Live Protesters arrive at Malcolm X park
As a group of neighborhood children gathered for a Black Lives Matter Philly-sponsored costume contest in Malcolm X Park, hundreds of mostly young protesters of different racial backgrounds are gathered in Malcolm X Park.
Police helicopters circled overhead as speakers took turns showing solidarity with the Wallace family. An array of reporters and photographers took up perch on the park’s jungle gym, craning to get a better view of the speeches.
Speakers facing the crowd, from a stage with speakers and microphones, are talking about police brutality, including the MOVE bombing that occurred only blocks away from where Wallace was shot and killed.
Activist Yahne Ndgo said of the Wallace family, “We are here for them. If they need us, they will call us and we will squad up.”
She said the group doesn’t need more protest marchers, but people to join when “strength and solidarity are needed.”
Another speaker called on all Black organizations in the city to unite. “Our lives are under attack, and have been since we’ve been here in this country," he said.
He then put out the call to “defund the police” and “abolish the police.” “Some of you all got a little quiet on the second one,” he said, adding, “we’ll get you there.”
— Maddie Hanna, Vinny Vella
Protesters march through West Philly
Hundreds of protesters marched east on Spruce Street chanting “Black Lives Matter” and “No justice no peace.” Some neighbors came out of their homes, holding up phones as the protesters passed. An older man standing in his doorway raised his fist in the air and smiled.
—Maddie Hanna
‘Black people aren’t born hating each other'
“This isn’t about Black on Black crime versus police brutality,” speaker Pete McFly said. “Black people aren’t born hating each other, Black people aren’t taught to hate each other.”
McFly blamed neighborhood issues on poverty and a lack of access to mental health services. He added that he used to work with officers from the 18th District in West Philadelphia for outreach with the community, but that they haven’t joined him in supporting the Wallace family.
“It shows me y’all are a gang and you don’t give an f— about the Black community," McFly said about the police.
“What we got to do is keep fighting, fighting, fighting,” McFly said. “At the end of the day, this is about us” sticking together. The crowd raised their fists and chanted, “Walter Wallace.”
— Vinny Vella, Maddie Hanna
Protesters stopped by police near 18th precinct
“How do we get out of this mess? Revolution, nothing less,” the crowd chants as they converged with police at 56th and Pine streets. One block down at 55th and Pine, police were stationed atop the 18th precinct building with cameras.
Many protesters took to the megaphone to stress the importance of voting on Tuesday and dismantling “the Trump-Pence regime.”
Protesters held signs that read “No justice no peace,” Black Lives Matter and “Blood on your f— hands.” A helicopter circled overhead.
Speakers invoked the name of Brandon Tate Brown, who was killed by Philadelphia Police in 2014.
“Can you imagine how that feels?” one speaker said, referring to the mother of people killed in police shootings. “You know who killed my son, and you refuse to tell me.”
On the edge of the crowd, a Black woman is addressing some of the bike cops, who are standing silently. “This is so sad, these freaking prejudice ass cops, killing all our black boys. ... This mother called an ambulance for her kid,” she said, her voice rising.
She turned her attention to a Black cop, accusing him of standing by the actions of white officers.
— Vinny Vella, Maddie Hanna
Neighbors cheer on protesters as they walk through West Philly
— Raishad Hardnett
Protesters gather near the home of Walter Wallace Jr.
Protesters gathered at 60th and Locust streets in West Philadelphia near where Walter Wallace Jr. was killed by police on Monday. The crowd ultimately decided to head to the police precinct at 55th and Pine after some neighbors expressed concerned over the location of today’s protest.
Activist YahNé Ndgo spoke to the crowd about the decision to move. “It’s really, really important. When we converge on a space where there has been trauma, and we make sure we do that in a way that is going to be good for the people who have experienced that trauma,” she said.
“...Helicopters are now flying above their homes, and there are massive numbers of police officers, all around their homes, police officers the same individuals who murdered a family member or community member. It is not good and right for us to stay here. We need to go."
The protesters, numbering around 250 according to police estimates, began to walk toward 55th and Pine.
— Raishad Hardnett
Police officers involved in killing still not identified
Four days after the killing of Walter Wallace Jr., the police department and city officials still have not identified the two officers who shot Wallace when responding late Monday afternoon to his family’s home on the 6100 block of Locust Street.
The 911 calls and body-worn camera footage will be released Wednesday, Nov. 4. The decision to wait to publicly release the body-camera footage and 911 calls from Wallace’s death was something of a surprise. City officials had shown the video to Wallace’s relatives on Thursday, and their lawyer, Shaka Johnson, said he thought the materials should be made public. Johnson told reporters the footage made clear Wallace was experiencing a mental health crisis, that people on his street were yelling to the police that he was mentally distressed, and that one officer told the other, “Shoot him,” before both began firing.
On Friday, the police officers' union reiterated that it also wanted the evidence released.
— Chris Palmer
As Philly approaches ‘unprecedented’ weekend, officials try to calm tension over police killing of Walter Wallace Jr.
National Guard troops took up posts throughout Philadelphia on Friday as the city prepared for weekend protests related to the police killing of Walter Wallace Jr. and the crescendo of a contentious election cycle — all poised to collide with the intensifying coronavirus pandemic.
Mayor Jim Kenney called it “perhaps the most unprecedented time” in city history.
The mayor and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw also announced that they and Wallace’s family had agreed to wait until Wednesday to release the 911 calls and body-worn camera footage from the two officers who fatally shot Wallace on Monday. The hope, Kenney said, was to “provide enough time to calm tensions and for the recordings to be released in the most constructive manner possible.”
“There’s multiple crises going on at any given time,” Kenney said. “I can’t tell you what’s going to happen on Saturday, Sunday, and onward, but we take it a day at a time.”
— Chris Palmer
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Hundreds gather in West Philly to protest the death of Walter Wallace Jr. - The Philadelphia Inquirer
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