Students protest outside Washington County Courthouse in the wake of theater shooting
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Trey Willis of Washington speaks during a protest Monday outside Washington County Courthouse.
Nicky Jo Dawson, a member of the activist group Blaqkops, speaks during a protest Monday outside Washington County Courthouse.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Students from Washington High School hold a protest Monday outside Washington County Courthouse.
About 30 students from Washington High School gathered in front of Washington County Courthouse Monday to protest that charges have not been filed in a North Franklin Township movie theater disturbance that led to the shooting of a black teenager.
A man from Greene County pulled out a weapon during an incident involving six black male teens, resulting in a struggle for the weapon late March 23, state police said. It was not immediately known who pulled the trigger, discharging a bullet into the leg of a 17-year-old, police said.
The protest came two days after a similar rally outside the Regal Crown Center Stadium 14. The students and rally organizer Trey Willis, a Washington resident, chanted “No justice, no peace,” and voiced anger that the as-yet-unidentified man, who allegedly confronted the group of teens during a late-night screening of the movie “Us,” has not been arrested.
The teen who was shot has also not been identified.
“He should have been charged for just brandishing the gun,” Willis said.
He also said the lack of an arrest in the case was “not just a black issue. It’s not just black people who have a problem with the way we are treated. … We don’t feel represented, we don’t feel protected.”
Both the Greene County man and the teenager were treated at separate hospitals and released on the night of the incident.
Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone said Monday state police are continuing their investigation. While stating that “it’s important that justice be done,” Vittone added that “we’re not going to be pressured into making a decision.”
Nicky Jo Dawson, a member of the Pittsburgh activist group Blaqkops, said at the rally that “our black youth are under attack” and “the majority of the globe is people of color. That is what white supremacists fear.”
The street in front of the courthouse was closed during part of the protest. After it concluded, Willis, Dawson and other protesters marched down Main and Chestnut streets, and then down Jefferson Avenue back to Washington High School, slowing and disrupting traffic. Chet Henderson, the principal of Washington High School, stood off to the side at the rally and declined to comment on it.