Pittsburgh couple sentenced over protest that injured an officer with a smoke bomb

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A man convicted of injuring an officer with a homemade explosive at a 2023 campus protest over transgender rights at the University of Pittsburgh has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Brian DiPippa, 37, agreed to the sentence handed down on Monday as part of a plea agreement that also calls for his wife, Krystal Martinez-DiPippa, 42, to serve three years of probation.

The DiPippas were part of a group protesting an April 18, 2023, panel sponsored by the Pitt College Republicans that featured speakers opposed to transgender rights, including Daily Wire host Michael Knowles.

Federal prosecutors said DiPippa ignited and dropped two homemade smoke bombs near people waiting to attend the event, and later threw one at officers trying to keep protesters out of the building. A campus police sergeant told the court she had been knocked down when the device exploded as she tried to bat it away. She said she suffered burns to her legs, hearing loss and back injuries that required surgery.

DiPippa pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstructing law enforcement, while his wife pleaded guilty to the latter charge.

“I don’t think that was the intent, ever, to hurt somebody,” his defense lawyer, Michael DeRiso, said Tuesday. DeRiso called his client a good person who made bad decisions that day. Prosecutors said the couple was there to cause chaos.

The plea agreement also calls for them to pay nearly $50,000 in restitution — most of it to the injured sergeant — and perform community service.