A participant in the gathering at Malcolm X. Park that resulted in several dozen police officers clearing the park out Saturday night told CBS3 that the event was peaceful and that cops overreacted.
Joseph Clifton says in a video posted on CBS3’s website (see below) that people gathered for a video shoot and cookout. He said the city had issued a permit for 300 people.
Clifton said as many as 30 police officers initially responded to ask organizers to turn music down. Soon after, more police arrived and cleared the park. Cell phone video that Clifton shot shows police lined up shoulder to shoulder with batons drawn, walking through the park. Several blocks around the park were closed and a police helicopter circled the park for about an hour.
Police initially said they were responding to fights at the gathering, which Clifton said is not true.
“Peaceful, not fighting,” he said. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”
Police have not commented on Clifton’s account.
August 14th, 2019 at 12:37 am
Local ABC reported, “The crowd had become unruly, throwing objects at officers.”
https://6abc.com/philadelphia-police-break-up-2-large-crowds/5458999/
Local CBS, linked above, posted a picture of the permit which showed that it was valid from 10AM until 6PM (well before the first interaction). The fact that the report touted the permit as evidence of righteousness while failing to report that the permit was only valid until 6PM raises my suspicion. I hope this is incompetence and not a conscious and cynical decision to lure in visitors with Outrage Bait.
August 14th, 2019 at 12:40 am
Whoops: that criticism above is of CBS, not of West Philly Local.
August 14th, 2019 at 6:51 am
The permit is not saying 6pm for that venue if u ever get one of those permits it gives a location in the fine print of the parks which say they close at 6pm.
August 14th, 2019 at 9:59 am
You can see a Philadelphia Picnic Permit here: https://www.phila.gov/media/20190311180936/Picnic-Application.pdf
You will see, for ALL Picnic Permits for ALL venues, that they are valid until 6PM only (with a couple exceptions where the permit starts at 12 noon rather than 10AM).
The permit also states, “NO AMPLIFIED SOUND, MUSIC, DJs […] ARE PERMITTED AT ANY PHILADELPHIA PARKS & RECREATION PICNIC SITES OR PAVILIONS.” The fact that the police had to ask them to turn down their music 2 and a half hours after their permit had expired put them on shaky footing and yet the cops began with a request to turn down the music. If only one item was thrown at one cop (and I suspect that it was worse than that) then you know exactly why the police were intent on kicking everyone out rather than magnanimously allowing the large party to continue well past the permitted gathering.
August 14th, 2019 at 10:43 am
Guilty as charged! Beat them with billy clubs! Shove bikes into them! They were dark-skinned people having fun in a public park.
Don’t mess with the Philadelphia Police Department…
August 14th, 2019 at 11:27 am
@AA Please spare us the faux outrage. I’m sure the cops just went around beating innocent bystanders with their billy clubs. You perpetuate the myth that it’s about skin color without any evidence. The racist charge has become an overused old saw.
August 14th, 2019 at 12:17 pm
Yes,those who get hurt by the cops most always deserve what they got.
August 14th, 2019 at 2:16 pm
In this case, yup. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
August 14th, 2019 at 5:18 pm
The state claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence, within its territory and without. But we already understood that.
August 14th, 2019 at 6:19 pm
Here’s a crazy idea: don’t violate the contract you signed.
August 15th, 2019 at 12:12 am
A.A. – please tell me more about the hospitalizations following an event where completely compliant citizens were pinned against a wall and mercilessly pummeled with truncheons and bikes over a lizard-brained hatred of the citizens’ skin color. It sounds awful!
August 16th, 2019 at 9:05 am
Gentrification is the context. Gentrification hurts communities- from Manhattan to San Francisco and beyond, the record is clear. Get ready for increased police repression. The USA was built on anti-Blackness.
Get ready also for more (and shriller) voices telling us that the financial squeeze, the evictions, and even the police abuses just don’t matter, and are: okay, unimportant, or maybe not even happening at all. The profits are just too great for greed not to be a factor and for some of us to harden our hearts towards our neighbors and tell the rest of us that we should do the same.
August 16th, 2019 at 10:41 am
Gentrification has almost nothing to do with either the article in question nor what I have asked of you. Do you think the police recently shot in Nicetown were serving a drug warrant in the neighborhood because of “Gentrification” or could it be possible that communities of color also benefit from the maintenance of Law and Order? Could it be possible that long-term/elderly residents near Malcolm X Park were complaining about the music and party-goers or do you think it was young white gentrifiers who are willing to live in that neighborhood and yet were upset about a loud party at 9PM on a weekend?
Thanks for deflecting from my commentary with mindless platitudes on the nebulous threats of gentrification, police repression and anti-Blackness though.
August 18th, 2019 at 4:47 pm
The BBQ folks are in the right and cops acted atrociously. All Picnic Permits have 10am-6pm written on them no matter the time the group requests. Honestly it is a bureaucratic error with no relevancy as I am sure the police are well aware that is how Picnic Permits in the city work. You either buy a permit or you do not. And they paid for theirs well ahead of time. The permits also say no amplified music, which is commonly understood does not actually apply. Many events are held at neighborhood parks with music and speakers. I live across from another park in West Philly and events with sound occur frequently. I bought my home knowing full well that along with a nice view other people will use the park and sometimes that means noise. It is a tradeoff we make living in a city. What is not acceptable is for citizens being swarmed by police while using a public space (that they paid an additional fee to use). Peaceful neighborhood events should be supported and encouraged not attacked by paid thugs. Honestly anyone struggling to find reasons why it is okay to have armed attackers mess with a peaceful BBQ of People of Color really need to check themselves and do some serious soul searching as to their motivation.
August 18th, 2019 at 5:41 pm
Also the park is open till 10pm and it was earlier than that. Neighbors said it was not loud and that cops were telling them to go inside and off of their own porches. How much do you think it costs to bring out a helicopter to shut down a neighborhood BBQ? If you don’t give a shit about Black people seems like some of you would atleast care about wasted tax dollars and the right to occupy your own porch. This is the whole package, a complete abuse of power by the police.
August 19th, 2019 at 9:59 am
Let me surmise: “Even though the organizers signed a contract, it’s ‘commonly understood’ that it’s ok to break the law”.
No snitching!