Inquirer Covers Up Big Lies Told By Kenney, Krasner & Outlaw

By Ralph Cipriano
for BigTrial.net

One of the advantages of being a progressive Democratic public official in Philadelphia is that you can basically lie your ass off, and then count on the progressive Democratic "journalists" at The Philadelphia Inquirer to cover for you.

Over a six-day period earlier this month, we witnessed some blatant examples of this phenomenon. We're talking about some big lies told by three of the highest ranking officials in the city, as in the mayor, the police commissioner, and the district attorney. 

Let's start with the D.A. On Oct. 13th, District Attorney Larry Krasner showed up at City Council to address a Special Committee on Gun Violence Prevention. With the city heading toward all-time highs in shootings and murders, Krasner was in a pickle because the police department had just laid out some devastating stats that showed what a horrible job Krasner was doing at prosecuting gun crimes. To make matters worse, those stats came directly from the D.A.'s own "Open Data Dashboard." 

The stats showed that the conviction rate in the D.A.'s office for prosecuting gun crimes had fallen from a high of 73% in 2015, when Seth Williams was D.A., all the way down to 35% so far this year under D.A. Krasner. 

Meanwhile, the number of gun crime cases that were either withdrawn or dismissed by the D.A.'s office was headed the other way, going from 17% in 2015, when Seth Williams was D.A., all the way up to 61% this year under D.A. Krasner.

So how did Krasner explain his horrible performance in office at prosecuting gun crimes, as testified to by the stats from his own office? Well, Krasner basically bullshitted those cowed and/or gullible city council members by telling them that they weren't seeing what they were seeing, namely those horrible stats. Then, Krasner told some lies and invented some bogus new stats to cover up what a lousy job he's doing, while people are getting shot and murdered in record numbers.

And nobody at the Inquirer, or the City Council, had the guts to call him on it. 

What did the Inquirer report about happened at that city council hearing?

In a story by Anna Orso and Sean Collins Walsh, the Inquirer pretended that the controversy over Krasner's horrible record at prosecuting gun crimes didn't exist by failing to mention the real stats, or Krasner's lies, or Krasner's new bogus stats.

Instead, the Inquirer quoted Krasner as saying that his office was understaffed, and facing a big backlog of cases because of the pandemic. The Inquirer also quoted Krasner as saying that a recent collaboration with the police department has actually decreased crime in targeted areas.

It was left to Big Trial to sort through Krasner's distortions and lies, to set the record straight about the complete failure by his office to prosecute gun crimes. At a time when people are getting shot and murdered in record numbers.

After Krasner's BS act in City Council, I sent an email to Vincent Thompson, communications director for City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, the chairman of the gun violence prevention committee, basically pointing out that Krasner had just disrespected Johnson and his fellow council members by lying to their faces.

In Philadelphia, however, everybody is playing on the same team, whether you're on the City Council or working at the Inquirer. As in we're all progressive Democrats, so we stick together.

Even though people are getting shot and killed in record numbers, it's more important to be a loyal Dem, than to do our job, and maybe try to save some lives by holding our fraudulent D.A. accountable for the gun violence. 

So Councilman Johnson, who has pleaded innocent to a 22-count federal indictment for alleged corruption, immediately fell into line, demonstrating that his first loyalty wasn't to the citizens who elected him, but instead it was to the Democratic party.

"The Council member will not have any comments concerning D.A. Krasner's testimony," Thompson replied. When I pointed out that the council member's silence would only ensure that more people would be shot and murdered, Thompson replied, "If the Council member has any comments or concerns about D.A. Krasner's testimony, he will speak to the D.A. directly."

Oh, that's reassuring. As in, hey Larry, next time you show up in council, could you please stop bullshitting us with your ridiculous lies and phony stats? You're making us all look like a joke when you tell us fairy tales and treat us like morons. 

I also tweeted my story pointing out Krasner's lies and bogus stats directly to several City Council members, and the predictable response was crickets. 

In Philadelphia, this is how the system works. To prove that point, six days later, on Oct. 19th, in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, a judge who used to work for Larry Krasner heard testimony from Police Inspector Winton Singletary, regarding the question of who gave the final authority on June 1, 2020, to tear gas protesters who were illegally blocking the Vine Street Expressway during rush hour.

From the witness stand, the inspector said that former deputy Police Commissioner Dennis Wilson was in "constant contact" that day with the "on-site incident commanders," whom Singletary repeatedly identified as Police Commissioner Outlaw and Mayor Kenney. 

Singletary further testified that he heard Wilson say over police radio that he had received final approval to launch tear gas, an approval that Singelary said came not only from Outlaw, but also the mayor.

As reported solely by Big Trial, Singletary's testimony completely contradicted the alibi told by Outlaw at a June 25, 2020 joint press conference with Kenney called to issue a formal apology for the teargassing. 

At the press conference, Deputy Police Commissioner Wilson claimed he had failed to obtain final permission from Outlaw before giving the order to launch the tear gas.

"I didn't call the commissioner, I gave the  approval," Wilson said. "And it was me and me alone."

Wilson then announced that for "violating the rules of engagement and the commissioner's trust," he was taking a "voluntary demotion" to chief inspector.

"Falling on the sword," was how Outlaw characterized it.

Nobody in the police department, however, bought that story. 

As several cops who knew Wilson told Big Trial, Wilson was the ultimate company man, a cautious cover-your-ass kind of guy. He would have never taken such a drastic action, those sources say, such as teargassing protesters in the middle of a riot, with TV helicopters flying overhead, without first clearing it with his superiors.

So why did Wilson take the fall, along with a voluntary demotion to chief inspector, and an annual pay cut of $30,000? Because, according to police sources, Wilson had been told that the D.A. was planning to arrest him. And if convicted, under Pennsylvania law, Wilson stood to not only lose his pension, but also a DROP bonus of some $800,000.

Since Wilson publicly sacrificed himself to spare Kenney and Outlaw from the political fallout from the teargassing, Outlaw has continued the cover up by repeatedly ignoring requests from her own Internal Affairs Unit to explain her actions regarding the teargassing. The police tapes from the day of the Vine Street teargassing have also conveniently been removed from public access.

The case where Inspector Singeltary was testifying at was over the firing of former SWAT team member Rich Nicoletti for pepper-spraying three protesters on the expressway. More testimony damaging to Outlaw and Kenney is expected when the Nicoletti case goes to trial as early as next month.

But how did the Inquirer cover the preliminary hearing in the Nicoletti case where Inspector Singletary dimed out Kenney and Outlaw? Chris Palmer, a regular collaborator with official Dems, basically carried Krasner's water by ignoring the evidence that Kenney and Outlaw were lying, and by publishing two BS PR announcements from Krasner.

In the Inquirer story, Krasner claimed that by indicting Nicoletti, his office was applying "even-handed and equal accountability to people who unlawfully inflict harm on others -- regardless of their title, status, or official position with the City of Philadelphia."

Inspector Singletary testified at a preliminary hearing that amounted to round two in the Nicoletti case. Another judge, William Austin Meehan, had previously tossed all the charges in the case against Nicoletti. Krasner responded by refiling the charges against Nicoletti, only this time with a judge who was more amenable to his progressive BS.

That would be Judge Crystal Bryant-Powell, who formerly worked as an assistant district attorney for Krasner in 2018. It was the appearance of a conflict of interest that Bryant-Powell did not disclose in court, although she did make a big deal out of voluntarily disclosing that she was overly friendly with the father of Nicoletti's lawyer, a since deceased judge. 

So what did the Inquirer do? Why of course they ignored the appearance of a conflict on the part of the judge. They also covered for Kenney and Outlaw by not reporting that the evidence in the Nicoletti case plainly showing that Kenney and Outlaw were lying about the tear gas.

Finally, the Inquirer printed a second BS PR statement from Krasner, this time trashing Judge Meehan for tossing the original charges against Nicoletti.

"Speaking broadly," Krasner lectured in a PR blast, "public confidence in institutions is eroded when people are told by powerful, largely unaccountable figures that something they've seen with their own eyes did not actually occur, or is only a problem when just certain people are the [perpetrators.]"

Hey Larry, public confidence in institutions is also eroded when powerful largely unaccountable figures such as yourself tell public officials and the public that something that they've seen with their own eyes, namely those stats from the D.A.'s office that show what a terrible job you're doing on prosecuting gun crimes, don't say what they do say.

Public confidence in institutions is also eroded when public officials show up at City Council and tell a bunch of lies supported by bogus facts that you just made up. At a time when City Council members were allegedly trying to find ways to control the gun violence that's plaguing this city.

In another exercise in futility, I directly tweeted my story about the Nicoletti preliminary hearing to the city controller, and several council members who are still blissfully unaware that Kenney and Outlaw lied to them about who authorized the teargassing of the protesters.

Again, the predictable response was crickets. As in, we're all playing on the same team. So we can't dare  criticize another teammate, and make him look bad.

Well, that used to be the job of the press.

But as far as the Inquirer is concerned, any newspaper that fails in its public duty to hold government officials accountable  is no longer worthy of the public trust. 

Or public support.