About 40 protesters gathered late Tuesday night for a noisy demonstration outside a North Shore hotel where they believed federal immigration agents were staying.
The protest, organized by Pittsburgh-based activists aligned with the national Sunrise Movement, began at 11 p.m. at the Residence Inn by Marriott, across the street from PNC Park. The purpose was to disturb the sleep of agents, who protest organizers believed were preparing to deploy here this week.
“I came out to protest ICE and everything they are doing to destroy our country,” said Mike Kenney, of the South Hills. “This isn’t about immigration. This is about the United States turning into an authoritarian state.”
There was no visible federal presence at the hotel, but protesters said they were acting on an anonymous tip that ICE agents were staying at the 10-story hotel and the nearby SpringHill Suites by Marriott.
Through a spokesperson, the manager of the Residence Inn on Wednesday declined to comment.
In a scene that’s become increasingly common across the nation, protesters stood on the sidewalk alongside the ballpark and chanted anti-ICE slogans through megaphones, blew whistles, banged pots and pans for more than an hour. One beat on a plastic traffic barrel.
“Plow ICE off our street,” read one sign.
The din could be heard blocks away, though the demonstration ended without incident after city police asked the participants to leave.
The protest Tuesday was organized quickly, via social media.
“We’re hoping that Marriott will stop housing ICE,” said MacKenzie MacFarland, an organizer with the Sunrise Movement who lives in Greenfield.
The New York Times reported in January that with federal immigration crackdowns ramping up — sometimes with violent and even fatal consequences — groups like the Sunrise Movement have increasingly targeted hotels. Some hotels have refused to let rooms to immigration agents. Hotels in Minneapolis have been temporarily shut down by reported bomb threats.
MacFarland said Tuesday that organizers planned to contact Marriott and other hotels to demand they not rent rooms to ICE.