Cover Up: City Solicitor Seeks To Seal Depositions Of 2 Top Cops

"I humbly apologize . . ."

By Ralph Cipriano

for BigTrial.net

The city solicitor's office is asking a federal judge to seal in a civil case the videotaped depositions of former Deputy Police Commissioner Dennis Wilson and current Deputy Police Commissioner Christine Coulter.

The request for a seal order is in furtherance of a two-year-old cover up propagated by Mayor Kenney and Police Commissioner Outlaw regarding who made the final decision to drop tear gas on George Floyd protesters in 2020 who were illegally blocking the Vine Street Expressway during rush hour. 

In an April 4th deposition in an ongoing civil case in U.S. District Court, Derrick Jacobs v. City of Philadelphia et al, former deputy police commissioner Wilson revealed that he took a voluntary demotion and $26,000 a-year pay cut over the 2020 decision to drop tear gas on the protesters because "the heat . . . got too much for the city."

At a 2020 press conference, Wilson claimed under duress that the decision to deploy tear gas on the Vine Street Expressway was made by him and him alone. But in his April 4th deposition, Wilson admitted that "Everyone [in the police department] knew that decision was going to be made." 

And everyone, Wilson testified under oath, included Police Commissioner Outlaw, whom Wilson had just talked to on a cell phone "immediately before" the tear gas was deployed. 

During her deposition, Deputy Police Commissioner Coulter was asked some pointed questions about the indictment and arrest of former Staff Inspector Joseph Bologna, who was fired for allegedly hitting a protester in the head with his metal baton. 

And during her deposition, Coulter stated that Bologna did nothing wrong, and he was merely following orders and proper department procedures during the George Floyd riots. Further, Coulter stated that the protester in question had actually interfered with an arrest, and had also stolen Bologna's baton.

But rather than allow the public to hear and see what Wilson and Coulter had to say, the city solicitor's office under Mayor Kenney wants to declare those two depositions confidential, and prohibit former homicide detective Derrick Jacobs from further discussing those depositions with bigtrial.net.

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City Solicitor Seeks Gag Order To Continue PPD Cover Up

By Ralph Cipriano
for BigTrial.net

The city solicitor's office is seeking a protective order from a federal judge that's the equivalent of a gag order to prevent more depositions like the one Dennis Wilson just gave from being excerpted on bigtrial.net.

In a deposition in an ongoing federal case in U.S. District Court, Derrick Jacobs v. City of Philadelphia et al, former deputy police commissioner Wilson revealed that he took a voluntary demotion and pay cut over the 2020 decision to drop tear gas on protesters on the Vine Street Expressway because "the heat . . . got too much for the city."

While Wilson claimed under duress at a 2020 press conference that the decision to deploy tear gas during the George Floyd riots was made by him and him alone, in his April 4th deposition Wilson finally admitted that "Everyone [in the police department] knew that decision was going to be made." 

Everybody, Wilson explained, included Police Commissioner Outlaw, whom Wilson had just talked to on a cell phone "immediately before" the tear gas was deployed. 

On Tuesday, the city solicitor's office jumped into the fray, asking a judge to make sure that a subsequent deposition given in the same lawsuit by Deputy Police Commissioner Christine Coulter is not made public on bigtrial.net. 

During her deposition, Coulter was asked some pointed questions about the indictment of former Staff Inspector Joseph Bologna, and the city obviously doesn't want the public to hear what Coulter had to say about that subject.

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Dennis Wilson: I Was Demoted Because City Got Too Much 'Heat'

By Ralph Cipriano

for BigTrial.net
 
In court, the two-year-old cover up orchestrated by Mayor Kenney and Police Commissioner Outlaw  continues to unravel over who really ordered the teargassing of protesters on the Vine Street Expressway. 

The official story, as fabricated at a press conference held by Kenney and Outlaw, is that the decision to deploy tear gas during the George Floyd riots against protesters who were illegally blocking the highway during rush hour was made solely by a rogue and since-demoted deputy police commissioner named Dennis Wilson.

But in an April 4th videotaped deposition in an ongoing federal case, Derrick Jacobs v. City of Philadelphia et al in U.S. District Court, Wilson spoke out for the first time about the teargassing, and here's what he had to say under oath:

"Everyone knew that decision was going to be made," Wilson testified about the use of tear gas. Wilson added that "everybody" included the police commissioner, whom he had just had a cell phone conversation with "immediately before" the tear gas was dropped. 

"And I took a voluntary demotion when the heat, I guess, got too much for the city," Wilson said. 

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