A community activist was charged with misdemeanor harassment for threatening a man accused of beating two Black women at a Pittsburgh gas station.
Amber Sloan, 46, was shown identifying herself and threatening Scott Hill, a 50-year-old gas station employee, in a video she posted on Facebook, according to CBS Pittsburgh.
Hill and gas station owners Sukhjinder Sadhra, 35, and Balkar Singh, 40, face simple assault charges in a fight injuring sisters Jamila and Ashia Regan.
The video began with Sloan’s plea to the public to support protest efforts even though her main page was blocked, according to a criminal complaint CBS obtained.
“I put up a post and said two people shot out in Homewood today. All these killers out here, we need some of y’all out here,” Sloan allegedly said. “Y’all should be hunting down that white man Scott Hill and killing him.
“If y’all want to do something, but yeah it wasn’t nothing bad. Ya know so I’m blocked out from my main page.”
Investigators took the video to the on-duty assistant district attorney, who advised CBS harassment would be the correct charge.
When officers informed Hill of the video, he said he was aware and is afraid to stay in his own home, CBS reported.
In the initial incident Sept 20, a customer’s request for a refund for gas that spilled on the ground escalated into a fight when owners refused the request.
“I was fearful for my life and that of my sister,” Jamila Regan said Friday at a press conference following the encounter. “It will take time to heal.”
The press conference was held at the offices of the siblings’ lawyer, Todd Hollis, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Her sister, Ashia Regan, 27, told reporters it’s hard not to think about the “traumatic” experience since they both live near the gas station and have to drive past it every day.
“It just feels like we have to prove ourselves to people,” Ashia Regan said. “We shouldn’t have to be put through that, because we’re hard-working young ladies and we were just out trying to get us some gas.
“We weren’t looking for no trouble. We weren’t looking for no problems, and now this is something we’re going to have to deal with, probably for the rest of our lives.”
Sloan has shared several social media posts to bring attention to the incident.
She also shared a post Monday from one of her supporters asking for people to “PICK UP THE DAMN PHONE,” call the local district attorney’s office and advocate for charges against the activist to be dropped.
“Anyone that’s been active in social justice knows that Amber Sloan has taken ‘Front and Center’ in many of these fights,” Jacqueline Hill said in the post. “She stands up to power while most of us are watching on Facebook!
“She needs the support of the community NOW!”
Sloan has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Nov. 7 in Pittsburgh Municipal Court, according to CBS.