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Walter Wallace Fatal Police Shooting Sparks Protests In Philly
Walter Wallace Fatal Police Shooting Sparks Protests In Philly

Walter Wallace Fatal Police Shooting Sparks Protests In Philly

Cops fatally shot an armed 27-year-old black man in Philadelphia Monday afternoon — sparking tension at the scene.

Police officers responded to the scene on Locust St. shortly before 4 p.m. where they encountered a man with a knife, a department spokesman told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

In footage, filmed by a local man, Wallace is shown charging at two officers who back away from him with their guns drawn.

One cop can be heard saying: “Put the knife down, put the knife down.”

Walter Wallace was rushed to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center where he died.

Walter Wallace Sr. said his son was shot 10 times, adding that he was mentally ill and also a young father.

“Why didn’t they use a taser?” the distraught father told the outlet. “His mother was trying to diffuse the situation. Then you’re going to shoot him down like he’s a mother f—ing animal.”

A video posted to Twitter shows angry bystanders yelling at the police and multiple shell casings on the street.

Another video posted by a bystander shows Wallace walking towards the officers while they’re drawing their guns at him.

Witnesses told the Inquirer the man was carrying a knife but didn’t lunge at the officers.

Resident Mark Halloway said Wallace’s mother chased after him and begged cops not to shoot.

“I’m yelling, ‘put down the gun, put down the gun,’ and everyone is saying, ‘don’t shoot him, he’s gonna put it down, we know him,’” he told the outlet.

The officers’ names were not released. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said an investigation is underway.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said he spoke with Wallace’s family.

“My prayers are with the family and friends of Walter Wallace,” he said in a statement. “ I look forward to a speedy and transparent resolution for the sake of Mr. Wallace, his family, the officers, and for Philadelphia.”

Walter Wallace, the mentally ill Philadelphia man whose death sparked riots in cities across the US, had a long history of violent run-ins with the law — and was a newlywed about to have his ninth child, according to reports.

Mugshots of Walter Wallace

Wallace had also been in and out of court for nearly a decade, with convictions for crimes including resisting arrest and robbery, the paper said.

Wallace was first arrested at age 13 after assaulting one of his teachers.

He had been arrested in March after he allegedly threatened his child’s mother over the phone, saying, “I’ll shoot you and that house up,” NBC said.

In 2019, he was charged with resisting arrest by “kicking the windows and door panels of a police patrol car.”

In 2016, during a robbery, he allegedly grabbed a woman by the neck and held what she believed to be a gun to her head, NBC said, citing court records. He was sentenced to 11 to 23 months behind bars, WPVI said.

His mother had a protective order against him in 2013 which he allegedly violated when he “threw water in her face and punched her in the face” and “threatened to return and shoot” her, the reports said, again citing court records.

That same year, he pleaded guilty to assault and resisting arrest after punching a police officer in the face, WPVI said. That same year, a judge also ordered a psychiatric evaluation along with mental health treatment, the reports said.

The aspiring rapper’s music also heavily featured guns and rhymes about shooting people, including police, the station noted.

Philadelphia’s police commissioner, Danielle Outlaw, said the investigation into his police shooting would look into whether any of the officers had previous run-ins with Wallace.

The media, which has done everything in their power to either ignore or cover-up the BLM riots in Philly, chose to use what appears to be a high school prom photo of Wallace in their stories — which didn’t dare use the “R-word” (i.e. riots) despite having over a dozen mugshots at their disposal.

The 27-year-old aspiring rapper was shot dead by police in front of his family Monday after refusing to put down a knife, and had only just gotten married earlier in the month, his family told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

People who witnessed the shooting, including a man who filmed the altercation, are demanding answers as to why police officers chose to use deadly force.

He was already a dad to eight kids, and his new wife — one of those who told cops that Wallace had bipolar disorder — is expecting his latest child as soon as this week, the paper said.

The others are “all school-aged children” who now “have to grow up knowing that the police officers killed [their] father,” one of Wallace’s cousins, Anthony Fitzhugh, told NBC Philadelphia.

Wallace’s family members, including his father, who witnessed the shooting, are “never going to be the same again,” Fitzhugh said. “They actually sat and watched their son literally get murdered,” he told NBC.

Police had been called to his home dozens of times in recent months, including twice Monday before they returned a third time when he was shot, sources told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Since May, police had received 31 calls about the address — including reports of someone with a weapon as well as assaults, sources told the paper.

Riots, Looting broke out hours after the shooting and continued Tuesday

Protests and riots developed Monday in parts of Philadelphia following the death and continued for a second day Tuesday. The evening began with a large, peaceful protest in west Philadelphia’s Malcolm X park, just blocks away from where Wallace was shot. Protesters chanted “Black Lives Matter” and took turns giving speeches as others attended a memorial where the incident occurred, releasing blue and white balloons into the sky at one point. Bouts of infighting occasionally broke up the peace, and the marching group quickly split into two, with one crowd breaking off to head towards a police precinct. That crowd was soon met by a wall of police officers, and an hours-long standoff would ensue.

Meanwhile, just over 10 miles away within Philadelphia, mass unrest and looting overwhelmed police officers on a busy shopping street in the Port Richmond neighborhood. Reporters witnessed stores such as Walmart and Dollar Tree being broken into as clumps of police officers watched nearby, unable to adequately respond.

The situation proved dangerous and tense, and an “every-man-for-himself” attitude seemed to ensue as roughly 1,000 people sprinted across parking lots and through broken storefronts.

As looters ran through the aisles of Five Below, several targeted Blaze TV reporter Elijah Schaffer, punching him repeatedly for filming the scene, footage from on the ground shows. Meanwhile, some people ran about, stealing some items and throwing others to the floor.

Inside the Dollar Tree, a few rioters simply opted for destruction, knocking over displays of mugs and eyeglasses. Police would occasionally speed through the parking lots with sirens on, crunching over the broken glass and flattening goods left behind amid the unrest.

The occasional police presence prompted the swarms of looters to sprint out of the stores en masse, often hopping into vehicles with getaway drivers waiting, engines always running — but the peace would never last long.

Several stores were looted again as officers left to respond to other incidents, with the crowd taking advantage of the intermittent police response. One policewoman indicated that they were extremely understaffed to respond to such a mass of people. Many looters were able to go up and down the busy road for hours.

The mass looting affected multiple businesses on Aramingo Avenue, with cars peeling in and out of strip mall parking lots after filling vehicles with stolen goods. Some people wheeled out entire shopping carts full of items, while others kept it small – one man appeared to opt for two grey pillows, a Caller reporter saw. Another man quickly wheeled a washing machine through one of the parking lots.

As the looting wore on, police began to respond in larger groups, shutting down parts of the street and returning to the storefronts after idling for a time in front of a gas station down the road. Reporters saw few interactions between police and looters, with looters almost always successfully fleeing the scene.

Philadelphia police commanders called the evening on Aramingo Avenue “a total loss,” according to CBS3 reporter Joe Holden. The National Guard, which was reportedly deployed earlier Tuesday in preparation for continuing unrest, was not spotted by reporters on the ground throughout the entire evening.

After looters fled the area for the last time Tuesday, large bouts of destruction would remain on Aramingo Avenue. Broken glass, empty shelves and knocked over goods served as leftovers from the unrest – as alarm systems continued to blare out late into the evening, with cop car lights finally serving as a backdrop.

Around 29 others suffered minor injuries after rocks, bricks, and other projectiles were hurled at them, per a police preliminary report. Garments and other goods were strewn across the streets along with glass from two ATM cash machines which had been smashed in. In all, 30 businesses were looted and some destroyed. Multiple fires also raged while five police cars and one fire department vehicle were vandalized, according to NBC Philadelphia.

Also, about 200 protesters met in Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn, NY before snaking their way through the streets, vandalizing police vehicles, torching an American flag and igniting at least one rubbish fire during their travels, according to footage posted to social media by video journalist Issa Khari. “Burn the precinct to the ground, every city, every town!” the group, mainly clad in black, chanted as they marched near Boerum Place and Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Near Willoughby and Jay streets, several protesters chucked rocks and bottles at police officers, sources said. Others in the group wielded pieces of wood.

Video shows a truck crashing into an unidentified female cop, 56, as the vehicle charged towards a line of officers before 1am today. The police officer sustained a broken leg in addition to several other injuries, local media reports. Demonstrators began throwing bricks, trash cans and other objects at officers during the chaos which included fires being lit in the streets.

The female cop who was struck by the speeding black truck was rushed to a hospital. Local media reported that multiple officers were hit by the truck – though only one is seen lying on the ground in the footage.

According to a report from NBC, Walter Wallace Jr.’s cousin called looters “thieves and opportunists.” “They’re stealing because they have the opportunity to go and steal. Do not put my cousin’s name on that. Not one of his family members are out there participating in any of it.”

On Tuesday Democrat Governor Tom Wolf suggested the mass riots were peaceful protests and said the National Guard was sent in to protect the rioters and looters right to peacefully assemble:

[…] The office of Gov. Tom Wolf said earlier Tuesday that several hundred National Guard personnel were being deployed in the city “to protect the right to peacefully assemble and protest while keeping people safe.” The decision was made at the request of Philadelphia County, his office said. (read more)

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