Few people like Mondays. But a Monday is even harder to like when you’re confronted by angry activists who are demanding answers to a controversial and fatal officer-involved-shooting and you either have no response, or the response you give is deemed bullshit by those who initiated the confrontation.
Mr. Michael DiBerardinis, Philadelphia’s Managing Director, and Mr. Brian Abernathy, the First Deputy Managing Director, couldn’t have been too pleased with the way their Monday afternoon got started. In their faces were truth-chaser, incensed by what they perceive is indifference by officials to a white cop murdering an unarmed black man named Mr. David Jones, and the news media who were angling themselves to perfectly capture the drama unfolding before them.
Mr. DiBerardinis and Mr. Abernathy never saw it coming. Unlike the #JusticeforDavidJones protests that have been occurring almost bi-weekly in Northeast Philadelphia, Monday’s direct action went unadvertised and only select members of the news media – those whom either I or the activists have close relationships with – were alerted. To their credit, neither man on the 14th floor of the MSB Building aimed to dismiss the curious activists. Though when you consider some of answers given, they probably would have been better off doing so.
(L to R): Mr. Michael DiBerardinis confronted by Mr. Asa Khalif and Mr. Isaac Gardner. Photo Credit: C. Norris – ©2017.
A high-level Philadelphia government executive, Mr. DiBerardinis – whose office is tasked with managing the efficiency and effectiveness of various city agencies, including the Philadelphia Police Department and the Philadelphia Police Advisory Commission – admitted Monday that, despite the shooting happening over a month ago, he still hasn’t watched the video of Mr. Jones fleeing Officer Ryan Pownhall. And Mr. Abernathy, who keeps a relatively low profile, copped to hiring Ms. Erica Atwood to temporarily lead the PAC, which neither deployed investigators to the scene of the June 8th officer-involved-shooting – that had been the practice post-2015, when the Department of Justice offered up nearly 100 recommendations to improve officer training and trust in policing – nor is currently investigating the incident (Ms. Atwood has attend no protest related to the David Jones shooting).
The PAC – whose leadership is in transition even though hiring decisions are being made by Ms. Atwood – was the target Monday evening. Activists gathered on the corner of Broad & Morris Street, outside of the South Philadelphia library that hosted the meeting, and unanimously decided to shut that shit down. Business would not go on as usual, they agreed, because a black man is dead and everyone in elected or appointed leadership is silent.
“Your silence is violence,” yelled Black Lives Matter activists Mr. Asa Khalif through a bullhorn.
The family of Mr. Jones was there, too. And his 14-year-old son – whose last encounter with his father was at his graduation the day before the fatal shooting – addressed Ms. Ronda Goldfein, chair of PAC’s board.
“All I hear is excuses and BS,” Mr. T’khai Dunschee, who hadn’t spoken publicly before Monday, said.
The young man, who did his best to hold back tears, further asserted that had his father been white, and the officer been black, then the investigation would’ve ended long ago.
Ms. Goldfein, like Mr. DiBerardinis, admitted to not having watched the video, though she knew the basic of the case. Mr. Isaac Gardner, who has been organizing the protests which call for justice on behalf of Mr. Jones and who was present during the earlier action, pressured Ms. Goldfein throughout the night to watch the footage.
Mr. Isaac Gardner holds up his cellphone, which had on it at the time the video of the David Jones shooting. Next to Mr. Gardner is the chair of the PAC’s board, who until Monday hadn’t seen the footage. Photo Credit: C. Norris – ©2017.
She eventually obliged. Her reaction at the moment Mr. Jones was shot was one of horror; if she had pearls on, she would’ve clutched them.
Mr. Abernathy said the shooting’s investigation is important to the Kenney administration and they want to get it right. The District Attorney’s Office, however, has yet to protect or interview Terrance F., the eye-witness to the shooting. The latter is due to their preference that he not be accompanied by his advocate, though their initial stance was the opposite. On Friday past, the DA’s Office allowed Terrance F. to walk out the door without giving a statement. Their investigation can’t proceed without him.
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Photo courtesy of the author.
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