A protester in Pittsburgh, who was showing support for the Black Lives Matters movement, was recently thrown into an unidentified white van.
According to reports, the shocking act was carried out by armed policemen in plain clothes during the weekend.
Police captured Matthew Cartier, the 25-year-old protestor, and threw him into a mysterious van. Reports claimed how the man was blocking the traffic while the protests continued.
And despite the fact that he received many police warnings, he decided to ignore each and every one of them. Likewise, he ignored all police orders stating him to move so that traffic could pass by.
Matthew’s fellow protester, Samm Bones. captured the entire event on his camera this Saturday.
After getting posted on Twitter, the video went viral in seconds.
It sparked a number of controversies relating to the entire ordeal. Bones captioned it as ‘We are out here in Pittsburgh. And unidentified, armed, federal agents arrived in an unmarked white sprinter van. They just abducted a peaceful protester, a few minutes ago.
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According to TMZ reports, the protester scared many drivers. In fact, he wasn’t allowing anyone to cross by that route. And that’s exactly the point in time when police officers swooped in.
Meanwhile, this isn’t the first type of arrest to take place of this kind. Similar incidents also took place in New York, last month.
As the video became viral, curiosity and anger amongst Pittsburgh citizens grew, causing the mayor to step in. He addressed the entire matter on social media with an official statement released.
The address revolved around the fact that although constitutional rights allow people to practice freedom of speech and assemble, the law also allows the shutting down of stress-related matters.
The Public Safety officers and the Pittsburgh mayor held a recent press conference. Both sides reached the same conclusion. They made claims about how these arrests were necessary. At the same time, the controversial arrest has many calling the mayor to step down.