My Philly Daily Crime Beat Column On The DA Gangbusters' Takedown Of 21 Violent Philly Gang Members

Philly Daily ran my Crime Beat column on the DA’s takedown of 21 violent gang members. 

You can read the column via the link below or the following text:

Davis: DA Gangbusters take down 21 violent Philly gang members - Philly Daily

While Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is grandstanding at the Philadelphia airport, leveling silly threats at federal ICE agents who are aiding travelers process security procedures in the absence of TSA security personnel who are unpaid by Congress, it appears that some of his subordinates at the DA office are on the job.  

A case in point is the March 19^th announcement that the DA’s office brought charges against 21 defendants, all members of local street gangs in Philadelphia. The 21 defendants were indicted for their role in more than a dozen shootings and gun-related crimes across Philadelphia. According to the DA’s Office, the crimes occurred between January 2022 and August 2023, with a total of 32 victims, including the murder of 18-year-old Aquill Foster.

“The 33rd Philadelphia County Investigating Grand Jury has determined that Maliek Robbins, Jayme Drayton, Marquan Flamer, Baahij Arthur, Atum El, Emmitt Hardee, Damar Holmes, Rahmel Humphrey, Carl Jarett, Quadir Spady, Elante Outerbridge, Eli Simmons, Malik Sweets, Ivan Williams, Javon Fisher, Baseer Johnson, Aliaan Harris, Taaj Lennon, Bryant Cumberbatch and Samerah Pendleton are implicated in one homicide, 18 non-fatal shootings, three gunpoint carjackings, one car theft, and one gunpoint robbery,” stated the DA’s Office. “One other individual is not being named at this time as part of the ongoing investigation. The Investigating Grand Jury also determined that the defendants are connected to the street groups known as “The Senders,” “The Close Range Gang,” “7th Street,” and “PNB.”

“Five of the defendants were taken into custody today while several others were already in custody awaiting trial on other charges.”

The Charges are:

Maliek Robbins

• Aggravated Assault
• Robbery
• Conspiracy

Jayme Drayton

• Murder

Marquan Flamer

• Murder

Baahij Arthur

• Attempted Murder

Atum El

• Attempted Murder

Emmitt Hardee

• Conspiracy to Commit Attempted Murder

Damar Holmes

• Aggravated Assault

Rahmel Humphrey

• Attempted Murder

Carl Jarett

• Attempted Murder
• Robbery
• Theft by Unlawful Taking

Quadir Spady

• Attempted Murder
• Aggravated Assault

Elante Outerbridge

• Attempted Murder
• Robbery

Eli Simmons

• Attempted Murder
• Aggravated Assault
• Robbery

Malik Sweets

• Attempted Murder

Ivan Williams

• Attempted Murder

Javon Fisher

• Attempted Murder
• Aggravated Assault
• Robbery

Baseer Johnson

• Attempted Murder
• Robbery
• Aggravated Assault

Aliaan Harris

• Attempted Murder

Taaj Lennon

• Aggravated Assault

Bryant Cumberbatch

• Attempted Murder
• Aggravated Assault

Samerah Pendleton

• Conspiracy to Commit Attempted Murder

“This is a good day for the citizens of Philadelphia, including the residents of South Philadelphia whose neighborhoods have been terrorized by this senseless violence like many other neighborhoods,” said Krasner. “Our office will continue to take down those who perpetrate violence and we will not stop until all Philadelphia neighborhoods feel safe. Thank you to Assistant District Attorneys Bill Fritze, Adam Farraye, and Katherine Reamy, the entire DAO’s Gun Violence Task Force, and our law enforcement partners for their thorough and decisive work in this investigation.”

Bill Fritze, the DA’s chief of the Gun Violence Task Force, added, “The charges we announced today are the continuation of the efforts we first disclosed a year ago with the sweeping indictments of these gangs based in South Philadelphia. Utilizing a number of methods, the continued investigations of those initial shootings committed in retaliation revealed other targeted shootings in which often innocent bystanders were struck by gunfire. We also thank the individuals whose hard work led to these arrests, specifically Detectives Kelley Gallagher, Patrick Cavalieri, David Gannone, Ryan Moore, Christopher Maitland, Andrew Gallagher, Steven Blackwell, Officers Copestick and Berryman from the Criminal Intelligence Unit, the Attorney General’s Office including Agent Matthew Winscomb, our partners at the FBI and the DIVIC, and Criminal Analysts Amanda McCourtie and Ashley Waples.”

Aiding the prosecutors in this case were the videos some of the gangbangers placed on Youtube, bragging about the shootings.

Back in the mid and late 1960s, I was a street corner half-a-hoodlum. Our South Philly street corner crew were no angels, and although we were more about girls, dancing and having fun, there was, admittedly, gang violence. But unlike today’s street gangs, we didn’t revel in it – and we certainly didn’t brag about it publicly.

Paul Davis’s Crime Beat column appears here each week. He is also a contributor to Broad + Liberty and Counterterrorism magazine. He can be reached at pauldavisoncrime.com.