Xinhua News Agency, Washington, October 28 (Reporter Xu Jianmei and Deng Xianlai) A municipal official in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s largest city, announced on the 28th that two consecutive nights of protests and riots caused by the shooting of black men by the police will be implemented from 21:00 on the same day to 6:00 the next day. Curfew.
According to the “Philadelphia Inquirer” report, after the curfew began, there were no large-scale protests in Philadelphia. In western Philadelphia, some protesters were arrested for violating the curfew, and several others were arrested on suspicion of robbing businesses.
Earlier in the day, Philadelphia Mayor Kenny said at a press conference that the Pennsylvania National Guard would deploy to Philadelphia to assist the police in maintaining law and order. The Philadelphia police said they will publish the video of the shooting taken by the police body camera.
According to US media reports, on the afternoon of the 26th, two Philadelphia police officers killed Walter Wallace, a 27-year-old black man accused of holding a knife. Wallace’s family said that Wallace had a mental illness and was receiving medication. At the time of the incident, the family members called 911 to seek medical emergency, not to seek police intervention.
During the police investigation, it was discovered that the two police officers involved had fired at least 7 shots each, and they have now been transferred from their posts. However, the police said that they will not release their names, ethnicity and other identity information so as not to threaten their personal safety.
After Wallace was shot and killed, witnesses uploaded the video online. That night, police officers holding riot shields confronted and clashed with demonstrators, and some shops were vandalized and looted.
On the night of the 27th, protests and riots broke out again in Philadelphia. Thousands of people poured into a shopping mall to rob, and some businesses had to seal the windows with wooden boards. In the two nights of riots, 53 policemen were injured and 172 were arrested.
According to US media reports, in addition to Philadelphia, Wallace’s death also triggered protests in the capital Washington, DC, New York, and Portland, Oregon.
In response to the Philadelphia riots, US President Trump, seeking re-election, called for tough maintenance of “law and order” at a campaign rally in Nevada on the 28th. Democratic presidential candidate Biden mourned the loss of “another black American life” on the 27th.
In late May of this year, George Floyd, a black man in Minnesota, was killed by white police in violent law enforcement. This triggered a long and large-scale nationwide protest against racism and police violent law enforcement. Race relations became a prominent topic in this year’s US election. .
