By: Daniel Kline and Joey Bova

25 June 2018

“They’re going to get away with it,” said Robert Williams, sighing, after we asked our first question.

On June 19th, a car with 17-year-old Antwon Rose and another teenager as passengers was pulled over in a traffic stop by East Pittsburgh police, under suspicion of the car being involved in a drive-by shooting earlier that night.  Rose, unarmed, ran out of the car, at which point Officer Michael Rosfeld shot Rose three times in the back, killing him.  The killing has sparked a series of protests in and around Pittsburgh, including the shutdown of Parkway East by protesters on Thursday.

Conducting a random interview, we politely asked Mr. Williams if we could ask him a few questions about the situation, and he agreed.  Alone there in the sun, under his wide brimmed hat, fruit drink on the table beside him, Williams exuded a relaxed demeanor.  But behind it lay a seething outrage.

Williams shook his head.  “If they have a Taser, why do they go for their gun?  They didn’t have to shoot him, especially not three times in the back!  You have a badge.  You can’t go around playing God.”

Bitterly, he remarked that there was no voice in government that would do anything to hold the authorities accountable.  They were trying to disguise racism in the country, said Williams, but in his view, that facade wouldn’t last much longer; not with all the shootings, at any rate.  It would be revealed eventually, with some waiting.

“I can wait,” he mused, “I’m a veteran.”

Williams served in the Navy during the Vietnam War.  Despite all of the negative press about the VA in recent years, he believed the government was more helpful to veterans than it had ever been.  He also praised the administration for its stronger stance on immigration.

“You see what kind of criminals are coming across?”  He shook his head.

But Williams believed that the President was failing to lead the country on the issue of police killings.  He bemoaned the fact that the President was choosing to spend his time dealing with foreign affairs, such as the recent summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-In, instead of dealing with domestic problems.  “Clean your own backyard,” implored Williams.

Were the protesters justified in the disruptive means they used to bring attention to the killing of Antwon Rose?  In  Williams’ mind, absolutely.  “Have to express yourself somehow.  If something’s not working, switch up the program.”

Others we interviewed had different attitudes towards the situation.  Joe, an individual who declined to give his full name, was unsure if the shooting was justified.

“I don’t really have enough information to form an opinion one way or another,” he said.  “I would need to know what was said, what his stance was, what went down.  “I feel like people jump to conclusions with things like this.”

When asked about whether or not protesters were justified in protesting, and the means they used to protest, Joe replied “I’m from St. Louis, so I was around when the protests happened after Michael Brown was shot.  The situation here is very similar to what happened then.  Peaceful protests are important, a lot of the Civil Rights Movement was based on peaceful protests.  The people who are out there protesting peacefully, they’re doing nothing wrong…”

In regards to disruptive actions such as shutting down highways, Joe was more unsure.  “It’s a slippery slope, when you get people together like that.  There’s a line…I don’t know when it’s crossed.”