Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Ralph Cipriano: Ten Tough Questions The Philadelphia Inquirer Would Never Ask Mayor Kenney


Veteran reporter Ralph Cipriano (seen in the below photo) at BigTrial.net asks Philadelphia Mayor Kenney (seen in the above photo) ten tough question that he says the Philadelphia Inquirer would never ask (but ought to).

A big problem in this town is that Mayor Jim Kenney, District Attorney Larry Krasner, and the reporters and editors at The Philadelphia Inquirer are all card-carrying Progressive Democrats who share the same values, think the same thoughts, and drink the same Kool-Aid.

And one of the first rules of being a Progressive "journalist" and social justice warrior is that you don't embarrass or hold accountable a public official who happens to be a fellow Progressive Democrat down with the cause.

So in that spirit, Big Trial, which is barred from attending Mayor Kenney's virtual press conferences, and is typically stiffed by the mayor's press office whenever it asks a question that the administration doesn't want to answer, is going to publicly post 10 tough questions for our mayor. 

These are questions that the Inquirer would never ask, and some of these questions Kenney's flacks so far have repeatedly refused to answer. But nevertheless these are 10 questions that demand answers.

Question 1. The week before the start of the George Floyd protests, the Police Department knew that massive crowds of protesters were headed their way, plus plenty of outside agitators who were ready to rumble. 

So why was the rookie police commissioner, the police department, and the entire Kenney administration caught flat-footed? Why were Kenney and Outlaw and Managing Director Brian Abernathy completely unprepared for the chaos, rioting, looting and arson fires that ensued? 

The mayor and police commissioner have announced the hiring of a private consultant to review the police department's response to the riots, especially questions about the cops' use of force. But the battle was lost before the protesters ever came to town. 

What we're really dealing with here is a complete failure of leadership on the part of Mayor Kenney and his hand-picked rookie police commissioner, Danielle Outlaw to come up with a tactical plan to protect the city from an invading army of protesters and criminals. 

Mayor Kenney, isn't this charade of hiring an outside consultant to second-guess the police response to the riots, and especially the focus on the so-called use of excessive force, just a diversionary tactic to get around the real issue, which namely is your complete failure as a leader?

Question 2. While the "protesters" were looting stores with abandon, setting arson fires and blowing up ATMs all over town, typically with no police officers in sight to protect citizens or property, why was the Kenney administration secretly tying up some 48 plainclothes detectives with 24/7 private security details for top city officials? 

For at least 11 straight days during the riots, those private security details were parked 24/7 outside the homes of officials such as the managing director and the health commissioner, 16 of 17 City Council members, as well as the mayor's fiancee.

The mayor, of course, was already protected by a 24/7 security detail that included a lieutenant, a sergeant and ten police officers who chauffeur the mayor around in brand new Chevy Tahoe. The D.A. also has his own private security detail of three officers who drive him around in a Ford Expedition.

But on top of those details, the Kenney administration during the rioting also provided private security details for Kenney's girlfriend and the top city officials listed above.

Isn't this a double standard? One set of rules for the people on top of the City Hall pay scale, and their significant others, and another set of rules for the rest of us, who were left to fend for ourselves? 

Does anyone see a problem with a mayor who's whacking the police budget, but has no problem using the cops to guard his top officials and their families, and the mayor's girlfriend, with private24/7 security details?

So it's time for the mayor to fess up on the private security details. We need a full list of who got them and why, and what was the cost. 

You can read the rest of the questions via the below link:

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