The husband and wife who disrupted an April 2023 protest on the Oakland campus by throwing smoke bombs and fireworks into the crowd and at police were sentenced on Jan. 6 for obstructing law enforcement.
The incident, which took place outside a transgender-rights debate between Daily Wire host Michael Knowles and libertarian journalist Brad Polumbo at O’Hara Student Center, left one Pitt Police officer severely injured and several others hurt.
U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan sentenced Brian DiPippa, 37, to five years in prison and his wife Krystal DiPippa, 42, to three years of probation. The couple pleaded guilty in September.
The DiPippas, of Regent Square, also were ordered to jointly pay restitution of $1,400 to the University of Pittsburgh and $47,284 to a Pitt Police officer for financial damages the officer suffered from injuries caused during the incident.
More than 150 people were protesting outside the O’Hara center on April 23, 2023, where the debate topic was “Should transgenderism be regulated by law?”
Information provided to the court said Brian DiPippa ignited and dropped two homemade incendiary smoke devices in and around a line of people waiting to enter the building for the debate. When police officers formed a barrier to prevent protesters from entering the rear of the building, Brian, concealed by Krystal DiPippa, ignited and threw a large explosive firework into the group of officers, causing a loud explosion and injuries to several officers.
“The DiPippas conspired to injure law enforcement officers and cause chaos at a college campus protest,” U.S. Attorney Eric Olshan said in a news release. “They attacked brave men and women who were trying to maintain order and protect the attendees. Today’s sentencings — and particularly the years of incarceration imposed on Brian DiPippa — should serve as a deterrent for anyone who would consider engaging in such outrageous and dangerous conduct in the future.”
The Tribune-Review reported that the officer, identified in court as T.H., testified she saw the object headed toward her face and batted it down. Then it exploded.
“The explosion caused me to fall back,” she said.
Her pants were on fire, her legs were burned, and she had hearing loss.
Later, the sergeant said, she needed back surgery — including a fusion and a cadaver disc.
“Brian DiPippa is a homegrown terrorist who had every intention of hurting someone that day,” she told the federal judge. “I will never be the same.”
The FBI and its Joint Terrorism Task Force — of which the Pitt Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and Pittsburgh Bureau of Police are all members — conducted the investigation leading to the indictments.
— Susan Jones
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