iradiophilly | News - Arrest Warrant For Trans Woman's Murder; Protest Camp on Parkway; Juneteenth Philly Holiday

Streaming Radio for Philadelphia
More Music. Fewer Interruptions. Just what you want to hear.

FOLLOW:

News
Talk about what's in the news


The Post

Arrest Warrant For Trans Woman's Murder; Protest Camp on Parkway; Juneteenth Philly Holiday

by: iradioal - Philadelphia, PA
started: 06/16/20 10:05 pm | updated: 06/17/20 3:34 pm

Philadelphia Police have issued an arrest warrant for the murder of a transgender woman for dead earlier this month. Authorities are looking for 36-year-old Akhenaton Jones. 27-year-old Dominique Rem'mie Fells was discovered on June 8 in the Schuylkill River near Bartram's Garden. She was face down, stabbed multiple times, and her legs had been dismembered. The legs were found in plastic bags days later by divers who were looking for boys were went missing in the river. The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide. Fells had been seen fighting with a male acquaintance days before. On Tuesday, 6/16, police went to a home on 39th Street and Powelton. They did not find the suspect but did recover evidence including blood and a saw. Jones is believed to be out of the state.

A protest encampment has been growing on public grassy areas near 22nd Street and the Ben Franklin Parkway. The tent city is not necessarily an organic homeless camp but an organized effort by The Workers Revolutionary Collective and Occupy PHA. The homeless have been recruited to live in the camp to draw attention to the city's homeless problems as well as support Black Lives Matter. The community is now functioning from outside donations. Organizers say that residents are not accepting help from official outreach workers. The group has a list of demands which you can see below posted on Facebook. The bigger demands include: turning vacant PHA properties into permanent private housing for low-income residents; fire cops and city employees who do not treat homeless with respect; sanction the camp on the Parkway, make it a No Cop zone, and sanction other future encampments.

The city released the following statement:

"The city respects the right of people to protest peacefully. However, tent encampments often pose a health and safety threat and are specifically prohibited on park property. The city reached out to representatives over the weekend with an offer to meet and listen. We made clear that hotel rooms with private bathrooms are available for those who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 (age 65 or over or with underlying health conditions). We have received an updated set of demands and are reviewing them now.

I do want to stress, however, that this encampment was originally organized not by homeless individuals but by groups identifying themselves as "The Workers Revolutionary Collective" and "Occupy PHA." (Members have since recruited homeless individuals to be part of the encampment). Homeless Outreach workers who visited the site to offer housing and services were asked to stay away.

We understand that the encampment is a protest and we want to work toward a peaceful and equitable solution. At the same time, everyone recognizes that this is not a long-term solution to homelessness and we are concerned about the safety and health of the individuals there. We look forward to talking with members of the encampment to come to some accord."

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney announced on Tuesday, 6/16, that the City of Philadelphia will celebrate Juneteenth as an official city holiday for the year 2020. This was done by executive order, more steps will be necessary to include in on the calendar for every year. The holiday commemorates the day, June 19, 1865, that Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, to bring the message that slaves were to be freed. This was two and half years after President Lincoln gave the Emancipation Proclamation. The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified in December 1865. City offices and city services will be closed. There will be no trash collection on Friday, June 19th.

"For the past few years I've had the privilege of participating in our city's annual Juneteenth parade and festival, which deepened my appreciation for this important holiday,â€ Kenney said. â€œJuneteenth has a unique cultural and historical significance; it symbolizes freedom, represents the triumph of emancipation, and marks a day of reflection. Now more than ever, it's critically important to acknowledge America's original sin of slavery - something we as a nation have never atoned for. The only way to dismantle the institutional racism and inequalities that continue to disenfranchise Black Philadelphians is to look critically at how we got here, and make much-needed changes to the governmental systems that allow inequality to persist. This designation of Juneteenth represents our administration's commitment to reckon with our own role in maintaining racial inequities as well as our understanding of the magnitude of work that lies ahead.â€

SEE: https://www.phila.gov/2020-06-16-juneteenth-is-an-official-city-holiday/