Black Lives Matter protesters crashed a children’s event in Philadelphia Monday to voice their anger over the police shooting of a black man.
Activists interrupted a speech being given by former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell to commemorate the eleventh anniversary of a city park’s founding, reports ABC affiliate WPVI. The protesters, angry over the fatal June shooting of David Jones, accused Rendell of having “blood on his hands” at the Franklin Square event.
“And now you have the ultimate politician who is anti-black,” the activist said, turning toward Rendell. “There is nothing but blood on his hands.”
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Philly.com has the details of the altercation that ended in Jones’s death:
A 15th District [police] officer was driving two witnesses to the headquarters of the Special Victims Unit in an unrelated matter when he saw a man on a red dirt bike ride past in a “reckless manner.”… The bike stalled on the sidewalk … and the officer pulled up to question the rider, police said.
“Initially, he was only going there to tell this guy just to knock it off,” Police Commissioner Richard Ross has said. But the rider, who got off the dirt bike, “turns to kind of walk away and he’s ignoring the police officer, which is obviously somewhat suspicious.”
The officer grabbed the man by the waist, felt the outline of a gun, and told the man not to pull the weapon out, according to police. Ross said a witness in the back of the police car also told the man not to pull his weapon.
Police said a struggle ensued between the officer and the man, and the man pulled a gun from his waist. The officer pulled out his own gun, and fired at the man as he ran south on Whitaker, police said. Ross said Thursday night that part of the encounter was caught on surveillance video, showing the man running away when he was struck by one of the bullets.
At the event Monday, a white woman tried to interrupt the activist with the microphone, but he told her:
Back up off of me. Back up off of me. Because a black man was shot, I know you don’t give a damn about that. You and your white privilege.
Parents and children eventually had to be led to a different location due to the protest, but not before Asa Khalif, an activist with the Black Lives Matter movement, delivered a threat:
And we’re saying now that no politician will be safe, no event, no press conference, we don’t care what we have to do. We’re saying as far as that’s concerned, we want justice for David Jones immediately.
Rendell defended the protesters but pointed out that they probably shouldn’t have interrupted a children’s event, telling reporters afterward:
They have the right to say what they want to say. I wouldn’t have disrupted a ceremony that was basically for children, but that’s their call. But look, if they want to disrupt ceremonies as long as they’re in public places, they have the right to do that.
This report, by Amber Randall, was cross posted by arrangement with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
