U.S. Attorney Scott Brady Says Pittsburgh Working With Joint Terrorism Task Force Following Protests
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Scott Brady has said that Pittsburgh will be working with the Joint Terrorism Task Force after protests turned violent on Saturday.
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"The U.S. Attorney's Office has been working closely with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to preserve the First Amendment rights of citizens to free speech and assembly. Sadly, this is not what we witnessed in the streets of Pittsburgh last night."
United States Attorney General William Barr said those taking advantage of peaceful protests must be stopped.
"With the rioting that is occurring in many of our cities around the country, the voices of peaceful and legitimate protests have been hijacked by violent radical elements. Groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation to pursue their own separate, violent, and extremist agenda," he said.
Following guidance from Attorney General Barr, Brady said that Pittsburgh will be working to prosecute those that incited violence at the protests.
"Following today's clear guidance from AG Barr, we will use the proven Joint Terrorism Task Force model to identify, apprehend and prosecute anyone who uses the guise of protest to incite violence and violate federal laws," Brady said. "We will not allow violent agitators to hijack legitimate protests for their own agenda."
