Mayor Jim Kenney set a curfew for 9:00 p.m. tonight to deter rioters—and he says the national guard’s presence ‘is not related to the election,’ Your Content has learned.
“A few updates on the recent unrest in our city and the safety preparations we are making: First, I have authorized a citywide curfew which will go into effect tonight at 9 p.m. through tomorrow at 6 a.m.” the mayor revealed.
“I know many of you have questions about the PA National Guard presence here. We requested their assistance to support our operational departments in light of this week’s civil unrest. The need for continued deployment will be reviewed on a day-to-day basis.
“They will be staged at critical government buildings or other infrastructure and may be sent to other key areas like commercial corridors, as needed. Their presence is unrelated to the election.
“The Wallace family, DA Krasner, Commissioner Outlaw, and I have agreed to release the body-worn camera footage and 911 audio on Nov. 4 in the hope that it will provide enough time to ease tensions and release the recordings in a constructive manner.
“We appreciate the patience of the Wallace family and all Philadelphians as we continue to work with the Internal Affairs Division and District Attorney on this matter.”
As Your Content readers know, the lawyer representing the family of Walter Wallace Jr. said that the two Philadelphia Police Officers involved in the deadly exchange should not be charged with murder.
“The question that stemmed from that gentleman is do I think—and does the family think that those two officers should be charged with murder?” said the family lawyer outside of Philadelphia City Hall Thursday afternoon.
“What my answer to you is and remains—and we told the city department about that this morning, we told them this morning, is no. I don’t think so.”
The Inquirer reports that their mission will be to provide security for “critical infrastructure” and to free up police to perform other duties, much like the role they played during racial injustice protests in the city in this spring.
It is unknown how long the Guard presence was expected to last or whether the troops sent to the city would be sticking around to respond to potential unrest surrounding the outcome of the election.
Video obtained by Your Content shows a pick up truck ramming through the crowd striking at-least one officer wearing a white shirt who was seen on the ground … bystanders fled the scene.
As Your Content previously reported, a 56-year-old sergeant was hospitalized in stable condition with a broken leg and other injuries after she “was intentionally run over by an individual driving a pick-up truck.”
The other injured officers were treated and released, Outlaw said.
The turmoil comes after police shot and killed a knife-wielding manic who lunged at them Monday.
It happened around 3:50 p.m. when officers responded to a domestic call along the 6100 block of Locust Street, according to the Inquirer.
Sgt. Eric Gripp, a spokesperson with the Philadelphia Police Department, says officers confronted a man with a knife at the scene.
Gripps say the man was shot multiple times by two officers after he didn’t adhere to calls to drop the weapon. He was later pronounced dead.
“Put the knife down, put the knife down,” one officer can be heard saying.
Both then fired several shots at the man and he collapsed in the street. A woman ran up to the victim and began screaming.
Several bystanders then walk up to the man who was shot.
The officers ordered the man to drop the knife before he allegedly charged at them. The officers were wearing body cameras, a police spokesperson said.
Witnesses told the newspaper that Wallace was at least 10 feet away from the officers when they opened fire. He was walking toward them and they were backing away at the time, the news report said.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said his office’s Special Investigation Unit will be part of the investigation into the shooting.
“The DAO Special Investigation Unit responded to today’s fatal shooting of a civilian by police shortly after it occurred, and has been on scene with other DAO personnel since that time investigating, as we do jointly with the PPD Officer-Involved Shooting Investigation Unit, in shootings and fatalities by other means involving police,” he said in a statement.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said the video footage of the shooting “raises many questions.”
“Residents have my assurance that those questions will be fully addressed by the investigation,” she said. “While at the scene this evening, I heard and felt the anger of the community. Everyone involved will forever be impacted.”