Shaler man accused of inciting riot that led to violence during Pittsburgh protests

Pittsburgh police allege a Shaler man’s actions started a wave of violence Saturday in Downtown during what were meant to be and began as peaceful protests.

Brian Jordan Bartels, 20, is accused of smashing out the windows of a marked Pittsburgh police cruiser “against the wishes of peaceful protesters who tried to stop him,” police spokesman Chris Togneri said in a statement Sunday night.

Bartels is charged with institutional vandalism, rioting and reckless endangerment, Togneri said.

Protesters took to Downtown streets, spurred by the killing of George Floyd, a black man, by Minneapolis police last week.

The initial violence began with the destruction of the police cruiser on Centre Avenue near PPG Paints Arena.

City police along with the FBI, Shaler police and the North Hills Special Response Team served a search warrant Sunday afternoon at a home on College Park Road in Shaler, though Bartels was not home, Togneri said.

Police did, however, seize evidence “linking him to the crime,” Togneri said, and a warrant has been issued for Bartels’s arrest.

Earlier Sunday, city police announced that 45 adults and one juvenile were arrested during the protests. Most were charged with disorderly conduct and failure to disperse after police ordered crowds to leave Downtown.