“Off the streets! Off the streets!”
Those words echoed off the walls of Philadelphia police headquarters on Friday afternoon as over a hundred and fifty people gathered in front of the building,
popularly known as the
Roundhouse, to protest alleged police Facebook posts.
Demonstrators called for the benching, if not firing, of about 330 active city cops recently accused of making racist or otherwise offensive posts.
The protest, organized by Solomon Jones, a WURD radio
host who also writes opinion columns
that appear in the inquirer, featured remarks
from a range of
community members and public officials, as well as Jones; the Rev. Greg
Holston, executive director of
the interfaith community group Power; recently acquitted inmate Hassan
Bennett; longtime local activist Asa Khalif; and
State Rep. Stephen Kinsey (D., Phila.).