Philadelphia council votes to limit police protest response
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia could soon join other cities in blocking police from using tear gas, rubber bullets or pepper spray on protesters as the city continues to churn over the fatal police shooting of a Black man days before the heated presidential election.
The sharp political battles being drawn nationwide over the 2020 election could be seen in microcosm Thursday in the nation's birthplace.
In the morning, the Democrat-controlled City Council voted to rein in the police response to those exercising their First Amendment right to protest. The police commissioner and Mayor Jim Kenney back the intent of the “less- lethal” weapons ban. But the mayor wants to review it before signing off, a spokesman said.
Hours after the vote, U. S. Attorney William McSwain, who was appointed by President Trump, announced charges against a Philadelphia social studies teacher and three others for their alleged roles in the torching of two police cruisers during violent clashes between police and demonstrators who were protesting against racism and police brutality, five months earlier.
The moves follow days of civil unrest, store break- ins and ATM thefts after the shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. that led the mayor to lock down the city Wednesday night through an overnight curfew. Police were preparing to release the 911 call and police body camera footage of the encounter with Wallace. Police have said officers fatally shot Wallace on Monday after he ignored orders to drop a knife. Wallace's mother said she warned police that her son was having a mental health crisis.
“Our city is hurting. I think the unjustified shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. this week has our city both raging and grieving, but also extraordinarily purposeful about taking action,” said Philadelphia Council member Helen Gym, who introduced the measure to rein in the police response.