Crime & Safety

Pittsburgh Cop Block Activist Heads to Trial

Anthony Bruno, 27, of Ambridge, pleads not guilty Tuesday and represents himself.

A Pittsburgh Cop Block activist who faces charges as a result of a confrontation with staff at the Leetsdale District Court office defended himself without an attorney Tuesday during a preliminary hearing that was moved to Coraopolis District Court.

Anthony Bruno, 27, of Ambridge, said he believes the charges filed against him by Leetsdale police are without merit, and he refused to accept a plea bargain.

“Take it to trial,” Bruno told District Judge Mary Murray at the hearing. “I’m not taking a plea for something I didn’t do.”

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Murray held Bruno's charges for court and advised him to read the rules of criminal procedure before his next court proceeding.

Bruno belongs to the activist organization pittsburghcopblock.org, an offshoot of the national CopBlock.org.

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According to a criminal complaint filed by Leetsdale Police Chief James Santucci, Bruno became "verbally combative" with court staff at 's office on Aug. 4 when he learned he had to make a $25 monthly payment involving a traffic citation. Santucci wrote that Bruno began videotaping and harassing the court staff, despite being asked multiple times to leave. He was warned that police were called and left after officers from and responded, Santucci wrote.  

Before Tuesday's hearing began, Assistant District Attorney William Butulla asked to amend the criminal complaint charging Bruno with a single count of defiant trespass to include a summary count of disorderly conduct. Butulla said employees repeatedly asked Bruno to leave, and he said at least one clerk said she feared for her life during the encounter. 

Murray amended the complaint but agreed to Bruno’s request to have all witnesses sequestered during his hearing.

Debbie Meehan, a court clerk for about 15 years who now works for Ford, testified that Bruno came into Ford’s court office Aug. 4 asking to start a payment plan to satisfy court-ordered fees. 

Meehan said Bruno wanted to pay $10 a month to resolve a citation and became upset to learn the office required a minimum payment of $25 a month. Meehan said she told Bruno he would have to speak to Ford to get the $10 payment approved and handed Bruno a form to fill out for a payment determination hearing with the judge.

She said Bruno became upset and slammed the form on the countertop along with a $10 bill, demanding that she take his payment.

“He was very upset,” she said. 

At that point, Meehan said, the office staff asked Bruno two or three times to leave.

“He just kept walking back and forth arguing with us,” she said.

She said Bruno had a camera and asked if he could videotape her while she stated the payment plan rule. She told him no.

“He was instructed not to videotape and told several times to leave,” she testified.

Under cross-examination, Bruno asked Meehan to reiterate the exact phrases and statements he used.

“You were argumentative with us,” Meehan said, telling Bruno he walked back and forth saying that it wasn’t against the law. 

“She’s speaking out of turn here,” Bruno told Murray, interrupting Meehan’s response.

Murray warned Bruno to let the witness answer his questions.

“You can ask her questions. She has to be able to answer them,” Murray said.

Bruno questioned Meehan about the $10 bill, contending that he did not have the single bill but two $5 bills.

He also asked if the Leetsdale court office had recorded the encounter on its video-surveillance system. Meehan said the video equipment was broken due to a power outage that occurred during thunderstorms a month prior.

Bruno, however, said he contacted Duquesne Light Co. and had records to reflect there was no power outage up until a month before he went to the court office.

While Butulla didn’t call any other witnesses, Bruno asked to question the other two court clerks who were in the office that day. Murray allowed Bruno to call Sandy Ford, wife of Judge Ford, who testified that she called the police that day because Bruno refused to leave.

“You were pacing back and forth. We were all scared, and we told you to leave, and I told you to leave,” Ford said.

“Is that harassment? Pacing back and forth?” Bruno questioned.

Ford testified that Bruno first threw money at Meehan and told her she had to take his $10. She said Bruno then appeared to be talking to himself, though she said he was likely recording and talking to his camera because a red light was on. 

Ford said the office staff had been trained at a seminar to recognize potentially dangerous court defendants and the workers were alarmed by his conduct.

“You were the classic case,” she told Bruno.

Bruno sought to call Meehan back to the stand, but the judge ruled against it. Bruno then called his brother, Tim Bruno, who testified that he stood in the hallway and witnessed his brother at the counter asking to record the staff.

“He just wanted them on film to say how much he wanted to pay,” said Tim Bruno, who is not mentioned in the criminal complaint.

Anthony Bruno also noted that Santucci wasn’t one of the officers who responded that day and questioned why Santucci did not file charges in the incident for more than a month.

He asked to call Santucci to testify, but Murray denied that request. The judge also refused his request to summon and take testimony from Judge Ford, who did not attend the hearing.

Bruno wore a black “CopBlock.org” T-shirt to the hearing. During the hearing, court officers temporarily confiscated a camera he said he brought with him for evidence.

“I was just hoping maybe the judge would like to see what happened,” said Bruno, who vowed to take his case to trial.

After the hearing, Anthony Bruno followed and recorded Santucci out of the courtroom and on the way to his police cruiser, asking the chief for an on-camera discussion, until the chief drove away from court.

Santucci had no comment at the hearing.


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