by Alex Lloyd Gross
Philadelphia Police confirm that Internal Affairs is investigating two different, but substantial instances of officers who allegedly abused their authority. Both were caught on video.
The first involves a blogger who was at the Anti Jewish rally this past Sunday. The man, who said on video that he was from South Philadelphia was documenting the goings on. At times, he was adding his own commentary and other times he would ask Palestinian protestors about why they were here protesting and why they were wearing masks. This infuriated the protestors, who were breaking the law by wearing masks to cover their faces.
It is at that time that he is confronted by a female police officer and a male officer who tell him he is not allowed to stand on a public sidewalk and film. They wanted him to go to a different area and film, which he refused to do. Meanwhile, the area he is standing in had plenty of other people standing there. This man was grabbed and almost shoved into the street by police who told him, “I’m not playin””.
This female officer called for bike units to p[ush the male back , instead of calling for Civil Affairs, which is trained to handle this type of confrontation. Commentors on social media are calling on the cops to be fired and some have questioned if the man was targeted because he was white.
This incident is similar to “Kate’s Safe Space”, a Journalist that attends public events in Florida to ask peoples opinion. She was trespassed from the Wintergarden farmers Market and then the police department got a strong rebuke from the Attorney General who stated they could not remove her from the public area.
The second incident was at 54th and Arlington and involved Jerald Bridges when Bridges was arrested earlier in the day by the same officer for disorderly conduct. Bridges refused to move when told and informed the officer he was waiting on food he ordered. He was handcuffed, cited and released.
The second confrontation between Bridges and the same officer occurred later in the day as the officer confronted him over liking or commenting on Instagram photos. A video showed the officer getting out of his police cruiser to confront Bridges and pushing him.
He then sees a different male filming the encounter and slaps the phone from his hand. It is perfectly legal to film police and the officer has no leg to stand on this part of the confrontation. Filming police has been upheld by the US Supreme Court .
The reason given was that Bridges commented on his daughters Instagram photo which was denied by Bridges. That leaves open the question of why the account or photo was public and not private.
In both of these instances, neither officer is wearing their hat. Depending on command staff that could be an infraction. It is unknown if wither of these two officers were equipped with body cameras and if they were, were they activated? Bridges stated on interviews that he is scared of the officer and alleges the officer threatened him.