On January 28, 2026, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police hunted down a community member for allegedly attempting to recycle copper and other metals from the abandoned VA hospital at 7180 Highland Drive. The city deployed an entire fleet of vehicles and a helicopter to pursue a working man for four hours and five miles across the ice of the Allegheny River, before he was eventually captured near Freeport Road.
This is the same abandoned VA hospital where, in August 2025, five other community members were arrested for allegedly attempting to recycle piping and wiring.
Why is the government so rabidly defending a building they left to rot?
Because it is also the same land where our leaders plan to build their very own “public safety training campus.”
Cop City.
A facility designed to train police in counterinsurgency tactics, surveillance, and military grade weapons systems. A $1.8 million investment in escalation. On land once ignored, now repurposed to weaponize against the communities that the city has already failed.
This is a declaration of war against the poor.
Our neighbor Gary Cawley, 47, is facing felony charges of burglary and criminal trespassing as well as misdemeanor possession of an instrument of crime, evading arrest on foot, railroad interference and disorderly conduct. His preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 5. He has reportedly recovered after treatment for hypothermia, however he was unable to post his $100,000 bond and remains in Allegheny County Jail.
Fuck the city government. Fuck the police. Fuck ICE, unless you got skates.