Thousands of people protest, march in Pittsburgh-area for 8th straight day

PITTSBURGH — Protesters gathered in various areas around Pittsburgh again Saturday, marking the 8th straight day of demonstrations.

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PHOTOS: Protesters gather around Pittsburgh for 8th straight day

Bakery Square

Hundreds of people gathered in Bakery Square Saturday for a sit-in -- one week after the first protest was held in downtown Pittsburgh.

The crowd held a moment of silence around 4 p.m. for about nine minutes to honor George Floyd, the man who was killed while being detained by police officers in Minneapolis.

After the moment of silence, some of the leaders of the protest wrote “#BLM” in chalk in the middle of the intersection, which stands for “Black Lives Matter.”

Organizers then informed the crowd they would start to march down Penn Avenue.

The crowd stopped and sat down at the intersection of Centre Avenue and S. Negley Avenue, which is where protests turned violent on June 1.

The peaceful protest ended around 6:15 p.m., and Pittsburgh Public Safety said all roads have been reopened to traffic. There were no incidents and no arrests.

Organizers told Channel 11 they will be back in East Liberty next Saturday and every Saturday after that.

Hundreds of protesters hold sit-in at Bakery Square Hundreds of protesters hold sit-in at Bakery Square

Upper St. Clair

About 100 people gathered in the parking lot at the Upper St. Clair Municipal Building Vietnam Memorial.

Coraopolis

About 75 people gathered in Coraopolis. Police closed Fifth Avenue down for several blocks during the event. Rep. Conor Lamb also showed up to give a quick speech.

Washington

Another crowd gathered in Washington outside the county courthouse to protest.

Organizers told Channel 11 that protesting peacefully is the most powerful way to get the message across.

“We did this today to bring everybody together tying to get everyone in Washington together moving towards one cause, which is peace and equality,” Kurt Adkins, one of the organizers, said.

RAW Chopper 11 flies over Washington protest RAW Chopper 11 flies over Washington protest

Salvation Army collecting clothes to help families prepare for back to school time Salvation Army collecting clothes to help families prepare for back to school time

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