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Saturday, 23 November 2024

In Philadelphia unrest, a family appeals for calm

Duration: 01:52s 0 shares 2 views

In Philadelphia unrest, a family appeals for calm
In Philadelphia unrest, a family appeals for calm

The father of Walter Wallace, a Philadelphia Black man shot dead by police, is appealing for calm as a second night of protests over his son's death brought renewed violence.

Matthew Larotonda reports.

The family of Walter Wallace Jr., the Black man whose fatal shooting by Philadelphia police has sparked nights of unrest in that city, is appealing for calm.

And, National Guard troops are bracing for more disorder.

This was his father Tuesday night: "That's all I'm sending out is an SOS to help, not to hurt, and cause no chaos, violent, looting, fire, all this things because I wasn't brought up like this (...) I don't know what's going on, and I hope people show my family and this city some kind of respect because, like me, I don't have time to loot and burn up and destroy where I live.

It's uncalled for.

It really is." Wallace's family says he was suffering from a mental breakdown when he was confronted by police, armed with a knife.

A family lawyer says he suffered from bipolar disorder and his wife relayed his psychological difficulties to the officers before the shooting.

A bystander's video on Monday shows the incident.

His mother, Catherine Wallace was also there.

"I was telling police to stop.

'Don't shoot my son, please don't shoot my son.'" Rallies for Wallace began peacefully on Tuesday as they had on Monday.

But later in the night, crowds were seen looting, including - according to local media - a Walmart.

Philadelphia is the latest flashpoint in months of protest over the issues of perceived racism and police brutality, but not the only one.

At least 30 people were arrested at an offshoot protest in Brooklyn the same night.

NBC News reported that a car attempted to drive through a group of police during the protests in New York.

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