Mother of Man Killed by Philadelphia Police Wants Commissioner to Resign

A vote of no confidence in Philly’s top cop has been issued by the mother of Mr. Brandon Tate-Brown.

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Nearly seven months ago, a fierce activist was born out of the most unfortunate circumstances.

Mrs. Tanya Brown-Dickerson’s 26 year-old son, Mr. Brandon Tate-Brown, was shot and killed by Philadelphia police officer, Mr. Nicholas Carrelli, who discharged his gun in fear that Mr. Tate-Brown – who was pulled over for driving without headlights and asked to step out his vehicle when a gun was noticed wedged between the passenger seat and center console – was attempting to retrieve the weapon after forcefully resisting arrest.

That narrative has since been debunked by Philadelphia Police Commissioner, Mr. Charles Ramsey, who yesterday said a “rush to provide the public with details on a fatal shooting involving an officer in Mayfair was to blame for a false report that the man was reaching into a car for a handgun.”

Mrs. Brown-Dickerson and her supporters, most notably among them Mr. Greg Brinkley and Mr. Edward Lloyd, private investigators, have from day one denounced the police department’s version of events.

Mr. Brinkley, at almost every rally and public event, including #PhillyAfterFerguson, an explosive town hall meeting organized by Techbook Online, has used the words “cover up” to describe the actions taken by City and police officials after the December 15th officer-involved shooting.

“They staged a scene,” said Mrs. Brown-Dickerson, “they killed my son for no reason, and that’s a crime. There’s no evidence that Brandon hit anyone. His hands had no marks on them, but he did have scraps on his face and legs from where the officer dragged him. I watched (Officer) Carrelli grab him by the hoodie and jerk him around.”

Officer Carrelli had a Taser but testified that that he never had a chance to use it because the hand-to-hand struggle was so intense.

Mrs. Brown-Dickerson, who viewed all the footage only after months of public pressure level against the police department, said she witnessed at least two opportunities to wherein Officer Carrelli could’ve used his Taser.

Mrs. Brown-Dickerson accused police of attempting to portray Mr. Tate-Brown as much larger than he was, a type of dehumanizing spin used by the Ferguson Police Department after Mr. Mike Brown was shot multiple times and killed by Officer Darren Wilson.

“He wore a size 32 pants and a large shirt, he had an athletic build, but Carelli was much bigger than him. He wasn’t running away from the scene… he didn’t run up the street. He wouldn’t stand there and just let them beat him… he was scared of those officers,” she said.

Mr. Asa Khalif, Mr. Tate-Brown’s cousin and one of the #Philly10 activist whose charge of disorderly conduct stemming from a physical altercation in March between cops and protesters demanding the name of Tate-Brown’s killer were dropped this week in court, said his group, Racial Unity USA, wants the Federal Government to come in, investigate the case, and indict Officer Carrelli for murder.

“The entire city is at risk with this murderer on the street,” said Mr. Khalif, who informed Techbook Online that he is starting a petition that demands murder charges be filed against Officer Carrelli, who has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Office of the Philadelphia District Attorney and placed back on patrol.

Mrs. Brown-Dickerson, who since day one has said she wants her son’s murderer held accountable, now also wants conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges filed against Commissioner Ramsey, Mr. Seth Williams, Philly’s first black District Attorney, and Mayor Michael A. Nutter, who Mrs. Brown-Dickerson said had “stayed out of it” throughout the entire happenings until this week when the City released the details, including videos, surrounding the controversial officer-involved shooting, which has caught the attention of mainstream media, though the case, compared to Freddie Gray’s, Tamir Rice’s, Mike Brown and Renisha McBride, is relatively unknown.

Aiming to get the story more visible, Mrs. Brown-Dickerson today reached out to Techbook Online, who in April, with her input, drafted Brandon’s Law, proposed legislation that would require the City of Philadelphia to publish and archive the names police officers who kill citizens, along with more pertinent information, like how the firearms review board ruled in their investigation.

Mr. Jim Kenney, the Democratic nominee for Mayor of Philadelphia, at TransparencyNow, a mayoral forum co-organized by Techbook Online, said if elected he would make Brandon’s Law an actual law.

 

Mrs. Brown-Dickerson, who was adamant about changing laws in the aftermath of her son’s death, told Techbook Online exclusively that when Commissioner Ramsey reached out to her to express his condolences, he told her that unless she sues the City, he had no plan to release the name of the officer who killed Mr. Tate-Brown, which, if true, contradicts the police commissioner’s statement following the melee with the #Philly10 at the Lawncrest recreation center where he stated his reasoning for keeping the name(s) secret was because of the type of violence displayed by protesters and out of fear for the officer’s safety.

“Commissioner Ramsey, and everyone connected to this case, conspired to hide the truth, and tried to portray me as just a crazy, grieving mother who couldn’t except the fact her son wasn’t a good kid,” said Mrs. Brown-Dickerson.

“She’s been extremely disrespected by City officials,” said Mr. Khalif, who said he supports his cousin’s demands.

Mrs. Brown-Dickerson and Mr. Khalif called out the Philadelphia chapters of the National Action Network and NAACP for leaving them stranded after they sought help. Both Mrs. Brown-Dickerson and Mr. Khalif also had strong words for the black clergy who stood behind Mr. Williams when he ruled the shooting justifiable.

“What do you have to say now, men of God?” asked Mrs. Brown-Dickerson.

Mr. Khalif especially angered with Philadelphia NAACP President, Mr. Rodney Muhammad, suggested the handkerchief Negroes who abandoned the family in their time of need and, instead, stood with the establishment can, in the words WWF’s DeGeneration X, suck it!

*Tune into 900amWURD or 900amWURD.com every Friday evening during the 6 o’clock hour to hear me relive #TheWeekThatWas*

Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™