|
.jpg)
Recent Similar Articlespolice brutality:
|
Port Richmond Philadelphia Community Rallies Against Police Officer in Fatal Shooting
by
Worker Freedom | 01.31.2010
The community of Port Richmond has come together and rallied against police officer Frank Tepper after he killed Billy Panas Jr, this past November in Northeast Philadelphia. Report by John Kalwaic  Picture from Billy Panas Rally back on January 3rd Port Richmond is in the part of Philadelphia adjacent to Fishtown and Kensington and is one of the more working class sections of the city. This community has mobilized against a police shooting where support for the police is usually very strong. Port Richmond neighbors frequently adorn their houses with American Flags, yellow “support our troops” ribbons and blue lights symbolizing support for fallen police officers. Those who supported the rally were the family of the victim and the larger community of Port Richmond. The cause has been led by Billy Panas, Sr., the father of the victim, as well as his uncle John Panas, other family members, and close friends. In interviews just hours after the murder, Billy's friends and family vowed to do whatever it takes to bring officer Tepper to justice. Marches have been held in December and January, a candlelight vigil, and an upcoming rally at City Hall. The actions were directed against the District Attorney’s alleged insensitivity to the shooting and the police department's apparent willingness to protect their own at the expense of justice. Left wing and anti-police brutality groups in addition to a few mainstream politicians have supported the demonstrations. Police brutality has always been a major issue in the United States and in the city of Philadelphia in particular, the city of Frank Rizzo and Lynn Abraham. However, in recent months police brutality in the city has become even worse as more cases of beatings by police officers and incidents of “The Force” continuing to protect its own against as charges of wrongdoing emerge. Billy Panas, Jr., a 21-year-old man was shot and killed by off-duty Philadelphia police officer, Sergeant Frank Tepper, on November 21, 2009. The shooting occurred on the 2700 block of East Elkhart Street in Port Richmond. Billy was shot to death because he and his friends accidentally stumbled upon a brawl that spilled out of the officer’s home into the street. According to accounts, Billy and his friends were trying to break up the fight when Tepper went into his house and grabbed a gun. Tepper waved the gun at Billy and his friends. Panas then exclaimed, “What are you going to do? Shoot me?” Tepper then proceeded to do just that and shot Billy in the chest. While Tepper pointed the gun at someone else, Billy and one of his friends began to walk away. Billy's friend asked him if he was all right and Billy said as he grabbed his chest, "I'm ok, but I think I've been shot." Billy walked about 20 yards and collapsed never to see his family. Again Tepper gave no warning that he was a police officer nor did he call 911 as is required for off duty officers. According to most reports, officer Tepper was visibly drunk and was seen sitting outside his house and in a police car uncuffed for more than two hours before being taken away. Presumably this was done so Tepper could sober up and get his story straight before being taken down for questioning. During Tepper’s time on the force, Internal Affairs has investigated seven civilian complaints against him as16-year police veteran. Some of the complaints concerned allegations of using excessive force, including two in which he was seeking retribution for family members who had been wronged. According to police records, Tepper was “exonerated” but investigators called him “unprofessional.” Local residents reported in various news venues that Tepper had a history of erratic behavior. ABC News has a video of Tepper shooting a possum dead, in the street, in front of his house. According to an internal police report, he was also said to have maced both woman and children in the community for trivial reasons. People were outraged when they heard about the shooting, and they protested at Tepper’s house in spontaneous demonstrations as tensions with the police became high. As the police department tried to hide Tepper from the protesters, William Panas Sr., screamed toward Tepper's home from across Elkhart Street, “I will not rest until you'll be punished for murdering in cold blood my only son." Billy’s family and friends made a memorial with a blue tarp covering that sits right outside Officer Frank Tepper's home where he killed Billy. The memorial has pictures of Panas as well as well as mementos of importance to Billy and his friends and family. Adding insult to injury, members of Tepper’s family made disparaging remarks about the Panas family. Officer Tepper also adorned a blue “ support the police” light outside his home where the shooting took place when there had been none prior to the shooting. Initially, the DA and Police Department did nothing except relegate officer Tepper to desk duty. The District Attorney said there was not enough evidence to convict him or even remove him from the force. This response was called unconscionable especially considering Officer Tepper’s past and testimony from members of his own community. A phone jam was started; people were encouraged to call the Philadelphia District Attorney, Mayor Michael Nutter, the police commissioner and local elected representatives in Port Richmond. “Justice for Billy” became the slogan of the cause and orange has become the color to show support Billy and all victims of police misconduct and violence. People have begun to adorn their houses with orange ribbons and some people have even replaced their blue “support fallen police officers” lights with orange “Justice for Billy Panas” lights. Educate and Liberate is a small, but active Anarchco-Communist group formed last summer and is active on a variety of issues. Educate and Liberate (E&L) was alerted to the Panas cause thru news reports showing the emotion and determination of community members committed to fighting for justice. Two days after the shooting, E&L members made a trip to the memorial site to make connections with family members and offer the family help. E&L members distributed flyers through part of the city and suburbs suggesting that residents call the mayor, the governor, and the police commissioner demanding justice. Supporters in Port Richmond made their own flyers too and are encouraging everyone to wear orange ribbons and put them on their doors. E&L members have also made banners for the marches. One of our banners read, “anyone else would be in prison” and was hung next to the memorial site. E&L is the only group in the radical community that has been active in this cause although other groups are supportive such as the local Teamsters’ Union. E&L believes it is important to support local working class communities. So far there have been two marches and a candlelight vigil since the shooting. The first of the marches occurred on December 6th and the second was on January 3rd. Marches wrapped around the Port Richmond area, with people shouting,“Justice for Billy” and “Tepper is a murderer;” and at one point the crowd shouted, “Tepper Needs AA.” The marches were peaceful and without incident. Members of the community had orange “Justice for Billy Panas” t-shirts and blue hoodies with a Cadillac symbol on the front and a horseshoe on the back representing Billy's favorite football team, the Indianapolis Colts. The December march stopped at a local Catholic Church where marchers said a prayer for justice in this mostly Catholic neighborhood. At the second march, Billy's uncle, John Panas, came across a sympathetic bus driver. Panas in an act of working class solidarity declared that he had supported the SEPTA strike last November, which had received all too much negative publicity. But support for strikes is common in this working class community. A day after the second march, on January 4, Officer Tepper was finally sacked from the force. According to Bill Panas Sr., commissioner Ramsey called him personally to tell him that Tepper would be fired. Two days later, the new district Attorney, Seth Williams, announced that his office would immediately begin reviewing the case. He did not say whether this would happen before or after an ongoing grand jury decides whether Tepper should face criminal charges. Williams has asked his new assistant district attorney, Joseph McGettigan, and district attorney for investigations, Curtis Douglas, to "to revamp our entire protocol when it comes to police shootings and police brutality, so that we can more effectively and efficiently investigate them, work with the police and more expeditiously investigate those cases.” An upcoming rally is going to be held at City Hall on February 5, at 11:45am to continue to demand justice for Billy Panas. http://www.spiritnewspapers.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=113&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=865&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=2714&hn=spiritnewspapers&he=.com |
|
© 1999–2008 Philadelphia Independent Media Center |
|
Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by PhillyIMC.
|
Comments
Post new comment