PITTSBURGH — A protest was held Saturday afternoon in support of William Hardison Sr., the man who Pittsburgh Police say barricaded himself in his home and died after a lengthy standoff earlier this week.
Protesters marched down Broad Street chanting and carrying signs reading, ‘lies’ and ‘housing issues,’ in solidarity with the 63-year-old. They stopped in front of the house where neighbors told Channel 11 Hardison was squatting.
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“He was searching for something. He was searching for solutions,” said protester Kent Bey. “He was in some trouble, and you just can’t put a man out of his house.”
Wednesday morning, deputies were serving Hardison an eviction notice from the courts when authorities said Hardison started shooting at them. Hundreds of bullets were fired back and forth for hours as several neighbors took cover waiting to be evacuated by police.
“They had this quasi protest for a man who held our neighborhood hostage for over eight hours,” said Mark McCune of Garfield. “I don’t understand. I’m confused.”
Channel 11 has previously reported that Hardison believed he was a sovereign citizen, meaning he didn’t think the laws applied to him.
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During a media briefing Wednesday, Police Chief Larry Scirotto said Hardison’s death was not the outcome they wanted, but they gave him every chance to end things peacefully.
“We have given and did give him every opportunity to surrender. That’s why an incident like this took the amount of time that it took,” he said. “With every opportunity to surrender, we were met with gunfire.”
Still, protesters are demanding accountability saying his death could have been avoided.
“It’s just a tragedy,” Bey said. “A lot of unanswered questions. It doesn’t take 1000 bullets to deliver a piece of paper, an eviction notice. That’s ridiculous.”
McCune argued Hardison put lives in danger that day.
“This this man caused havoc in our neighborhood,” McCune said. “The neighbors who lost their cars, the homeowners whose property is probably devalued, that’s the loser.”
State police are in charge of the investigation.
The medical examiner has not yet confirmed if Hardison was killed by police or if his wounds were self-inflicted.
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