Timeline of Police Violence in Philadelphia During Black Lives Matter Demonstrations
By: Aclu Of Pennsylvania
Tags: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Protest, Police Brutality

May 31, 2020

The morning of May 31, West Philadelphia was peaceful and unremarkable. After the city-wide curfew was lifted, many neighbors were out enjoying the warm spring morning, congregating in local parks, and going about business as usual.

2:00pm — Intersection of 52nd and Market Streets

Shortly after 2:00pm, the police began to talk about “taking 52nd and Market.” Groups of police began gathering at the 52nd Street commercial corridor as early as 2:15pm. Starting at 2:45pm, the dispatch began calling “all available units” to 52nd and Market. Shortly thereafter, the police descended upon 52nd Street. At the time, it wasn’t clear to witnesses why the police were “assembling an army on empty streets” and a small group of community members gathered, trying to figure out what the police were doing there.

2:45pm — 52nd Street elevated train

As police gathered underneath the train tracks, a group of 30 children and adolescents from the community, around 16-years-old and under, assembled not far from where the police were lined up, curious and angry about the police’s presence. The police were in SWAT gear, including body armor, helmets and shields. The children yelled and occasionally threw half-full water bottles, stones, and pieces of brick at the vehicles and police officers. In response, the police did not tell the children to disperse, or give any direction, but instead threw the water bottles and debris back at them many times. At one point, an officer threw a piece of cement at the children and it struck a nine year old girl. Meanwhile, as the officers targeted the group of children, some people damaged abandoned police vehicles north of the subway line near Arch Street. The police did nothing to stop this and instead chose to continue to antagonize and assault a small group of children under the cover of the subway tracks.

4:03pm — Intersection of 52nd and Market Streets

Suddenly, an explosion occurred. Within 10 minutes, a helicopter appeared, and a crowd gathered to see what was happening. In the crowd of approximately 150 people, most were shoppers or pedestrians who had unexpectedly walked into the situation. A helicopter siren blared, and police began indiscriminately shooting rubber bullets and tear gas into the businesses and into the crowd gathered there too. People ran from the gas, screaming, as a whitish gray fog visibly drifted east.

4:40pm — 52nd Street

Philadelphia police officially given the “green light” to use tear gas and the police on and near 52nd Street began shooting excessive amounts of tear gas and rubber bullets, causing a stampede. Over the course of the next hour, tanks drove up and down 52nd Street multiple times deploying smoke bombs, tear gas, and rubber bullets indiscriminately along the way.

According to those present, police did not issue any warning before indiscriminately deploying tear gas and rubber bullets. They did not provide an explanation. They did not order people to disperse. The police simply attacked. Onlookers report that there was a mix of people there. Some were there to protest; others arrived with supplies prepared to render aid; yet others became victims for simply living in a neighborhood now under siege.

Over the next hour after tear gas was first authorized at 4:40pm, the air became so thick with gas that you could not see through it. As neighbors scrambled into homes trying to escape the fumes, the gas blew through the opened windows meant to keep a house cool on a warm spring day. Many struggled to breathe as the toxic gas seeped into their homes.

5:30pm — 52nd and Chancellor Streets

At some point between 5pm and 6pm, a group of about 30 residents began to “hold the line” at 52nd and Chancellor Streets in an attempt to make sure the police didn’t progress past Locust Street again into the more residential areas, south of the Strip. The police made no attempt to negotiate with the crowd.

6:30pm — Northern End of The Strip

A large group of police officers dressed in full riot gear formed a line.

Although the City’s curfew started at 6pm that day, a group of approximately 100 people, made up of neighbors and activists, remained on the street “to support the community and to make sure if anything happened, they could share resources.” Many community members questioned why the police were still present, as any property theft and destruction had long subsided. As the crowd began to fade, a smaller group of approximately 25 residents and peaceful activists mostly just “held space” on the corner of 52nd and Arch Streets, playing music and dancing.

9pm — Target store in South Philadelphia

Even as police bore down on residents in West Philadelphia with armored vehicles and weapons, dozens of white self-described “vigilantes” began gathering after curfew at the Target store at 1 Mifflin Street in South Philadelphia with the stated purpose of preventing break-ins like the ones they had seen reported from the previous night in Center City. Despite the curfew, this group remained gathered outside the Target with the sanction of the police, who received a round of cheers from the group when they came to the scene around 9:00pm round 11:00pm, more than five hours after the curfew began, the vigilante group was still guarding the store.

Police officers in white shirts stood close by, circled around a police vehicle, and some spoke with organizers throughout the night. Police made no arrests.

10:30pm — 52nd and Arch Streets

Philadelphia police’s SWAT team and the National Guard showed up and unleashed a new round of violence. SWAT began to fire rubber bullets into the crowd, hitting multiple people at close range. As things began to escalate, some of the protesters ran to a nearby house. Nine or ten SWAT team officers chased them onto the porch of the house. The officers shined lights into the house and ultimately left. However, the victims reported that they “thought that SWAT was going to break the door down.” The occupation of West Philadelphia by police officers continued until 2:00 a.m. Monday morning, June 1, 2020. One victim, who has had many violent experiences with police as a protester, reported that “the level of violence was so much bigger than anything [she] had ever seen before. I have never seen tanks on residential streets like that.

11:15pm — Target store in South Philadelphia

Seeing that the police allowed the vigilante group to stay out past the city’s curfew, a group of Black residents arrived at the Target to ask why. The group of vigilantes began to shout, asking what the Black residents were doing there. Arguments broke out between the two groups, while police stood by and watched. When people were finally asked to disperse, the police allowed a small group of white men to stay at the store in the company of police officers despite sending the Black residents home.