PITTSBURGH — More than a month after about 200 people shut down Liberty Avenue to protest a Pittsburgh bar’s “dress code,” police have arrested two people for what happened during that protest.
Lavier Pounds, 25, and Dena Stanley, 36, were taken into custody Sunday morning in Etna after police initially responded to a disturbance call.
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According to investigators, Pounds and Stanley both had active arrest warrants that stemmed from the June 24 protest in front of 941 Saloon in downtown Pittsburgh. The protest was in response to a “dress code” that was posted on the windows at the bar.
Protesters claimed the owner banned the word “racism inside the bar” -- in addition to banning things like tank tops, cutoffs, sleeveless shirts, hoodies, athletic jerseys without collars, bare midriffs and sweat pants.
According to a police criminal complaint, Stanley -- who is a transgender woman and president of the Transgender United Chapter Pittsburgh and TransYOUniting -- made threats toward 941 Saloon’s manager a few days prior to the protest.
Stanley is accused of telling the manager that if she didn’t change the bar’s dress code policy, they would “shut this business down... burn this place to the ground... and blow out all the windows.”
The protest on June 24 started in front of the bar around 4 p.m., and police said protesters blocked the entrance minutes later -- not allowing any people to enter or exit the business. That’s around the same time when protesters began blocking off Liberty Avenue as well.
At 6 p.m., investigators said protesters “duct-taped and tied several pieces of cloth to the front door, preventing all persons inside the business to escape.” According to authorities, there were four employees and six security guards inside at the time.
Over the next 30 minutes, police said in the complaint, protesters shouted “threatening remarks” to employees and security guards who were inside and a group of protesters damaged a security vehicle by jumping on it.
According to police documents, Pounds was among the group jumping on and damaging the security vehicle.
Some employees called 911 around 6:20 p.m. saying that the crowd was chanting, “Burn it down, burn it down.”
The owner of 941 Saloon later told investigators that she has not reopened her store since the protest happened out of “fear of rioters coming back and harming her and/or her staff, as well as the numerous phone calls she placed to 911 for help on 6/24/20, and no police response whatsoever.”
Stanley is facing charges of terroristic threats and rioting, while Pounds is being charged with harassment, criminal mischief and rioting.
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