Philly police ID officers who fired shots during fatal encounter with man in Logan

from mainstream media

Philadelphia crime scene unit laying down evidence markers after gunfire left 24-year-old man dead and officer wounded at 15th Street and West Somerville Avenue in North Philadelphia on Wednesday, April 7, 2021.

The Philadelphia Police Department on Monday evening released the names of the five officers who fired shots during an alleged gun battle while stopping a vehicle in Logan last week that left a 24-year-old man dead.

The department also said that the officers incorrectly believed that James Alexander had an outstanding warrant for “bail jumping” in Wisconsin, which led them to attempt to arrest Alexander.

“Police later learned that the ‘bail jumping’ warrant for James Alexander returned on a different individual, similarly named, with a similar date of birth, but differing FBI number,” the department said in its updated statement.

In response to written questions from an Inquirer reporter, the department said the officers had intended to investigate everyone in the car and were in the process of having all the occupants exit the vehicle when the gunfire erupted.

Alexander “would not have necessarily been placed under arrest at the scene if the officers were able to determine that he was not the individual coming back with a warrant (and this would also be assuming that he was not illegally carrying the firearm that he later fired at our officers),” the department said in its written response.

“The officers were in the process of removing ALL of the individuals from the vehicle as they conducted their investigation. At the time, 3 of the 4 individuals in the vehicle were coming back with warrants. 2 of those warrants are active. It wasn’t determined that the warrant on Mr. Alexander was for a different individual until he was fingerprinted,” the department said in its response.

There were four occupants in the blue Kia Optima sedan that Officer Christopher Burton, 28, and Officer Charles McCairns, 29, stopped about 6:45 p.m. April 7 on Somerville Avenue at 15th Street because the car allegedly had run through a stop sign.

The Police Department said in a statement on April 8 that the officers ran checks on the occupants and found that Alexander had the warrant from Wisconsin, and that the driver had a warrant for some type of probation or parole violation.

“Due to the wanted status of the two (2) individuals, Officers Burton and McCairns requested additional back-up officers via Police Radio,” the department said in its statement Monday evening.

The department said in its written response to the Inquirer that even if only the driver had an active warrant, the two officers would have called for backup because of the potentially volatile nature of traffic stops.

Four other uniformed officers arrived. The three who fired shot are Officer Michael Braun, 30, and his partner, Officer David Tamamoto, 40, along with Officer Matthew Ponente, 29. Ponente’s partner did not fire his sidearm and was not named.

“Officers Burton and Braun approached the driver’s door and requested him to exit the Kia, and he complied,” according to the police statement.

“Officers McCairns and Tamamoto approached Alexander on the passenger side,” the department said.

“Officer McCairns opened the rear passenger door and requested Alexander to exit the vehicle. Officer McCairns instructed Alexander to leave his cell phone in the vehicle and asked Alexander if he had a gun on him,” the department said.

The department alleges that Alexander then pulled a gun from the front of his waistband and McCairns then yelled, “He’s got a gun,” and backed away, as did Tamamoto and Ponente.

“Alexander, still positioned in the vehicle, discharged his weapon in the direction of police, who had positioned themselves on the passenger side of the Kia,” the department alleges.

Alexander then got out of the Kia and fired two more shots in the direction of the police, according to the statement.

The five named officers then fired at Alexander, striking him.

Police transported Alexander to Einstein Medical Center, where he was quickly pronounced dead.

Ponente suffered a gunshot wound to his left foot. His partner took him to Einstein and he was treated and released.

None of the Kia occupants nor any bystanders was hurt.

A .40-caliber, semiautomatic Ruger handgun that Alexander allegedly fired was taken into evidence.

Three spent shell casings matching that caliber were recovered at the scene.

Twenty-eight spent shell casing from rounds fired by the officers also were recovered.

According to the department, two occupants of the Kia told investigators afterward that “Alexander announced that he had a gun on his person, and stated that he could not go back to jail.”

The department said body-cam video from the officers shows a cloud of smoke inside the Kia at the time Alexander allegedly fired a shot, and then another cloud of smoke when he was outside and allegedly fired two more shots.

The department said it would show the body-cam video to Alexander’s family but had no plans for a public release.

The department’s Internal Affairs unit is investigation the shooting.

What You Should Know About PPD Recruiting Community Orgs

from Twitter & Twitter






Report from march in solidarity against anti-AAPI racism

Submission

On the night of 3/27, about a dozen people responded to a call to march against anti-Asian racism and white supremacy. After a brief discussion about intentions, the bloc marched about 10 blocks, without a police tail, through pedestrian streets that have been overtaken by outdoor dining, chanting slogans against racism, the police, and white supremacy. This disrupted what would otherwise have been a lovely evening for Philly’s yuppies, before dispersing without incident. Some of these chants included “A-C-A-B, FUCK/END WHITE SUPREMACY!”, “COPS & KLAN GO HAND IN HAND!”,” WHEN ASIAN/IMMIGRANT/BLACK LIVES ARE UNDER ATTACK, WHAT DO WE DO, STAND UP FIGHT BACK!”, “A-ANTI-ANTICAPITALISTA!”, some feral screaming into the night, etc.

The march was a really fun night out! Spirits were high, the chanting was strong and heartfelt. The bloc was playful and even had an impromptu dance to some street musicians playing Vanessa Carlton’s “1000 Miles”. The route choice of pedestrian streets meant that the march could be loud and visible with a low risk of encountering the police. Communication between marchers felt easy and people were able to make decisions together.

Here are some things to think about for future actions. Considering nearby cameras and visibility from the street and sidewalk when choosing a meet up location can help increase anonymity and the chance of a smooth start. The messaging on the banner was confusing — it said that no one has to die for people to fight racism, which is true, but racism does kills everyday.

This action was successful in being highly visible, spreading a message against white supremacy, avoiding arrests and a police tail. The route was clever in that it went through streets already closed to car traffic. This kind of relatively low stress action builds confidence, as well as experience moving & deciding together in the street. It also felt like a good first outing of the spring, and a way to show that actions can be fun, playful, and confrontational all at the same time.

-DSA: Insurrectionary Nihilist Caucus

FTP Banner and Communique from Revolutionary Abolitionists in Harrisburg, PA

Submission

To our comrades in Philadelphia, Rockford and across the so-called United States,

In the wake of the election and the subsequent putsch on the Capitol, the establishment and media apparatus have set out to douse memory of the multi-racial insurgency that spread across the country last summer and dampen the social contradictions that lead to it with slogans of calm and unity. Harrisburg was not been exempt from this revisionist trend in the slightest. During the summer, grifters and Black counter insurgents tried to funnel the long growing discontent into dead end electoralism and the bureaucratic machinations that grind the ember of revolutionary change in their gears at any given opportunity. In spite of this, the community rose up in defiance of both law enforcement and their neoliberal lapdogs in ways that have not been seen here in recent memory – cop cars smashed, streets shut down and police forced into retreat by a hail of bricks and debris.

As the heat of the summer lowered (relatively) to a tempered simmer and the electoral distraction served its role as sociological vacuum, the city’s leadership set its agenda on almost completely ignoring the events of the past year in order to return to some prelapsarian concept of normal – (a state which if it existed would be an amoral hellpit by any honest summation)- the exception of course, being their ongoing plan of repression against the true revolutionaries who participated in the uprising. At writing, there remains many ongoing struggles in the courts for the freedom of participants charged for their participation in the protests, both in Harrisburg and elsewhere. This is particularly disheartening as the loss of momentum of the movement from the summer means individual cases are harder to rally around, making intercommunal support from committed radicals that much more important.

Congruently, the local prison system has been revealed as the cauldrons of deathrot we have always known them to be. As Covid cases spike, the prison refuses to provide hand sanitizer, soap, masks and other lifesaving supplies to its inmates, resulting in the languishing of dozens of incarcerated people. What’s worse, there have been recent reports of widespread sexual abuse of inmates by guards, as well as many other violations of dignity, aided by an M.O. cultivated by deposed Warden Brian Clark, a well documented sex pest in his own right.
We are not liberals. We are appalled but not shocked by the injustice system acting as it always has no matter what century, context or administration – forever a punitive apparatus to repress the colonized and exploited for the benefit of a racist carceral state. Whether a red or blue chain, the shackle remains the same. Recognition of this basic fact informs our work building a culture of resistance to the inevitable crackdown on abolitionists and revolutionaries by the neoliberal state operating in the name of “fighting extremism”.

We believe that times like this, the seeming lulls between mass protests, uprisings and other sparks of civil unrest are as ,and possibly even more important than those moments of social fissure and are probably not even be so neatly disconnected as they may be initially perceived. It is of the upmost importance that we are expanding our networks, supporting our comrades , and deepening our roots in the communities we live in order to create a movement capable of not only sustaining itself in the calm, but also protecting itself when the pigs come knocking. This means building community defense councils and war chests to support our accomplices kidnapped and harassed by the State through every stage of their struggle. It is equally important to deny space and momentum to obvious opportunists and collaborators who attempt to swallow the flame of radical change through cooptation and subterfuge with the intent to isolate radicals and those members of the community willing to take justice into their own hands. This commitment lives and dies on solidarity with those most affected, and this communique is an representation of that commitment.

We unfurled this banner calling for the end to abuse of prisoners in Dauphin County Prison and mass release of all incarcerated in the death camps of Pennsylvania and across the United Snakes. We also want to uplift the connected struggle of the movement, in order to echo the many voices calling for dropped charges for all and add to the cacophony of dissent against the police state. Finally, we uplift the demands of the Black Philly Radical Collective to for the immediate release of Mumia Abu Jamal, Major Tillery, Arthur Cetawayo Johnson, Russell “Maroon” Shoatz, Omar Askia, Joseph “Jo-Jo” Bowen, and all Black Political Prisoners.

We demand that all protestors across the country be granted amnesty. All charges must be dropped. We have unconditional solidarity to all rebels, radicals and revolutionaries facing State repression.

Free Them All.

Fuck DCP, Fuck Warden Clark and Fuck 12 Forever

Say no to the new Cointelpro!

Black Liberation Now.

Fire to the Prisons, Set the Captives Free.

Student Group Draws Attention to Bigoted Social Media Posts Made By Kutztown University Police Officer Alan Swartz

from Community Research Opposing HatePictures of Swartz.Alan Swartz, a Bigot in Kutztown University’s Police Department

On February 3rd 2021, a student group called Kutztown University Activists (KUA) released a trove of racist, Islamophobic, transphobic, and conspiracy-driven public Facebook posts by Kutztown University Police Officer Alan Swartz. The content was shared to KUA’s Instagram account along with a petition and call for accountability in response to Swartz’s clear prejudice and bias. The student demands included not only the removal of Officer Swartz from KU’s Police Department, but also the creation of an accountability board comprised of students, faculty, and staff; a board with the power to discipline university police who engage in wrongdoing or display overt bias. Swartz has been with the department since 2012.

On February 3rd, Swartz’s Facebook page was public for anyone to see. The posted content included images supporting Kyle Rittenhouse, a teenager who crossed state lines with an illegally acquired rifle, murdered two racial justice activists, and critically injured a third at a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, WI. This post referred to Black Lives Matter activists with racially charged language. A second post featured a Confederate flag, with derogatory language painting those who understand the white supremacist roots of the flag as ignorant of history. This line of neo-confederate thinking is rampant among far-right bigots. It stems from the racist historical revisionism of “lost cause” ideology perpetuated by the Daughters of the Confederacy and other neo-confederate groups after the Civil War. Another post is riddled with content demeaning transgender individuals, immigrants, and abortion rights.

Screenshots of QAnon, Confederate, and far right militia propaganda shared by Swartz
Screenshot of KUA’s Instagram page.

Alan Swartz also posted Islamophobic content to his Facebook page, including memes claiming Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib — Muslim women of color and democratically elected members of Congress — are ISIS sleeper agents. Conspiracy theories falsely defaming progressive Muslim women such as Omar and Tlaib are common refrains among the xenophobic far-right in the so-called United States.

Screenshots of Islamophobic memes shared by Swartz
Screenshot of KUA’s Instagram page.

Additionally, Swartz’s posts displayed his belief in a false conspiracy peddled by the fascist MAGA and Patriot movements; namely, that the coup attempt these groups carried out at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021 was a false flag operation. Any analysis of the individuals charged for their role in the coup attempt reveals that nearly every person who breached the Capitol were supporters of the former President who believed they were acting on his explicit orders. And reporting by major publications and independent journalists alike has proven that the attacks on the building were planned and orchestrated by far-right individuals and organizations such as The Proud Boys.

Swartz's shares and posts in support of the January 6th coup.
Disclaimer: The above is a screenshot of KUA’s Instagram post. CROH recommends against the use of anti-terror rhetoric in reporting of the January 6th event. We have previously referred to the event as a riot and an attempted coup, with the latter being more accurate given the involvement of many law enforcement and military personnel, both active and retired.

Philly Proud Boys Exposed as Federal Snitches

from Twitter

This right here is why Philadelphia Proud Boys President Zach Rehl is not in jail with his buddies. The Philly PBs chapter is a cesspool of federal informants. The feds give them a long leash to do fashy shit so long as the snitches feed them a steady stream of intel.

Support the #FreeAnt Movement

from Instagram

Photo by #FreeAnt on February 24, 2021. May be a cartoon of text.

We appreciate y’all’s support so much and we know it’s been a long road already, but we still have a ways to go before we can #dropthecharges and truly #freeant. We’ve added a linktree in the bio so you can more easily find all of our links to support and please save/share/engage with these graphics so that a.) our community can know how and where to best support Ant and b.) we can mass share with y’all that we have new modes of donating (we heard the requests to have more than PayPal), an updated/new PayPal link, and a Twitter that is now live! . Thank you all again for everything you’ve done already and will continue to do. Having Ant with us is the best feeling and we need him here in our community free of all charges so that he can continue to support his people who rely on him and love him, continue to support our youth, and continue to support our movements as an irreplaceable and beloved member of our neighborhoods. And as always, we name that Ant is not an isolated victim of state and carceral oppression and we stand in solidarity with other political prisoners and incarcerated folks, so when we say #FreeEmAll know we mean that. Let’s Gooooooo!

Justice for Christian Hall

from Instagram

Photo by Zine Distro in Philly on February 10, 2021. May be an image of 1 person, outdoors and text that says 'JUSTICE FOR CHRISTIAN HALL ABOLISH THE POLICE DEMONSTRATION 2/12 5PM DILWORTH PLAZA, CITY HALL'.

Justice for Christian Hall Abolish the Police Demonstration 2/12 5PM Dilworth Plaza, City Hall

from Instagram

Photo by The Wooden Shoe on February 10, 2021. May be an image of 1 person, car, outdoors and text.

Photo by The Wooden Shoe on February 10, 2021. May be an image of text that says 'RALLY against police brutality racism corruption abuse and all harm done by them city hall 5 pm fri 2/12 share everywhere'.

A second antifascist was visited by the FBI

from Instagram

A second antifascist was visited by the FBI in Philadelphia yesterday. Well, sort of. The weird thing is the FBI wasn’t even looking in the right ‘state’ as the person they were seeking out lives in New Jersey. That’s some real Grade A police work! Anyway. The state is up to something – possibly in collaboration with far right conspiracy theories that ‘antifa’ had something to do with the right wing violence on January 6th. News flash: ‘antifa’ had nothing to do with that whole shitshow, that scene was a wholly white supremacist riot. Be safe friends, MAKE SECURITY CULTURE YOUR #1 PRIORITY. They are only trying to intimidate us – don’t let them – be brave!

Up Against The Law On FBI Visits

from Twitter

If the FBI visits your home asking to identify far right perps in DC, remember you don’t have to answer any questions. Our networks say this is a pattern all over the country. You do not know what they’re actually looking for. Ask for their business card and contact us

Not in Philly? Contact your local anti repression network or a lawyer familiar with federal cases. Your lawyer will be able to contact them safely. Do not answer any questions without a lawyer present.

[Up Against The Law contact information:
(484) 758-0388
upagainsthelawlc@gmail.com
upagainstthelaw.org
]

Anti-Fascist Comrade Visited By FBI

from Twitter

[This afternoon, January 15 2021, an anti-fascist comrade was visited by two FBI agents at their home in Philadelphia.

The agents said they had questions about the recent events at the Capitol. The comrade refused to answer questions & immediately got in touch with legal & anti-repression support. We don’t rely on the state to address fascist threats. The FBI has roots in repressing anarchist and Black liberation movements. We do not trust that they are only investigating the events at the Capitol. We challenge their attempts at repression with our collective refusal to speak to law enforcement.

If you are contacted by the FBI or other law enforcement, contact Up Against The Law or Philly Anti-Repression.

Up Against The Law: 484-758-0388
Philly Anti-Repression: 267-460-1886]

Police Scanner Transcription December 31, 2020

(Below is a message from someone who was listening to the scanner during the new year’s eve noise demonstration. It’s being published to give an idea of how police responded to the demonstration, hopefully we can learn from their response and better understand their tactics.)

Listened to scanner on two channels: city wide and 6th district, where the federal detention center is located.

At 8:27 PM, a report of a group of about 50 protesters outside the federal building at 7th and Arch.

Cop 1: Should I send for backup?
Cop 2: Yeah, we’re sending some bike officers from the 9th district your way.
Cop 1: Okay.
Cop 3: Yeah, these guys do this every year. They make a lot of noise and shoot fireworks. It doesn’t get violent.
Cop 4: Okay, we’re staging backup around city hall by 15th and market in case you need them.
Cop 5: It looks like an-teefa. Wearing all black, they got their faces covered, some of em carrying hammers.
Cop ?: You said hammers?
Cop 5: Yeah, they all got hammers.

About one minute later:
(All the cops are ? in this part so they are all labelled as cop without a number)

Cop: We’re gonna need backup, they’re smashing windows. They busted out the windows of a cruiser.
Cop: Okay, where at?
Cop: Around 7th and Arch. They’re moving now.
Cop: Okay, see if you can follow them.
Cop: Yeah, they’re smashing more windows now. Storefronts.
Cop: All right move in on them.
Cop: Woowww…
Cop: All right, I’m giving an order to arrest on sight.
Cop: Where are they now? Does anyone have eyes on them?
Cop: Yeah, the split up. Most of em are headed westbound on Arch and some of them went north on 8th toward Chestnut.
Cop: Okay, I’m diverting all highway units to that area.
Cop: Can we get more cars in that area, see how many of them we can pick up?
Cop: Yeah, I’m gonna say between 7th and 10th and Arch and Chestnut, we want all nearby available units patrolling that area looking for them.
Cop: Can someone check social media too, start seeing if you can find anything about this?
Cop: I’m on it.
Cop: Does anyone have eyes on them?
Cop: Yeah, I’m following a few right now.
Cop: You can arrest on sight, go in.
Cop: All right.
Cop: I’m driving up Chestnut, I don’t see any sign of them.
Cop: Okay. Maybe we can get in touch with SEPTA, see if they got any reports of a large group of people in black enter a subway.
Cop: Yeah, there’s a subway entrance on 8th and Chestnut.
Cop: I got one arrested here. Male. Where do you want me to take him?
Cop: Just hold him there for now. Can someone get in touch with the federal building?
Cop: Did they damage done on federal property?
Cop: Yeah, two windows at the federal building smashed.
Cop: All right. Someone send an officer over there to talk with them, see what they wanna do.
Cop: We can pull footage from the city cameras around the area, see if we can get any video of them getting out of cars, get their plates…
Cop: Does anyone know where they are now?
Cop: I don’t see them.
Cop: My guys don’t see any sign of them.
Cop: SEPTA officer reported a large group of juveniles boarded the train at 8th and Chestnut. But they were headed eastbound…
Cop: (disappointed) Okay…
Cop: I just spoke with a very nice man from the federal building who said the they’ll handle the booking.
Cop: Okay, they wanna handle the booking. Take anyone you pick up to the federal building.
Cop: We got two prisoners here, two females. Taking them there now.

A few minutes later, approximately 8:45:

Cop: Any sign of them?
Cop: Yeah, I got three individuals detained in a lot over by 7th and Sansom now.

Got interrupted after that by a phone call and stopped listening.

Acts Against Goliaths

Submission

Carpet tacks spread in the police headquarters’ parking lot before a demonstration. More tacks dispersed at the local Amazon warehouse’s truck entrance. One valve stem cut on an Amazon truck’s tire. Two Amazon van tires slashed. Fiber optic cables cut where they hung low on three telephone poles in more affluent neighborhoods.

Small but unceasing acts against so many Goliaths. We hope to put a sling in many more hands while hunting for low-hanging fruit that might actual nourish our revolt.

The spectacle of the spell-out on the Regional Rail train is hardly worth mentioning without documentation, but our word is all we have. Those straight letters reading NO MORE PRESIDENTS taking up half the clean car in the earliest hours of somebody’s election day blazed bold in black and chrome. Maybe CLIP or Septa Police have the flicks to share from this earlier act. Either it ran and shared the message or was taken out of commission for cleaning.

We won’t stop. This world teeters on too many terrifying and enchanting precipices to stop. We invite you join us, with these recent acts as a minimum of examples. The greatest difficulty is in beginning, but once you’re out the door it gets easier. Take care and it gets easier.

“Let every act of repression visited upon us bloom infinite vicious resistance.”

Looking toward a winter of anarchy.

Free Political Prisoner Russell Maroon Shoatz

from AMW English

Free Political Prisoner Russell Maroon Shoatz

Russell Maroon Shoatz is a founding member of the Black Unity Council, a former member of the Black Panther Party, and a soldier in the Black Liberation Army.

“Police brutality is the reason our people are inside,” says Russell Shoatz III, Maroon’s son. Maroon has been in prison since 1972 because he was a leader in the fight against police in the 1960s and ’70s. He’s an elder of the most powerful movement this country has ever seen.

Maroon was held in solitary confinement for nearly 30 years, after two escape attempts he made over 40 years ago in the tradition of the maroon communities that escaped enslaved Africans created throughout the Americas. In his book, Maroon the Implacable, he makes this history come alive for younger generations. During his almost half-century in prison, he has mentored dozens of fellow prisoners, some of whom have joined the movement on the inside and outside.

As COVID-19 surges through the state and tears through its prisons, loved ones of incarcerated people are asking for the immediate release all elderly and medically vulnerable people in prison, and simply for prison staff to wear face masks and be tested for COVID-19.

Amid the horror that is the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections right now, Black liberation movement political prisoner Russell Maroon Shoatz may be one of the best examples of how that horror is playing out for elderly prisoners and their families. Maroon is 77 years old and has been fighting stage 4 colon cancer for over a year. After testing positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 11, Maroon was held in a gymnasium with 29 other men—and only one toilet to share between them. His urgent surgery for the cancer is being denied.

According to Theresa Shoatz, his daughter, Pennsylvania prisoners have been unable to make phone calls to let people outside know how bad COVID is inside right now.

Maroon must attain freedom. In an act of solidarity, while suffering in innumerable ways, Maroon himself told his daughter to advocate for the other 29 guys left in the gym.

You can donate to support Maroon’s Global Network here: https://russellmaroonshoats.wordpress.com/donate/

Banner Drop In Solidarity With Loren Reed

from Twitter

Solidarity from Philly!
from Instagram