Pa. mayor under fire for calling for police-shooting protesters to be ‘destroyed’ by water cannon

A Pennsylvania mayor is under fire after reportedly calling for protesters of the police shooting death of 17-year-old Antwon Rose Jr. to be “destroyed” by a water cannon.

Karen Peconi, the Democratic mayor of Arnold, Pa., is facing backlash after screenshots of controversial posts allegedly made on her personal Facebook page went viral, Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reported Tuesday.

Peconi reportedly called for “rioters to be destroyed by a water canon [sic]” in one of the posts widely circulated on social media.

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The Pennsylvania Democrat’s alleged remarks arrived as hundreds of people on Tuesday marched to protest Rose’s death and called for criminal charges against the accused officer. 

Rose was shot to death by Pittsburgh police officer Michael Rosfeld last week. 

The teenager was fatally shot at a traffic stop after he attempted to flee from a vehicle that officials said matched the description of another car used in a shooting incident minutes earlier, according to the Post-Gazette.

The shooting has sparked a wave of protests and demonstrations.

In a separate Facebook post, Peconi reportedly wrote “we need one of these for tomorrow,” while also referencing a photo of a large water cannon targeting protesters.

“I’m posting this so the authorities everywhere sees [sic] this … bring the hoses,” reportedly wrote Peconi. 

“They don’t care about jobs for PGH … none of them work now. That’s how they can do this at 7 a.m. Very sad,” she also reportedly wrote.

Arnold City Councilman Philip McKinley told the local outlet he was “flabbergasted” by the screenshots.

“I was just flabbergasted. This doesn’t concern us here in Arnold. You can take it several different ways,” McKinley told the station. 

“When she said, ‘Those people don’t work in the morning,’ you knew what she was talking about,” McKinley continued. “City of Arnold is predominately African-American. We all live side by side. It shouldn’t be about race. The comment is not called for, whatsoever.”

“I don’t believe it is something the mayor should be posting. Everybody has the right to demonstrate,” McKinley added. “Once this gets out there, I’m sure there are going to be a lot of people calling for something, an apology or a resignation.”

Peconi’s office denied the mayor made the controversial posts to the local outlet.