Video shows Philadelphia cops told of man’s mental health, lawyer says
PHILADELPHIA — The footage from body cameras that was taken as police responded to a call aboutWalter Wallace Jr. shows him emerging from a house with a knife as relatives shout at officers about his mental health condition, a lawyer for the man’s family said Thursday.
The video also shows Wallace became incapacitated after the first shot of 14 that two officers fired at him, lawyer Shaka Johnson said, describing footage he said police showed him and other members ofWallace’s family before a plan to release it and 911 calls publicly.
“I understand he had a knife, but that does not give you carte blanche to execute a man, quite frankly,” Johnson told reporters at a news conference outside Philadelphia City Hall. “What other than death did you intend when you shoot aman— each officer— seven times apiece?“
The family does not want the officers, who haven’t yet been publicly identified, to be charged with murder, Johnson said, because they were improperly trained and didn’t have the right equipment to do their job.
The video shows “instant panic” from officers whose training taught them only how to open fire, he said, noting he saw no viable attempt fromofficers to de-escalate the situation.
“What youwillnot see is a man with a knife lunging at anyone that would qualify as a reason to assassinate him,” Johnson said.
Police also faced rebuke fromPhiladelphia leaders as the anguished city bemoaned the department’s response to a year of extraordinary, and sometimes violent, civil unrest.
The City Council, joining leaders of other cities, voted to block police from using tear gas, rubber bullets or pepper spray on peaceful protesters after hearing hours of testimony from people injured or traumatized by them, including a group hit with tear gas as they were corralled near a highway overpass.
“It was undisciplined, it was indiscriminate and it hurt a lot of people,” said Councilwoman Helen Gym, who introduced the measure.
The moves follow days of protests, store break-ins and ATMthefts after the death of Wallace, a Black man, that led themayor to lock down the city Wednesday night with a curfew.
The family had called Monday for both medical services and police, but only the latter arrived, lawyer Shaka Johnson said. Less than 30 seconds into the encounter, Wallace was dead.
Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney William McSwain, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, announced charges against a Philadelphia social studies teacher and three others for their alleged roles in the torching of two police cruisers during theMay 30 protests.