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[–]WickedWitchOfTheWest 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Riot updates:

Three people are now facing criminal charges for harassing diners at a restaurant in Pittsburgh during a Black Lives Matter protest over Labor Day weekend.

Misdemeanor charges were filed against Monique Craft, 35, Kenneth McDowell, 33, and Shawn Green, 24, on Monday. It's unclear whether they've been taken into custody.

A viral video showed the trio and other protesters screaming 'f*** the white people' and yelling other obscenities at diners outside the Sienna Mercato restaurant on Penn Avenue on September 5.

Craft was dubbed the 'beer bandit' after she was seen swiping a drink from an elderly white couple and downing it in front of them before another protester knocked the glass to the ground.

Green, who goes by Lorenzo Rulli, swore at the elderly couple and gave them the finger, according to a police complaint. He also walked up to the front of the restaurant and screamed into an open window.

Police identified McDowell as the 'ringleader' and said he used a megaphone to scream obscenities at diners sitting outside Sienna Mercato and others passing by, as seen in the video.

McDowell was also accused of getting into an alteration with a McDonald's manager in another protest video that went viral.

A Pennsylvania judge threw the book at several protesters — setting their bail at $1 million each — for allegedly rioting in wake of the police shooting of a knife-wielding Lancaster man.

Lancaster police nabbed a dozen people and one juvenile for staging the riots around 3 a.m. Monday in clashes that culminated in police deploying tear gas at the crowd.

The overnight violence came on the heels of the death of Ricardo Munoz, the mentally ill 27-year-old who was seen on body cam footage charging at a cop with a knife in hand. The officer shot and killed Munoz Sunday afternoon outside his mother’s house in downtown Lancaster.

The mob marched from the scene of the shooting on Laurel Street to the police station, chucking glass bottles, rocks, brick, gallon jugs filled with liquid and plastic road barricades at cops, police said.

Seattle Closes Park to Christian Worship Event, Continues to Allow Citywide Protests

The “Let Us Worship” events have been peaceful gatherings of hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of Christians to pray over their cities and to worship together in response to church closures and violent protests. The events have been marked by joyful song, salvations, baptisms, and healings.

Ahead of his planned event at Gas Works Park on Labor Day, however, the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department released an announcement that the park would be closed on Labor Day.

“Gas Works Park will be closed all day September 7 due to anticipated crowding that could impact the public health of residents,” read the announcement, released September 4th. “Out of concerns for the safety of all those who visit Gas Works Park we have opted to close the entire park for the day.”

The closure began at 8 PM on Sunday night, and ended at 6 AM on Tuesday morning. Fences and barricades were placed around the perimeter of the park to bar anyone from entrance.

The announcement cited the “high risk of transmission for COVID-19” during events that would involve close contact with large groups without the wearing of a mask.