Biden says ‘no excuse for looting, violence’ amid Philadelphia unrest
'I think to be able to protest is a totally legitimate, totally reasonable.'
After he voted in Delaware on Wednesday, Joe Biden denounced the violence and looting in Philadelphia amid protests over the police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr..
“There is no excuse whatsoever for the looting and the violence. None whatsoever,” Biden said outside of a polling station in Wilmington.
“I think to be able to protest is a totally legitimate, totally reasonable,” he continued.
Wallace Jr. was fatally shot by police officers Monday afternoon after he allegedly approached them armed with a knife.
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theGRIO previously reported, the incident occurred shortly before 4 p.m. when two Philadelphia Police officers responded to a call in West Philadelphia about a man with a weapon. They arrived at the scene and ordered Wallace to drop the knife but say he “advanced towards” them.
Officers then fired “several times,” wounding Wallace, who was driven to a nearby hospital by one of the policemen and then died.
Protesters took to the city streets Monday night to denounce the shooting, resulting in smashed windows at businesses and at least one police vehicle being set on fire. Over 25 officers have been reportedly injured by bricks and other thrown objects. A 50-year-old female officer was hospitalized after being struck by a speeding truck.
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Walter Wallace Sr. has condemned the violence.
“I don’t condone no violence — tearing up the city, looting in the stores and all this chaos,” Wallace Sr. said on Tuesday. “I need everybody to have respect for my family and my son to stop this violence and chaos.”
Biden co-signed his remarks on Wednesday.
“As the victim’s father said, ‘do not do this. You’re not helping, you’re hurting. You’re hurting my son,'” he said.
Wallace, Sr. told The Philadelphia Inquirer that his son was hit at least 10 times by officers’ bullets.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said the killing raises “difficult questions that must be answered.”
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