Tuesday, February 9, 2021

As Murders Spike, Kenney, Krasner & Outlaw Keep Pandering

By Ralph Cipriano
for BigTrial.net

Philadelphia has serious problems; if only it had serious leaders.

Despite the ongoing pandemic, the city's biggest public health crisis remains its out-of-control murder rate. The city racked up 499 murders last year; the highest total in 30 years. By comparison, New York City, with 4 1/2 times the population, had only 462 murders. 

And things here are only getting worse. In January, Philadelphia recorded 50 murders, an all-time record for that month. And so far over the first eight days in February, the city recorded a dozen more murders, a 55% increase over last year's record pace.

Yesterday, in Philadelphia, there were 11 shootings and seven murders, including a couple of double homicides, as well as a 15 year-old boy executed by a trio of gunmen brandishing semiautomatics. And on such a deadly day, what were Philadelphia's top officials concerned about? 

Mayor Jim Kenney was busy signing an executive order that deep-sixed Columbus Day as a city holiday, in favor of "Indigenous Peoples Day."

Police Commissioner Outlaw was encouraging all officers to share on social media "what you, or your district, is doing to observe Black History Month."

And District Attorney Larry Krasner was tweeting about "confronting racism within the justice system."

At a time when people are being shot and murdered at record rates, the city's top officials were busy pandering, to cover up the glaring reality that they don't have a clue about how to stop the bloodshed.

Yesterday at around 7 p.m., a trio of suspects opened fire on a 15-year-old boy near the intersection of 29th and Morris Streets. Chief Inspector Scott Small told 6ABC that at least 16 shots were fired from three semiautomatic weapons. The victim was pronounced dead.

Earlier in the day, two men were found shot to death inside a home on the 2900 block of Rosehill Street.

Around 2 p.m., a 25 year-old woman and a 29 year-old man were both shot inside a vehicle parked on the 200 block of Rubicam Street. The female died; the man was expected to recover. Chief Inspector Small told 6ABC that a female infant in the back seat miraculously survived the attack, and was not struck by gunfire.

Also yesterday, a 24 year-old man and a 21 year-old woman were shot and killed in the 500 block of West Hill Creek Drive. And finally, a 54 year-old woman was shot to death at a drug rehab facility on the 4200 block of Ridge Avenue.

As all those bullets were flying, what were the city's top officials up to?

Yesterday at City Hall, Mayor Kenney courageously signed Executive Order 2-21 that not only dumped Columbus Day in favor of Indigenous Peoples Day, but also recognized Juneteeth as an official city holiday to celebrate the emancipation of slaves in America. 

“While changes to city holidays may seem largely symbolic, we recognize that symbols carry power,” wrote Kenney, who has been noticeably silent about the gun violence and murders plaguing the city.

Instead, Kenney, whom Philadelphia Weekly has called upon to resign, would rather deal with symbols. After all, it's been working for him for a while now, especially when he's attacking Italian-American symbols. 

He's already gotten rid of the bronze Frank Rizzo statue, and put the marble statue of Christopher Columbus in a plywood box.

Columbus Day was a natural next target for Kenney, who continues to pit one race against another.

"We hope that for our employees and residents of color, this change is viewed as an acknowledgment of the centuries of institutional racism and marginalization that have been forced upon Black Americans, Indigenous people, and other communities of color," Kenney wrote. "At the same time, we are clear-eyed about the fact that there is still an urgent need for further substantive systemic change in all areas of local government.” 
 
Perhaps Kenney was trying to distract residents from the blatant incompetence of his administration, as most recently demonstrated with the botched rollout of a COVID vaccine, which the city entrusted to a start-up fronted by a 22-year-old Drexel student with no health care experience.

Or perhaps Kenney was trying to hide the fact that neither he nor his personally recruited police commissioner has the courage to call out D.A. Krasner over his progressive policies that turn far too many armed and dangerous criminals loose on the streets, so they can continue to shoot and kill more victims.

As for Commissioner Outlaw, she was busy telling fellow officers that the Philadelphia Police Department is "committed to highlighting and expanding our inclusive environment where we invite and encourage diverse perspectives, ideas and peoples."

"This month, I encourage you to share what you, or your district, is doing to observe Black History Month," Outlaw wrote. "Please join us on social media and utilize your official PPD accounts so we can highlight how you are celebrating."

In her public interviews, Outlaw has successfully played the race card and the gender card to dodge questions about her competence to lead the nation's fourth largest police department.

"I didn't feel like an outsider when I got here," Outlaw told NBC's Erin Coleman. "Yeah, I was treated like an outsider and yeah, I'm still treated like an outsider."

"When we talking about being a first, being a first, along with that comes you don't get the benefit of the doubt," Outlaw told Coleman. "I have to walk in the door, even before I get here, having to prove and prove some more." 

Over at the The Philadelphia Inquirer, the city's paper of record, two columnists of color continue to buy that act.

"The old double standard is alive and well as ever," wrote Jenice Armstrong in the Inquirer, as she defended Outlaw against calls for her resignation, one of which came from the Inquirer's own editorial board.

"It is really hard to come in as an outsider, much less as a Black female, and run a predominantly white male-dominated police force," Armstrong wrote. "And like the many males who preceded her as the city’s top cop, Outlaw deserves a chance to continue growing in the role. After all, she took on the position during one of our worst years in modern history."

"We have to be twice as good to get half as much," agreed Solomon Jones.

Whatever happened to holding public officials accountable for their failures? 

In Philadelphia, that's out of style as the press and public continue to subsist on a steady diet of pandering, all of the P.C. variety.

While people are dying every day out in the streets. 

10 comments

  1. Good work again, Ralph. How do such people sleep at night ? How can they live with themselves ? Do they have no shame, no self respect ? Hang in there, Man, your city needs you.

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  2. You're the only one that has the guts to report the truth!

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  3. Outstanding Article!

    During the 12 month period preceding the Outlaw appointment, Philadelphia reported 521 homicides. That is apparently the highest 12 consecutive month reporting number since Uniform Crime Reporting began in 1929.

    As of February 8, 2021 62 homicides were reported, an increase of 55% At the current year to date rate Philadelphia is on track to report 581 homicides for calendar year 2021.

    The Jenice Armstrong statement that "gun violence was already high when Outlaw took office is true, but it is not the whole truth. During the 12 months preceding her appointment 1501 shooting victims were reported. During the 12 months since her appointment 2334 shooting victims were reported, an increase of 55%.

    There is obviously a 100 % correlation between the increase in shootings and the increase in deaths. A reasonable person can infer that the increase in homicides accompanied the increase in shooting victims.

    The rhetoric of arguing the cause and effect of the surge in violence is less than scientific.
    Both the surge in violence and the Covid-19 Pandemic did occur in approximately the same time period as Outlaw's first 12 months in office. Her argument blaming one phenomena on a concurrent phenomena is at best a ham fisted attempt to avoid admitting that neither her policies nor the policies of the Kenny - Krasner Administration have been successful in addressing the increase of violent crime. Her response is disingenuous; it demonstrates an both an appalling lack of professionalism and an appalling lack of scholarship.

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  4. Behold the fruits of having a group of liberals run something important. They likely could not care less about "murders" and other dreary topics. 100 innocents could be gunned down tomorrow in front of some liberal activist mural and their first order of business would be to punish someone for damaging the mural.

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  5. Ralph, love your work brother. Shoot me an email and I’ll send you some of what I’ve found. The 3 Stooges are hard at work doing nothing. One of the stated pledges of Real Justice PAC is that they will steadfastly protect their candidates from criticism as they implement each of their anti-victim policies. In their minds, the victim is the criminal....

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  6. Ralph you fall into the same fake narrative as the msm, using the term gun violence. You do realize a gun is an inanimate object, ncapable of committing violence by itself it is basically a tool that needs human interaction. "Human Violence" is the problem not the tools used to commit that violence.

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  7. Thanks BK. I can always be reached at ralph@bigtrial.net.

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  8. It’s actually really comical. The city is an absolute joke and a shit show. Laughing stock of all major cities. People are laughing all day long. 65 homicides and not 1 riot or protest. Absolute joke! I hope the 3 headed monster is truly proud. Young teenage men and women laying on the street everyday in cold blood, and all they care about is fucking race. They are part of the problem, not the solution. I look forward to watching this shitshow unfold this year.

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