iradiophilly | News - Trump Blames Both Sides for Violence; $15k Reward Police Garage Arson; Lawmaker Says Take Rizzo Down

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Trump Blames Both Sides for Violence; $15k Reward Police Garage Arson; Lawmaker Says Take Rizzo Down

by: iradioal - Philadelphia, PA
started: 08/16/17 12:23 am | updated: 08/16/17 12:25 am

President Trump held a press conference Tuesday in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan. While he didn't back away from his remarks from the White House on Monday that the members of the various racist alt-right groups protesting the removal of Confederate General Robert E. Lee statue were 'bad', he reverted to his initial response from Saturday that fault lies on 'many sides.' Trump said, "You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent." The second group he was referring to were 'alt-left' counter-protestors. Trump described them as 'charging with clubs in their hands.' The President insisted that some modicum of blame be assigned to liberal groups. (view full press conference video at bottom)

Trump asks about "alt-left": "You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent" pic.twitter.com/9BpzwLqVVm
- ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 15, 2017

Philadelphia Police have released surveillance video in connection with an attempted arson of city vehicles parked in a garage in West Philadelphia last week. It happened on Wednesday, August 9th at 4:17 a.m. at a garage shared by the 12th Police District, Engine 40 Fire and the City Streets Department at 65th Street and Woodland Avenue. The video shows a man wearing a bed sheet and pushing a stroller enter the garage six times in an hour. He poured flammable liquids along the floor of the garage between the vehicles and attempted to light the sheet as a fuse. Around 5:30 a.m., a police supervisor smelled gasoline and found the explosive mess before it went off. There is a $15,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 215-686-TIPS.

In response to events over the weekend in Charlottesville, VA, and Durham, NC, Philadelphia City Councilwoman-at-large Helen Gym tweeted on Monday night that Philadelphia should "Take the Rizzo statue down." The statue in question sits across from City Hall in front of the Municipal Services Building. It was dedicated in 1998. Frank Rizzo joined the police force in 1943. He became Police Commissioner in 1967 and was elected Mayor in 1971 for two terms. Rizzo has long been a polarizing figure, praised and criticized by many on both sides. He was tough on crime and got results but was many times abrasive and brutish. He has been accused of police brutality and racial profiling. There is also a Frank Rizzo mural on 9th Street in the Italian Market in South Philadelphia.

"We think now is a good time to have that conversation about the statue's future," current Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement. "We need to figure out the proper forum for that conversation in a serious, structured way, but now is the right time." They may need to hurry. Asa Khalif of Black Lives Matter Philadelphia has been calling for the removal for over a year. "Get it off city property. Put it in a museum. Put it at his son's house. Just get it the f*** out of plain view. Replace it with Rocky. I don't give a f***," he said. "There has to be some show of force now. (The statue) represents generations of hurt and racism... We're tearing it down one way or another, and it's coming down soon." Gym's words could incite action and Rizzo's likeness may go the way of "The Boys Who Wore The Gray" over the weekend.

All around the country, we're fighting to remove the monuments to slavery & racism. Philly, we have work to do. Take the Rizzo statue down.
- Helen Gym (@HelenGymAtLarge) August 14, 2017

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Tonight, Clearing skies, temperatures in the mid 70's this evening in Center City

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by: iradioal - Philadelphia, PA | responded: 08/16 12:25 am

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