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On Tuesday night in Philadelphia there were protests over the death of Walter Wallace Jr., a 27-year-old African-American man killed by police Monday in an arrest attempt. In addition to the protests, there was also looting in the Port Richmond neighborhood and clashes with police in West Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said the video of Wallace’s murder “raises questions that are difficult to answer.” In fact, the scene was taken up close by a passerby. The police intervened after the report of a domestic assault, later finding a man walking with a knife: once he reached Wallace they held him at gunpoint for a while, telling him to drop the knife, which is not visible in the video – and then fired multiple shots as he “got closer” according to the shooting report.
The video of Wallace’s death is here, but it’s very good.
Wallace was killed in front of his mother and brother. He had seven children, with an eight on the way, according to his brother, while other relatives who spoke to the press had mental health problems and were taking medication. He had some history, for robbery and domestic violence, and had already been arrested in March.
In the protests that followed there was looting that was condemned by the Wallace family among others. The father asked them to finish, explaining: “this is where we live, and it is the only community we have, if we take away its resources and burn it, we have nothing left.” The election committee of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris issued a statement saying that “it is not acceptable in this country for a mental health problem to end in death. But looting is not a form of protest, it is a crime. It diverts attention from the true tragedy of a life interrupted too soon.
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