No way around it...

 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”(Matthew 27:15-23 ESV)
Pilate kept looking for ways to both appease the people and to spare a man he found to be innocent. He tried every trick in the book of crowd-pleasers, but it came down to his choice. There is no way around it.  Faced with the truth, and Jesus is Truth, we must each one account for our own response to Christ: turn on Him, abandon Him, or trust in Him and follow Him.  That choice does not always please the crowd, but it is ours to make.