Philly PA Has Assumed The Character Of Philly MS - Back In The Day When Witness Intimidation Was A Civil Rights Violation

Recent Articles On Witness Intimidation In Philadelphia

1. Dec 2009 - Witnesses Fear Reprisals And Cases Crumble
2. Dec 2009 - On Snitches And Stitches In Philadelphia
3. Feb 2010 - Sen Specter Introduces Bill On Witness Intimidation
4. CBS Philly - Witness Intimidation
5. June 2011 - Inmates Call Rings Up Witness Intimidation
6. Dec 2011 - Two Kensington Men Receive Long Sentences For Intimidation
7. National Snitching Blog

The City of Philadelphia Mississippi has largely gotten rid of their "earthen dams" that made it famous in the past for environmental reasons.  Today it is on the map because so many people in the area type its coordinates into their GPS as they head to the Native American owned casinos there.

Its name sake of a far larger size and importance in the state of Pennsylvania seems to be following the rogue path of the past rather than leading the way for its "country cousin".   While Philly PA also is building casinos for gaming it is retrogressing as a location of "Civil Rights Violations" on a grand scale.  Luck for the Philadelphia Chamber Of Commerce - The Civil Rights Pharisees and the "LampBlacked Yellow Journalist" Press agents that still talk about the Neshoba County Fair and the "hint" that Black people were given some 30 years ago during the kick off of a presidential campaign - aren't inclined to call the antics seen in Philadelphia PA "Civil Rights Violations".   

There is no need to make such an indictment during a presidential campaign, producing risk that someone might note the scales that have grown over the eyes of those with the power to search out "civil rights violations" and call them am as such.  After all, they produce the same results as the violations that they do call out.

The City Paper Article On Deadly Witness Intimidation In The Mission Accomplished City Of Philadelphia PA

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012
Missing from Mayor Nutter's crime plan: convincing the public that cops will protect witnesses.

On Monday, Rosemary “Reyna” Fernandez-Rivera was assassinated while working behind the counter of a North Philadelphia / West Kensington bodega. Neighbors told reporters that they believe she was targeted because she may have witnessed another murder, a month prior.
But they also told reporters that she was targeted because she was seen being brought in forquestioning by police officers several times, despite apparently asking the officers not to do so.
Yesterday, Mayor Nutter announced a nine-point crime-fighting plan including increased rewards for tips leading to arrests in homicides and promised to double the budget for victim/witness services. The mayor in the past has chided Philadelphians for failing to come forward in investigations, and prominently supported a “start snitching” campaign.
But Fernandez-Rivera’s death highlights the fact that many residents not only don’t trust the city’s police force enough to confide in it, but have good reason not to.
Reports of the murder have posed the question: “Did knowledge of a murder get store worker killed?”
But another good question is this: “Was Fernandez Rivera’s death partly the result of sloppy police practices?"
According to reports citing various residents in the area, police were seen questioning Fernandez-River and bringing her in for questioning several times and right in public.
“They picked her up three, four times. Everybody saw,” was what Luis Sanabria told the Daily News. “They set her up.”
Fernandez-Rivera’s brother in law told the Inquirer: “Last week, she was taken to the police station — she did not want to go …”
In the same article, neighbor Gladys Martinez describes hearing four shots the night of the murder and yelling out from her porch, “What happened?”
The answer: “What do you think? They shot Reyna.”
It appears to be obvious to everyone on that block that Fernandez-Rivera had been in danger not just because she may have witnessed a murder — but because Philadelphia Police put her in danger by making their questioning of her obvious to everyone on the block, drug dealers included.
Mayor spokesman Mark McDonald says the case is still under investigation and that "There are a number of different stories out there," and that "an easy one to grasp, particularly if you don't like police, is the one you mentioned."
But he also concedes that the mere perception that police questioning may have contributed to the killing of a murder witness matters in and of itself: "Whether or not it's true," that police repeatedly questioned Fernandez Rivera in public, that perception matters, McDonald said.
City Paper has not yet been able to reach 25th District Captain Frank Vanore or Police Commissioner Ramsey — but we're working on it.