Amid Riot Over Police Shooting, Philly Hits 400 Murders

By Ralph Cipriano
for BigTrial.net.

We interrupt the regularly scheduled rioting, looting and political pandering over the fatal police shooting yesterday of Walter Wallace Jr., a 27 year-old black man armed with a knife, for this important announcement -- the city of Philadelphia just hit 400 murders!

Barry Torrance, a 44-year-old black man, was found shot in the head yesterday by his aunt on the 4800 block of Westminster Avenue in West Philadelphia. Ironically, that crime scene was just four blocks away from where the rioting and looting erupted on 52nd Street over the fatal police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr.

Torrance, who subsequently died of his wounds, became Philly's 400th homicide this year. By comparison, as of Oct. 12th, New York City, with more than five times the population of Philadelphia, had only 362 murders. 

In Philadelphia, there have been less than a dozen officer-involved shootings this year, but they sure get a lot of attention, especially when, as was the case yesterday, the victim involved is black, and the officers involved are white. Meanwhile, the city has 400 homicides on the books this year, as well as 132 suspicious deaths that may turn out to be many more homicides. 

A conservative estimate of Philly's homicides this year is that at least 90%, of the victims are black, as are the victims whose deaths have been classified as suspicious. But apparently when it comes to our current toxic brand of racial politics, those hundreds of black lives don't matter. 

So the demonstrators who marched on the police station at 55th and Pine weren't chanting "Say his name" about Barry Torrence, Official Homicide Victim No. 400. No, instead, they were chanting about Walter Wallace Jr., a  career criminal with 18 prior arrests, including five assaults on cops, and domestic abuse cases as recent as this past March, when he stabbed his 25 year-old girlfriend who's the mother of his children.

During yesterday's riots and looting, while they were arresting more than 90 people, some 43 cops were injured. Almost all of those cops were released from hospitals after being treated for injuries caused by flying rocks, bricks and other projectiles. The lone exception: a 56-year-old female police sergeant struck by a pickup truck, who was admitted to a hospital for a broken leg. 

But the emotional wounds inflicted on the cops by the demonstrators, as well as by the city's groveling progressive leaders, may be more lasting.

Video posted on Twitter showed demonstrators laughing and cursing as they brazenly tossed projectiles at Philly cops, who were reduced to running away to escape injury. Because of prior P.C. edicts by our woke mayor and police commissioner, the cops were barred from using tear gas on a couple hundred demonstrators who so richly deserved it. 

As one cop said, "We are the laughing stock of the world."

The police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. took place on the 6100 block of Locust Street, where, shortly before 5 p.m., police were summoned by a report of a man with a weapon. It was the third visit of the day by police to the block where Wallace was on a rampage. The victim's mother tried to intercede and disarm her son, without success, before police wound up firing a fatal fusillade of 13 shots. 

On video, Wallace, who was seen brandishing a knife, was told several times by two cops, as well as by bystanders, to drop his weapon. The two cops, who had their guns drawn, kept backing up and walking away from Wallace. But Wallace chased the two cops out in the street while holding the knife high and pointing it right at the cops. When Wallace kept advancing at them, the cops finally opened fire. Wallace wound up dead in a shooting that cops described as "textbook."

As a dead man, Wallace suddenly became useful to racial provocateurs, especially the ones employed by the media. 

As many black conservatives have noted, there's a dubious history of making black martyrs out of black criminals. Wallace fit the bill, with a rap sheet featuring 17 arrests, including incidents of domestic violence and five assaults on police. 

Another legitimate question for District Attorney Larry Krasner: why was Wallace out on the street? His most recent arrest was on March 3rd, on a warrant for domestic assault that happened on Feb. 16th, at 5952 Locust Street. Wallace was charged with making terroristic threats. He was released the next day on $10,000 monetary bail, meaning he had to post only $1,000 to get out of jail. 

He had a trial scheduled for April 3rd that wound up being postponed. A trial scheduled for July 10th was also postponed, as was a trial for Aug. 13th. On July 10th the D.A.'s office requested a continuance because a witness was unavailable. On Oct. 7th, a trial for Wallace was canceled. A new trial date was scheduled for Nov. 4th, but an order was granted for a continuance. So Wallace remained out on bail. 

 

Regarding Wallace's rap sheet, in 2019, he pleaded guilty to giving a false identification to law enforcement officers, but received no further penalty. 

In 2017, Wallace was sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months in prison and put on probation for five years after he was found guilty of robbery, simple assault and possession of an instrument of crime. 

In 2016, Wallace was sentenced to three years probation for a negotiated guilty plea to aggravated assault, terrorist threats, and simple assault. In 2014, he was sentenced to a year's probation for resisting arrest. In 2013, he was sentenced to six months in jail and two years probation after he entered into a negotiated guilty plea for assault, contempt for violating a court order, and resisting arrest. 

You get the idea. In a youtube video that multiple police sources say is him, Wallace, the latest black martyr, is seen cavorting on camera with multiple guns and fellow gangstas, while wearing a T-shirt that says, "Need money, not friends." 

As a convicted felon, Wallace would not be allowed to possess guns, like the impressive hardware he's showcasing in the video; weapons that include an AR pistol with a folding stock, which is illegal. 

On the video, Wallace raps that "Niggers hate for no reason." He brags about having sex with "a lot of bitches" -- one of whom looks pregnant. And then he claims that he's "on the road to riches and fame."

Instead, he wound up dead but suddenly famous because he was a politically useful corpse in the war on cops.  

After the fatal police shooting of Wallace, the city's progressive leaders did the requisite groveling that we've come to expect from them. Instead of talking about due process, and withholding judgments, or maybe even backing the blue, our progressive leaders immediately raised the white flag with the rhetoric of surrender, to feed right into the minority grievance industry. 

It was tantamount to throwing gasoline on a fire. Those flames were immediately fanned by the media's social justice warriors, always hot for a police-involved shooting that's black and white. 

Mayor Jim Kenney immediately pledged a full investigation and announced that his "prayers are with the family and friends of Walter Wallace." Apparently, the mayor wasn't praying for those 43 injured cops, or their friends and families. Kenney also said that video of the police shooting "presents difficult questions that must be answered." 

Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said she had "heard and felt the anger of the community," and that an internal investigation would "answer the many unanswered questions that exist." Outlaw joined Kenney in pledging to meet with "members of the community and members of Mr. Wallace's family to hear their concerns as soon as it can be scheduled."

After Wallace's family is through meeting with lawyers, so they can file a wrongful death suit against the city.

Next up on the P.C. Parade was District Attorney Larry Krasner, who, instead of explaining why Wallace was out on the street, encouraged witnesses to the police shooting to contact his office so he could mete out "fair and evenhanded justice" as soon as possible. That will no doubt involve Krasner convening a grand jury to indict the two white cops involved in the shooting as soon as possible. 

But Krasner's war on cops has had consequences for the rest of us. So has Kenney and Outlaw's demonstrated tendency to prioritize the rights of demonstrators over the rights of police. And their habit of firing cops for following orders. 

According to police sources, multiple surrounding suburban townships in Chester and Montgomery counties, as well as the state police, turned down multiple requests for assistance yesterday from the undermanned Philadelphia Police Department, which was dealing with a riot.

As one cop said, because of the words and actions of its progressive leaders, as far as the law enforcement community is concerned, the city of Philadelphia has made itself "a pariah."

Undaunted, Mayor Kenney today told the Inquirer that the riots in West Philly were "further evidence of the anguish of black and brown residents." In his remarks, Kenney doubled down on his woke rhetoric, saying that as a "white man, enjoying all the privileges that brings," he vowed to work to, as the newspaper put it, "understand the pain of systemic racism and work to change it."

What a statesman! Way to encourage more rioting and looting, Mr. Mayor! 

Whenever this man speaks publicly, every adult in Philadelphia should be asking themselves how did an incompetent, talent-less hack like Kenney end up as mayor? After 68 years of uninterrupted rule by Democratic mayors, including one guy who dropped a bomb on his own people, have we finally bottomed out with Mayor Kenney?

While Kenney was delivering his guilty white male sermon to the Inky's P.C. choir, which dutifully sang back up, Philly's crime stats continued to tell a grim story about a city out of control under Kenney, Krasner & Outlaw's disastrous Progressive leadership.

In Philadelphia:

-- Homicides are up 41%; from 280 at this time last year, to 400 this year.

-- Shootings are up 48%; from 1,201 at this time last year to 1,776 this year.

-- Aggravated assaults by firearm are up 43%; from 2,131 this time last year to 3,038 this year.

-- Shooting incidents are up 62%; from 1,924 this time last year to 3,111 this year.

In yesterday's riots, besides injuring 43 cops, the rioters also damaged 11 police vehicles.

One final note about Philadelphia's dead bodies: of the 132 deaths this year classified as suspicious, one of the most recent involved a fatal shooting by an employee of the district attorney's office.

Yes it's true. Previously, D.A. Krasner has restricted his efforts to inflate the city's homicide rate by releasing as many armed and dangerous criminals as possible, so they can reek more mayhem on the streets by shooting and killing each other. 

But last week, the D.A.'s office reached another milestone in the war on the traditional criminal justice system, when an employee of Krasner's office decided to personally add to the pile of dead bodies.

Shortly before 10 a.m. on Oct. 20th, DeVonte' Douglass, 28, a gun violence counselor in the D.A.'s office, shot and killed Vernon Harris, 31. The shooting occurred after the two men chatted on Instagram, and according to what Douglass told the cops, Douglass agreed "to a sexual encounter in exchange for money." 

In an interview with homicide detectives, Douglass claimed that after his encounter with the male prostitute, Harris pulled a gun on Douglass and attempted to rob him. Douglass told the cops that after Harris stuck his Smith & Wesson .357 magnum in his waistband, he made a move that Douglass interpreted as going for his gun.

So Douglass whipped out his 9 mm pistol and shot Harris twice in the chest. Cops, however, said the victim's gun was still holstered when they found him dead at the scene. It's a scenario that could possibly lead to a murder charge against Douglass, who's been suspended by the D.A., pending the outcome of a criminal investigation.

The state's attorney general is investigating the shooting, because of an obvious conflict of interest on the part of the D.A., who would have no doubt given Douglass a pass if he could. But so far, official spokespersons for the AG's office have declined to say whether Douglass would be charged with murder, or whether the shooting of Harris would be ruled a justifiable homicide.  

Last night, with no neighboring police agency, nor the state police, willing to come to Philadelphia's aid,  Mayor Kenney called in the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Guard to keep the peace during a second night of rioting and widespread looting that was getting national media attention. 

If Kenney's wondering why his police department is crippled in the face of civil unrest, as well as why no other agency except the National Guard would come to the city's aid, all he has to do is look in the mirror. 

And if Krasner was serious about his comments to reporters that the role of government is to "protect us," he could begin to accomplish that by locking up dangerous criminals like Walter Wallace Jr.