The South Philly Review ran my Crime Beat column online today ahead of the print edition, which will come out on Wednesday.
You
can read the column via the link below or the following text:
The man behind 'Stand Up South Philly and Take Our Streets Back'
I attended the June 11 South Philly street vigil for Billy Schmidt, the 22-year-old who was recently murdered.
The
streets near 20th Street and Durfor were packed with people who were both
saddened about the murder of the young man and concerned about crime in South
Philly. They listened intently to the speakers at the vigil and shouted out
approval when the speakers called for justice for Billy Schmidt.
I
spoke to several people in the crowd and all expressed outrage at the senseless
murder of Billy Schmidt and demanded that the murderers be arrested and
punished.
Billy
Schmidt, a Penn State student who was set to graduate in December, was shot to
death when he tried to recover his cell phone from two young men who robbed
him.
Billy
Schmidt was murdered near his home early on Saturday morning, June 6, as he
walked home from a local bar where he watched a basketball game. He was
discovered lying on the street with a chest wound from a gunshot. The robbery
and murder, which was captured on a doorbell video, has infuriated the
community.
The
video showed two young men acting like predators, walking around and looking
for a victim. After shooting Billy Schmidt, the video showed the two men
stripping off their hoodies to avoid being detected.
Hopefully,
the video will lead to their arrest by the police.
The
vigil was organized by Anthony Giordano (seen in the above photo), 56, who, along with his wife Lisa,
started the “Stand Up South Philly and Take Our Streets Back” Facebook page
nearly six years ago.
I
reached out to Giordano to ask him about his Facebook group’s activism.
“We
were instrumental in stopping the safe injection sites and we also were
instrumental in protecting South Philadelphia during the George Floyd riots, so
we’re all about the neighborhood,” Giordano said. “Now we have about 20,000
people on Facebook.
“So,
what happened was with any kind of neighborhood issue, the neighbors reach out
to me. Small things, like the alley lights are out or reaching out to a
councilman. The quality-of-life issues in our neighborhood are the big things
that we do, so when I saw this young man, Billy Schmidt, get murdered, I said
we have to do something for their family.”
Giordano
said that they could not let Schmidt die in vain.
“South
Philadelphia cannot let him die like he did, all by himself face down on the
street. He needed to be shown love and respect. South Philadelphia united for
this kid, and that’s why I wanted to do the vigil.”
Davis: How many people
showed up at the vigil?
Giordano:
“I’m going to say it had to be close to 1,000 people. It was a good crowd.”
Davis: Who spoke at
the vigil?
Giordano:
“First District Capt. Kelly Robbins and Councilman Kenyatta Johnson spoke at
the vigil. Dr. Mary Palmer from the city’s Division of Safe Neighborhoods spoke
as well as St. Monica’s Father Kelly. Councilman Mark Squilla was there, but he
didn’t speak.”
Davis: Was the vigil a
success?
Giordano:
“It was absolutely a success. It got the message out for the family to show
that South Philadelphia cares. The South Philadelphia community stands up for
its neighbors. People came from 2nd Street, Southwest Philadelphia, Delaware
County and New Jersey. We definitely got the message across that we are a
united front.”
Davis: How did you
become involved as an activist?
Giordano:
“I’m South Philadelphia born and raised. Someone has to help and get involved
and enough is enough. The quality of life itself in South Philadelphia is
declining. Things are happening in our neighborhoods that didn’t happen when we
were younger, and now more violent crimes are creeping into our neighborhoods.
I decided somebody’s got to be the voice. I’m not doing this for glory or
trying to get a better job or trying to become a politician. I can tell you
that’s the furthest thing from my mind. I want to retire in six years and
umpire baseball games. Everything I do is for the community.” ••
Paul Davis’s Crime Beat column appears here each week. He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com
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