The 31-year-old Paterson violence intervention advocate was experiencing a mental health episode during a fatal encounter with police on March 3.
2 years ago
A protester kicks a tear gas canister fired by police as protests continue Sunday, May 31, 2020, in Philadelphia over the death of George Floyd. Floyd died May 25 after he was pinned at the neck by a Minneapolis police officer. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
This story originally appeared on Billy Penn.
A group of protesters and residents who sued Philadelphia over what they deemed excessive force, reckless behavior, and discriminatory policing in 2020 have announced a $9 million settlement with the city.
The Kenney administration’s heavy-handed response to the racial justice protests and turmoil that erupted in Philadelphia following the murder of George Floyd and others elicited wide criticism, and quite a few civil rights lawsuits.
Four of these suits have led to a monumental payout — and a major policy change that will “demilitarize” the Philly PD.
Plaintiffs in one West Philly-centered complaint include activists, observers, West Philly residents, and others. They joined attorneys and community organizers Monday morning outside the Paul Robeson House to describe the settlement agreement. It includes:
The city has previously issued a series of reports and communications on the chain of command and decision making process during those days of protest and unrest.
The plaintiffs of one of the four civil rights lawsuits involved in the settlement focused their complaint on the events that took place on and around 52nd and Market Street on May 31. On that day, in that neighborhood, police used rubber bullets and tear gas in residential areas.
The tear gassing of protestors on I-676 drew an apology from Mayor Jim Kenney, but that wasn’t the case for West Philly, which he called a “totally different situation” per the complaint. Kenney did apologize to West Philadelphians specifically in late 2020.
Included in the complaint were the following claims and points:
In all, the plaintiffs alleged a violation of their 1st, 4th, and 14th Amendment rights, regarding retaliation to constitutionally protected speech, excessive force, and discriminatory policing respectively.
Attorneys also described the arrest of plaintiff Anthony Smith as unlawful and included the violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and charges of battery and assault as additional causes of legal action.
The Controller’s Office issued a report in early 2021, focused on the limited planning that took place before May 30 and in the days that followed, and the use of tear gas on I-676, in West Philly, and in Kensington.
In interviews for the report, Commissioner Outlaw stated that she and Kenney had discussed the use of tear gas before May 31, which the mayor wanted to avoid in all except the most extreme circumstance. Still, Kenney gave Outlaw the okay to authorize the use of tear gas, which hadn’t been used in the city since the MOVE bombing in 1985 — things went awry from there.
Concerning May 31, the report detailed the looting of the Foot Locker near 52nd Street and Chestnut, where bricks were thrown at police officers by the crowd assembled there at the time. An inspector whose nose was broken by a brick requested tear gas be used, which Outlaw authorized.
The report states that Outlaw thought she was authorizing use of tear gas at the site of the Foot Locker, but the SWAT team on the scene went further than that. The SWAT team’s own account of events details the use of tear gas at 52 and Arch, near Malcolm X Park, between Market and Spruce — including side streets where no activity was taking place — and 52nd and Walnut.
SWAT’s account and videos used in the city’s investigation align with the accounts of the plaintiffs at multiple points, without including any mention of the use of racial slurs.
One sentence from the Controller’s Office report lays it out: “Witnesses interviewed noted that the CS gas and rubber bullets were deployed not only along Market Street, but also down side streets where no protest or any improper activity occurred; those side streets intersected with Market Street and flowed through the residential section of the neighborhood.”
Over the course of the 2.5 years the West Philly case was active, the city filed multiple requests to delay their response to the complaint.
The case was referred to Magistrate Judge David R. Strawbridge for a settlement conference on March 10, 2021, after a joint letter from the plaintiffs was filed a week earlier.
After the case moved to settlement negotiations, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, already representing plaintiffs in the case, got involved — as they have with similar cases from around the country — by sending the city a letter suggesting the implementation of a model consent decree and suite of police policy reforms.
The city didn’t respond to the LDF’s suggestions, but denied a suite of reforms suggested by plaintiffs later on.
Court records show that plaintiffs met with Phillly’s Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at the time, Nefertiri Sickout, in the latter half of 2021. Per court filings, they met to discuss:
Negotiations continued for about a year, with the final settlement conferences taking place last December.
The West Philly case involved 20 plaintiffs who were represented by Abolitionist Law Center, the Legal Defense Fund, and Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg & Lin. The mix of activists, observers, residents, and protesters involved in the suit, based on their accounts in the complaint include:
Correction: A previous version of this article did not indicate the agreement was to settle four lawsuits.