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Homeless man killed by Amtrak police in Philadelphia
By Tom Bishop
20 July 2000
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An unarmed 45-year-old homeless man was killed Wednesday morning,
July 18, by an Amtrak police officer at Philadelphia's 30th Street
train station. The shooting occurred two weeks prior to the arrival
of thousands of delegates, politicians, lobbyists and media personnel
attending the Republican National Convention, to be held in Philadelphia.
Many will pass through 30th Street station, which is Philadelphia's
stop on the rail line serving the Northeast Corridor between New
York City and Washington DC.
Robert Brown was shot by 12-year Amtrak police veteran Dennis
Kelly. Workers at the 30th Street station said Brown was well
known in the area because he had been finding food and shelter
at the station for several years. Witnesses said that prior to
the shooting Brown had been wandering through the station shouting
obscenities and at one point shoved a little boy out of his way.
According to one witness, when the Amtrak police ordered Brown
to leave, he screamed, I'll leave when I get ready.
As crowds of commuters watched, there was a 10 to 15-minute standoff
during which Brown was surrounded by Amtrak officers. The homeless
man raised a metal chair over his head, prompting an officer to
shout, Don't make me shoot you!
Brown replied, Go ahead and shoot me. I don't care.
When Brown lunged at an officer with the chair, Kelly drew
his .40-caliber Glock handgun and shot him in the abdomen. Brown
landed face down in front of a McDonald's restaurant in a pool
of blood.
Witness Glenda Langley said, We all screamed. Everyone
screamed, You didn't have to shoot him!' Brown was
handcuffed and placed on a stretcher. He died on the way to the
hospital.
The killing of Brown comes six days after the violent arrest
of carjacking suspect Thomas Jones by Philadelphia police. In
that arrest, captured live on television and shown on videotape
all over the world, officers kicked or punched Jones a total of
59 times in 28 seconds. The beating follows a pattern of racism
and brutality for which the Philadelphia police have been known
since the days of Police Commissioner and then Mayor Frank Rizzo.
On the evening of Tuesday, July 18 residents of the Francisville
section of North Philadelphia held a stormy meeting with Police
Commissioner John Timoney. Chanting Where's the gun! Where's
the gun! the angry crowd demanded that Timoney fire the
officers involved the beating. The police continue to claim that
Jones carried a gun, as justification for the beating, but have
not been able to produce one. Residents were incensed that police
had fired some 45 shots in their neighborhood in the attempt to
capture Jones. Timoney said, I don't blame people for being
upset, but said it would be unfair to fire officers without
a thorough investigation.
As of July 18, 22 police officers involved in the chase and
apprehension of Jones had been assigned to non-street duty. The
spent shell casings recovered at the scene of the shoot-out in
Francisville have been analyzed and all have been determined to
be 9mmthe standard caliber of police Glock pistols.
Another heated controversy in the aftermath of Jones's beating
has been the appearance of a T-shirt at the 24th and 25th police
precincts. Reportedly made by a police officer and selling briskly
at $10 a piece, on its back the shirt has the headline from the
Philadelphia Daily News, Welcome America, with
a photograph of the gang of cops beating Jones. On the front of
the T-shirt is a police badge with the words RNC [Republican
National Convention] Welcoming Committee.
In response to this new provocation by the police, about 50
clergy from across Philadelphia announced plans to hold an interfaith
rally Sunday night, July 23 at a North Philadelphia church. Philadelphia
NAACP President J. Whyatt Mondesire said of Sunday's rally, We
want to symbolize through the broader public, both African-Americans
as well as whites, the outrage, the disgust that many people feel
about this beating. The outrage is not just shared by black Philadelphians;
it's shared by a lot of Philadelphians of a variety of skin colors.
Meanwhile, organizers of various protests directed toward the
Republican convention have appealed for calm from city officials
and police. Matt Ruben, a spokesperson for Philadelphia Direct
Action Group (PDAG), said, We are not engaged in terrorism....
We are not asking that we be allowed to run amok. But if people
engage in nonviolent, peaceful protests and direct action, they
should not pepper-spray us and beat our faces in. Ruben
said police were demonizing protesters and creating
a specter of terrorism.
PDAG has planned protests on each day of the convention: Monday,
July 31, against the gutting of the welfare system; Tuesday, against
abuses by the justice system; and Wednesday against globalization.
Thursday is dedicated to protests at area detention centers in
support of people who were arrested during the preceding three
days.
The largest rally is scheduled for Sunday, July 30 on Philadelphia's
Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It is being organized by Unity 2000,
made up of a coalition of 120 organizations, including the AFL-CIO.
Another controversy is developing in regard to the RNC protests.
Democratic Mayor John Street has denounced as completely
out of context statements attributed to him in a 2,000-word
article in the yet to be released August issue of George
magazine. In the interview, given last April, Street is quoted
as saying, I have strong feelings about First Amendment
stuff. But we've got some idiots coming here. Some will come,
say whatever little obnoxious thing they want to say, and go home,
but some will be coming here to disrupt, to make a spectacle out
of what's going on. They're going to get a very ugly response.
The article compares these comments with Street's own history
as a community activist and black nationalist during the 1960s
and 70s.
Meanwhile, two unions representing 14,000 white-collar and
blue-collar city workers have announced they will go on strike
July 25 if new contract agreements are not reached with the city.
They have been working under contact extensions since June 30.
Union leaders say the city's wage offer and its demand to consolidate
four city worker health plans into one are unacceptable.
See Also:
Police beating in Philadelphia captured
on videotape
[14 July 2000]
Philadelphia tense with preparations
under way for Republican National Convention
[10 July 2000]
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