During a press conference today, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw talked about what went wrong last night. She said they had no idea that 1,000 people would be swarming the Port Richmond area:
Outlaw, the police commissioner, acknowledged Wednesday that the city had been caught off guard by the scale of the rioting and by the location. Much of Tuesday night’s looting took place at big-box stores in the city’s Port Richmond section, an area that she said had not been on the department’s radar as a potential target. She said as many as 1,000 people were involved, having converged on the site after likely receiving word via a group text.
“We had zero information to warn us of this,” Outlaw said.
After two nights of rioting and looting, Mayor Jim Kenney has announced a curfew will be in effect tonight in Philadelphia:
The moves by Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney (D) were aimed at curbing incidents of looting, fires and dozens of minor injuries to officers that officials said was caused by people taking advantage of the backlash against the shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. to commit crime. The unrest disrupted peaceful protests against police violence, including one that was called off Wednesday night in response to the imposed curfew starting 9 p.m.
“The looting that has taken place is distressing to say the least, and it is unacceptable,” Kenney said in an afternoon news conference. The mayhem, he added, “does a great disservice to the many others who want to exercise their First Amendment rights by protesting.”
The National Guard had been called out by Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday but they were apparently only providing assistance behind the scenes. The Guard is expected to be on the street helping to keep order starting Friday. Today, Gov. Wolf signed a Proclamation of Disaster Emergency which is intended to make it easier for the city to act without red tape for the next 90 days.
.@GovernorTomWolf today signed a Proclamation of Disaster Emergency to provide additional support to Philadelphia after several days of unrest following the shooting death of Walter Wallace Jr. by two members of the Philadelphia Police Department. https://t.co/38SUIPKJa1
— Office of the Governor (@GovernorsOffice) October 28, 2020
Members of the City Council also held a press conference today and urged people not to “trash our own communities.”
Meanwhile, businesses are continuing to board up, expecting the worst tonight.
The officers who shot Walter Wallace on Monday were wearing body cameras but video from those cameras has not been released yet. One indication of what the video might show comes from the fact that the Police Union is pushing for it to be released immediately. “Release what you have. Support your officers, back your officers and let’s get a handle on this thing,” union president John McNesby said. Commissioner Outlaw said the video would be released after police talk to Wallace’s family:
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said officials would release the body cam footage and 911 tapes after talking with Wallace’s family members. She also said the police department should move “as soon as possible” to integrate with mental health services.
Finally, here’s a CBS Philly report published a few hours ago. They spoke with some residents of the area where the looting took place last night. One woman described seeing people with five stolen TVs in a car and described hearing gunshots. She said it was like being in a “war zone.” Another resident who drove past the area today to see the damage for herself said, “It shuts everything down. There’s no benefit in it.” “We’ve got to think of better ways to resolve what’s going on in this country,” she added.
