Tension increases as protests continue for 2nd day outside Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning
TribLive 06/03/24: “A barricaded, pro-Palestinian encampment continued Monday outside the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning and protesters continued to gather in the area, with more than 300 people on the grounds, some of whom clashed with police.
A University of Pittsburgh Police officer briefly aimed what appeared to be a beanbag shotgun at a small group of protesters that attempted to rush up steps toward an encampment at the Cathedral of Learning.
Another Pitt officer confirmed it was one of their less or non-lethal tools.
Students erupted into chants of ‘put the gun down’ and ‘hands up, don’t shoot’ in response to the officers’ actions.
Many people lobbed water bottles over the police line to people in the encampment during the commotion. At least one chant leader with a megaphone lost their voice.
Police could be seen on a TribLive video shoving some people who tried to enter the encampment.
Prior to that incident, a couple of protesters talked with reporters. One student, who only identified themselves as Katelynn, said they used a pulley system in order to get food and water from the lawn to the encampment.
‘We’ve just been chanting (and) educating anyone who has any questions and has been coming up,’ Katelynn, 21, said. ‘Just doing our best to spread the word about what’s going on here and why we are here.’
Katelynn is among the students who disapprove of Pitt having investments in entities that support Israel.”