and run down,” she said.

The protesters complied, though not without a heated words for officers on scene.

Last of the protestors leave the area outside home of ⁦@billpeduto⁩ . Pittsburgh Police securing the scene. ⁦@TribLIVE⁩ pic.twitter.com/mShciMBn6q

— Abby Mackey (@AnthroAbbyRN) August 19, 2020

Peduto arrived home Wednesday at about 11 a.m.

Jim Niesen, 74, and Barbara Mackenzie-Wood, 70, live directly across the street from the mayor. They said they support protesters and their rights. Niesen said he was once tear-gassed at a protest against the war in Vietnam – but not like this.

“This is much more, ‘Come down here and join us or you’re an (expletive),’ ” he said. “It felt that overall the goal was to provoke somebody so it would escalate and then the police would have to come in and do something.”

Despite that, they said, most of the protesters who gathered Tuesday night were polite. One asked permission before they lit up a cigarette near their home. Another, realizing they’d stepped on a plant, got down on their hands and knees to try to save it.

⁦@billpeduto⁩ arriving home, chatting with friends and neighbors. Neighbor Jim Niesen describes a protester yelling in his face with a bullhorn. Mayor Peduto describes that action as a felony if the bullhorn touched the face of the 74-year-old. ⁦@TribLIVE⁩ pic.twitter.com/bYc1hAJHia

— Abby Mackey (@AnthroAbbyRN) August 19, 2020

Niesen and Mackenzie-Wood described the mayor as “a very pure guy,” no matter how one feels about his politics. Peduto stopped to chat with Niesen as he arrived home after protesters had dispersed.

Niesen described a protester putting a bullhorn in his face, so close that it touched him.

“That’s a felony,” Peduto told him.

The mayor chided some demonstrators for “using protests to create conflict and division.”

Peduto reiterated his condemnation of the arrest tactic used Saturday by Pittsburgh police and his call for it to be barred from use during peaceful protests. He said if activists want to target him, that’s fine, but to leave other residents out of it.

“I understand that people are feeling fear, pain and anger in our communities, and that some want to take their frustrations out on me,” he said. “I fully accept that, but I will not accept unjustified actions that threaten neighbors in any part of the city.”

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