ACTIVIST NICKY JO DAWSON blares a blowhorn in the direction of Pittsburgh police officers during a protest at the Allegheny County Courthouse, July 27, 2018. (Photo by J.L. Martello)
Whether it was right or wrong for Pittsburgh activist Nicky Jo Dawson to allegedly post on social media hours after an area police officer was shot and killed, that “a pig died tonight, they want us to cry over it; they will use this to exterminate us and call it ‘looking for a suspect,’” a judge ruled that it wasn’t something that she should be detained for.
On Friday, Jan. 27, Common Pleas Judge Kelly E. Bigley denied the request from the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office to detain Dawson. Apparently, DA Stephen A. Zappala Jr. felt that Dawson’s alleged online comments were enough to be considered a probation violation. Dawson had been on probation after pleading guilty to one count of arson in 2019. His office wanted to have a Gagnon II hearing scheduled, where the DA’s office would try to prove to a judge that Dawson violated probation. Legal experts had already mentioned on the record to various Pittsburgh media outlets that it would be a stretch for a judge in a Gagnon II hearing to rule in the DA’s favor, especially when no physical harm to any person or property came from Dawson’s comments made on Jan. 2. But the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge, Bigley, put an end to it even before a hearing.
“While the social media posts attributed to the defendant (Dawson) are shocking, abhorrent, and appalling, neither the Commonwealth’s Motion or Brief address the issue of the defendant’s 1st Amendment rights or whether making such posts actually violated a condition of the defendant’s probation,” wrote Judge Bigley, obtained by the New Pittsburgh Courier.
BLAQK HOUSE COLLECTIONS CO-OWNERS NICKY JO DAWSON AND CYNTHIA KENDERSON
Judge Bigley also noted that Dawson has paid her electronic monitoring fees.
On the afternoon of Jan. 2, Brackenridge police chief Justin McIntyre was shot and killed while trying to catch a suspect, Aaron Swan. Police say Swan shot McIntyre, and then carjacked an individual, trying to get away. He was later found in Homewood, where a shootout with police occurred, and Swan, 28, was killed. Swan was wanted on a probation violation and had eluded police for hours prior to the shooting of McIntyre in Brackenridge.
A photo of Dawson and Pittsburgh’s current mayor, Ed Gainey, surfaced online the night that the posts allegedly made by Dawson were made. It had the mayor answering questions the next morning on media outlets like KDKA Radio (100.1 FM, 1020 AM).
“I don’t believe in none of the comments that Nicky Jo made, I’m not there,” Mayor Gainey said, Jan. 3. “I’m more focused on praying for this family, I can’t control the actions of a Nicky Jo and nobody else or what they say.”
The mayor added: “I didn’t know about none of this until you sent it to me in the morning in regards to the statements that were made. I want every cop to go home at the end of the day, I want every community to go home at the end of the day.”
When it was announced in mid-January that Zappala wanted to detain Dawson, she sent a statement to the Courier, dated Jan. 13: “This attack was meant to kill two birds with one stone. Tarnishing the credibility of the first Black Mayor of Pittsburgh by aligning him with the alleged posts of a notoriously outspoken activist in the community, while ensuring my Freedom is revoked under the 13th amendment. As for the district attorney, I never send for him, but he keeps coming back for me. The DA’s motion is a mediocre and quite frankly, embarrassing retaliatory attempt to silence a BLaQK woman, and anyone who thinks and/or agrees with her. I don’t know Allegheny County, do you really want to re-elect a DA who would have you thrown in jail over your social media posts? A DA who believes 1st amendment rights don’t exist if he disagrees with your sentiments? This egregious motion to illegally detain me is proving that for BLaQK people, freedom of speech ain’t free!”
NICKY JO DAWSON AND CYNTHIA KENDERSON, the co-founders of BlaQk House Collections.
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