Pittsburgh police search for man accused of inciting a riot during George Floyd protest

Pittsburgh police search for man accused of inciting a riot during George Floyd protest

Pittsburgh police are searching for a man they said turned Saturday’s protest in the city's downtown over the death of George Floyd into a riot.

Brian Jordan Bartels, 20, of Shaler, Penn., remained at large Monday, police said.

They said a search warrant was served on his home Sunday in conjuction with the FBI.

“Police secured the warrant as part of an investigation into a male suspect who incited Saturday’s violence by breaking the windows out of a marked Pittsburgh Police vehicle Uptown, against the wishes of peaceful protesters who tried to stop him,” police spokesman Chris Togneri said.

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Brian Jordan Bartels, 20, of Shaler, Penn., faces charges of institutional vandalism, rioting, and reckless endangerment of another person, according to Pittsburgh police. (Pittsburgh Police Department)

Bartels faces charges of institutional vandalism, rioting, and reckless endangerment of another person, he said.

Pittsburgh Public Safety said 60 businesses and properties were damaged during Saturday's violence. Police made 44 arrests.

On Saturday Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert complained that the protest turned violent after being hijacked by white males dressed in anarchist Antifa attire.

“I’m willing to bet my check that there’s a lot of people who are anarchists, who, they’re not here to protest what happened, they’re not here to protest what happened, they’re here to take advantage of situations and throw it their way and bring other people into the mix and cause damage and cause injury,” Schubert said, according to KDKA-TV.

“There’s no doubt that that’s who’s doing it and a lot of things we’re seeing are white males, dressed in the anarchist, Antifa, they’re ones who are fueling a lot of this," he said. "It’s just a damn shame that they took advantage of the situation, for something, something happened in another state where somebody died who shouldn’t have died, and they hijacked that message for their own.”

Police released a photo of Bartels in a black bandanna and black hooded sweatshirt.

A criminal complaint says police received a tip late Saturday night from an anonymous caller who said Bartels was a co-worker at Amazon, the Pittsburgh Tribune reported Monday.

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The caller said they recognized Bartels’ image on the news and on social media, and that Bartels had said to the caller on Saturday: “If I’m not at work tomorrow, ask the boss to give me paid time off,” according to the paper.

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