On Monday, Oct. 26, Philadelphia police clashed with protesters. This was the direct result of shooting death of Walter Wallace by two police officers earlier in the day. Police had been called, along with medical professionals, to help 27-year-old Wallace, whose family says he suffered from mental health problems. Wallace was in possession of a knife and was killed in a hail of bullets while his mother tried to deescalate the situation.
Since Monday, protesters have been in the streets and clashes with law enforcement have been violent. On Thursday, The Washington Post reports, the largest police union in the country posted a photo on their social media pages—a photo they’ve since taken down—showing a Black toddler clinging to the neck of a police woman. The social media post was accompanied by this truly condescending, but also shocking relating of context: “This child was lost during the violent riots in Philadelphia, wandering around barefoot in an area that was experiencing complete lawlessness, The only thing this Philadelphia police officer cared about in that moment was protecting this child.” It turns out that the actual context of this photo is almost the exact opposite of the police’s claims.
Friday, Oct 30, 2020 · 8:03:17 PM +00:00
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Walter Einenkel
The National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) released a short statement saying that after posting the photo of the child they “subsequently learned of conflicting accounts of the circumstances under which the child came to be assisted by the officer and immediately took the photo and caption down.”
“Conflicting?” The video shows that what FOP wrote up was 100 percent a lie. There is no lots of sides to this.
Riley H. Ross III, an attorney for the mother of that child, told the Post that this was “propaganda,” and that the child was literally only in that position, terrified, because of the police brutality and terrorizing that his mother and cousin had just received from the Philadelphia police department. According to Ross, just after midnight on Tuesday, 28-year-old Rickia Young, a home health aide, was borrowing her sister’s car to go and pick up her teenage nephew across town in Philadelphia. She put her 2-year-old in the back seat, hoping the drive would get her son to fall asleep. She later turned onto a street where police and protesters were clashing.
Realizing her mistake, she attempted a three-point turn, at which point police swarmed the vehicle. Before we go further, here is a video of the ensuing madness on the part of the police.
The video, shot by 30-year-old Aapril Rice, was filmed from the rooftop of Rice’s home. In the video, dozens of riot-geared officers swarm the diagonally stopped car, smashing the windows all around with their batons. They rip the front door open and, while at least two officers continue swinging their batons, drag the driver out of the car and onto the concrete about 15 feet away from the vehicle.
The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported on the bogus social media posts by the Fraternal Order of Police, including one showing Young’s son and reading: “We are not your enemy. We are the Thin Blue Line. And WE ARE the only thing standing between Order and Anarchy.” The Fraternal Order of Police, like cowards, has not responded to inquiries from either the Post or the Inquirer about the video and their bullshit propaganda use of a 2-year-old child whose innocent mother they abused.
The photo the Fraternal Order of Police used was taken literally moments after police smashed and attacked this kid’s mother, yanked her out of the car, and separated the child from his mother for hours.
Ross and another attorney are now representing Young in a civil lawsuit. Ross told the Post that his client was temporarily detained after she was taken for medical treatment at the hospital “because her head was bleeding and most of her left side had been badly bruised when police threw her to the ground.” Young and her son were separated for hours. According to Ross’ partner, Kevin Mincey, the nephew she originally came to pick up was also injured by police, and the toddler was left with a large bump on his head.
Young was released with zero charges and took her son to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was treated for the head injury.