As you read this, there might or might not still be an encampment at Occupy Pittsburgh.
Despite being given, on Feb. 3, three days to vacate the site, Occupiers still remained on Feb. 6. Even after Judge Christine Ward signed an eviction notice ordering their removal from BNY Mellon's Downtown parklet, a handful of tents and Occupiers remained into Tue., Feb. 7.
On eviction day, they sang songs — mostly Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" — and took pictures and videos, and they talked with media members assembled nearby on the sidewalk. They even built a large Trojan Horse out of wooden warehouse pallets.
But regardless of the holdouts, most Occupy members and their attorneys understood that they probably wouldn't be occupying the park for much longer.
"This probably means the end is near. We're just not sure how near," said Marvin Fein, an attorney representing Occupy Pittsburgh, after Ward's ruling.
But regardless of how many hours or minutes the encampment remains, Occupiers say the movement doesn't die when the last tent or even the last person is whisked from the site.
"Just because we're losing this camp doesn't mean we're giving up. We're not going away," said Samey Lee, a Point Park student who said she had been camping regularly since Occupy took over the park on Oct. 15. "There are so many issues out there bigger than this camp. [W]e can do good without this camp. The symbol isn't 100 percent necessary anymore."
— Charlie Deitch, with reporting and photos from Lauren Daley and Chris Young
