Updated 9:30 p.m.Neighbors in Fishtown are on edge after Philadelphia police officers appeared to allow a large and vocal group of roughly 70, mostly white men, several of whom were carrying bats, to gather outside a police district long after the city’s mandatory curfew took effect at 6 p.m. on Monday.Members of the group, who said they were there to protect police, heckled and threatened a small group of roughly a dozen people protesting the killing of George Floyd clustered across from them on Girard Avenue. They also assaulted at least three people before dispersing for the night,...…Updated 9:30 p.m.Neighbors in Fishtown are on edge after Philadelphia police officers appeared to allow a large and vocal group of roughly 70, mostly white men, several of whom were carrying bats, to gather outside a police district long after the city’s mandatory curfew took effect at 6 p.m. on Monday.Members of the group, who said they were there to protect police, heckled and threatened a small group of roughly a dozen people protesting the killing of George Floyd clustered across from them on Girard Avenue. They also assaulted at least three people before dispersing for the night,...WW…

The doorbell startled Andre Davis.He had just finished ironing his work clothes and was moments away from slipping into bed for the evening.That wouldn’t happen for hours now.Two police officers stood on the other side of his front door. They needed to talk to him about Robert.“I thought maybe he had gotten in trouble,” Davis said.Inside their Olney rowhome, officers showed Davis and his wife a cell phone photo of their 21-year-old son, Robert Wood.The officers told them there had been a fight. Robert was shot. He didn’t make it.“My wife was hysterical. My daughter was hysterical. And we...…The doorbell startled Andre Davis.He had just finished ironing his work clothes and was moments away from slipping into bed for the evening.That wouldn’t happen for hours now.Two police officers stood on the other side of his front door. They needed to talk to him about Robert.“I thought maybe he had gotten in trouble,” Davis said.Inside their Olney rowhome, officers showed Davis and his wife a cell phone photo of their 21-year-old son, Robert Wood.The officers told them there had been a fight. Robert was shot. He didn’t make it.“My wife was hysterical. My daughter was hysterical. And we...WW…

The last thing Andre Coach saw before he left jail was a riot.It was April 3 at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center, one of four city jails. Over 120 incarcerated people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in these county detention centers to date — more than in Pennsylvania combined.Coach says life had been untenable for weeks under the Philadelphia Department of Prisons’ pandemic lockdown to quell the spread of the virus. City officials maintain all inmates are taken out of their cells once per day, but Coach and others said they sometimes went two or more days without...…The last thing Andre Coach saw before he left jail was a riot.It was April 3 at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center, one of four city jails. Over 120 incarcerated people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in these county detention centers to date — more than in Pennsylvania combined.Coach says life had been untenable for weeks under the Philadelphia Department of Prisons’ pandemic lockdown to quell the spread of the virus. City officials maintain all inmates are taken out of their cells once per day, but Coach and others said they sometimes went two or more days without...WW…

The family of Sean Schellenger, the developer who was fatally stabbed during a racially charged confrontation near Rittenhouse Square in July 2018, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Michael White, the food courier who was acquitted of voluntary manslaughter after telling a jury he used his knife in self-defense.The civil complaint, quietly filed in Delaware County Common Pleas Court in late January, also names Uber Eats as a defendant. White, who is Black, was delivering food ordered through the mobile app the day Schellenger, who was white, died.Filed three months after , the suit...…The family of Sean Schellenger, the developer who was fatally stabbed during a racially charged confrontation near Rittenhouse Square in July 2018, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Michael White, the food courier who was acquitted of voluntary manslaughter after telling a jury he used his knife in self-defense.The civil complaint, quietly filed in Delaware County Common Pleas Court in late January, also names Uber Eats as a defendant. White, who is Black, was delivering food ordered through the mobile app the day Schellenger, who was white, died.Filed three months after , the suit...WW…

Tanisha remembers exactly what she told a Delaware County police officer the day she was arrested outside of her ex-boyfriend’s home in 2008.“This could potentially ruin my life.”She wasn’t exaggerating. In the decade since she was charged with simple assault and resisting arrest, the 32-year-old has struggled to find steady work because of her criminal record, making it difficult to provide for herself and her son, who’s now a teenager.“I couldn’t even get a cashier’s job,” said Tanisha. WHYY News has agreed to withhold her last name to avoid undermining her legal effort to put her...…Tanisha remembers exactly what she told a Delaware County police officer the day she was arrested outside of her ex-boyfriend’s home in 2008.“This could potentially ruin my life.”She wasn’t exaggerating. In the decade since she was charged with simple assault and resisting arrest, the 32-year-old has struggled to find steady work because of her criminal record, making it difficult to provide for herself and her son, who’s now a teenager.“I couldn’t even get a cashier’s job,” said Tanisha. WHYY News has agreed to withhold her last name to avoid undermining her legal effort to put her...WW…

Rudolpho Sutton’s thoughts are mired in a simple, but painful question about his father’s death: What happened?On April 8, about a week after the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections announced its first prisoner had tested positive for the coronavirus, Rudolph Sutton was found unresponsive inside his cell at SCI Phoenix in Montgomery County, the state prison where he was serving a life sentence for a murder advocates say he likely did not commit.A county coroner later determined the 67-year-old died from pneumonia caused by COVID-19, a revelation that made him the first — and currently...…Rudolpho Sutton’s thoughts are mired in a simple, but painful question about his father’s death: What happened?On April 8, about a week after the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections announced its first prisoner had tested positive for the coronavirus, Rudolph Sutton was found unresponsive inside his cell at SCI Phoenix in Montgomery County, the state prison where he was serving a life sentence for a murder advocates say he likely did not commit.A county coroner later determined the 67-year-old died from pneumonia caused by COVID-19, a revelation that made him the first — and currently...WW…

Civil rights attorneys in Philadelphia have asked a federal judge to order the city to halt pedestrian stops, sometimes known as “stop-and-frisk” — for “quality of life” offenses, including littering, panhandling, and carrying open liquor containers — saying the practice is rife with racial disparities.Per a motion filed Thursday as part of an ongoing civil rights case, police officers would be told not to conduct a pedestrian stop unless a person refuses to stop what they’re doing. Civil rights attorney David Rudovsky, whose law firm filed the motion along with the ACLU, said most of these...…Civil rights attorneys in Philadelphia have asked a federal judge to order the city to halt pedestrian stops, sometimes known as “stop-and-frisk” — for “quality of life” offenses, including littering, panhandling, and carrying open liquor containers — saying the practice is rife with racial disparities.Per a motion filed Thursday as part of an ongoing civil rights case, police officers would be told not to conduct a pedestrian stop unless a person refuses to stop what they’re doing. Civil rights attorney David Rudovsky, whose law firm filed the motion along with the ACLU, said most of these...WW…

Updated: 4:30 p.m.___Philadelphia Prisons Commissioner Blanche Carney said Thursday that a young man was shot and killed on prison grounds less than an hour after he was released from the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in the Holmesburg section of the city.Carney said 20-year-old Rodney Hargrove left the facility around 1 a.m. after posting bail on theft and firearm charges. A dark-colored vehicle then approached him as he waited for a ride at a SEPTA bus stop across the street, she said.“Mr. Hargrove then ran back onto prison grounds after being pursued by the vehicle. The occupants...…Updated: 4:30 p.m.___Philadelphia Prisons Commissioner Blanche Carney said Thursday that a young man was shot and killed on prison grounds less than an hour after he was released from the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in the Holmesburg section of the city.Carney said 20-year-old Rodney Hargrove left the facility around 1 a.m. after posting bail on theft and firearm charges. A dark-colored vehicle then approached him as he waited for a ride at a SEPTA bus stop across the street, she said.“Mr. Hargrove then ran back onto prison grounds after being pursued by the vehicle. The occupants...WW…

City prosecutors and police stood inside a cavernous West Philadelphia church earlier this month to announce that four men now face criminal charges for allegedly injuring nine people, including three children, in a series of retaliatory shootings in 2018 and 2019.The charges stemmed from a lengthy grand jury process. Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw credited ballistics evidence, cell phone records, and surveillance footage. She said also proved to be “invaluable” to the investigation launched under the umbrella of the city’s Gun Violence Task Force.Photos posted to publicly-accessible...…City prosecutors and police stood inside a cavernous West Philadelphia church earlier this month to announce that four men now face criminal charges for allegedly injuring nine people, including three children, in a series of retaliatory shootings in 2018 and 2019.The charges stemmed from a lengthy grand jury process. Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw credited ballistics evidence, cell phone records, and surveillance footage. She said also proved to be “invaluable” to the investigation launched under the umbrella of the city’s Gun Violence Task Force.Photos posted to publicly-accessible...WW…

The new year is off to a violent start in Philadelphia.The Philadelphia Police Department recorded 50 homicides in January, a 32% increase over last year, . The tally, which includes the of a 9-year-old girl for which her father and 12-year-old brother have been charged, is the highest the city has reported at this point in the year since 2007.Non-fatal shootings have also continued to surge. More than 140 people were shot this month, a 71% jump over this time last year.The majority of people shot are Black men. The list of victims also includes nearly a dozen children under the age of...…The new year is off to a violent start in Philadelphia.The Philadelphia Police Department recorded 50 homicides in January, a 32% increase over last year, . The tally, which includes the of a 9-year-old girl for which her father and 12-year-old brother have been charged, is the highest the city has reported at this point in the year since 2007.Non-fatal shootings have also continued to surge. More than 140 people were shot this month, a 71% jump over this time last year.The majority of people shot are Black men. The list of victims also includes nearly a dozen children under the age of...WW…