Councilman went to South Philly rally last week to restore calm
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Councilman Mark Squilla, left, said he attended a rally in South Philly to calm a situation that stemmed from an assault. (Tom MacDonald/WHYY)
A Philadelphia councilman says he went to a rally in South Philadelphia last week to help calm things down, not to stoke racial tensions.
It started when an assault in South Philadelphia prompted a complaint that police weren’t doing their job, explained Councilman Mark Squilla.
“There was an incident where the police were called and the resident, the person who was attacked, called us to say they didn’t receive proper service from the police,” he said.
Upset residents held a rally. It was reported that at least one person there was chanting “white lives matter” into a megaphone at the event.
Squilla said he was called by the police captain with whom the crowd was so angry.
“I received a call asking me to go down there, that the people were getting restless and blaming the captain for the lack of service,” he said. “I went down there to calm the residents down let them know what happened.”
The police internal affairs division is investigating whether the original complaint was handled properly.
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