May 08, 2008

Caught

News Item: Third and final cop killer caught in Southwest Philadelphia

This is great news. Three men robbed a bank last week and, in the process, shot and killed Philadelphia police officer Stephen Liczbinski; one of the suspects was killed during the robbery, a second was captured shortly afterward, and the third was finally caught yesterday after a five-day manhunt.

Less fortunate? A video, taken a couple of days after the shooting, surfaced last week featuring several Philadelphia police beating three men who were suspects in a murder unrelated to the Liczbinski death. A news helicopter from local Fox affiliate WTXF captured the beating on tape, and both the mayor and police commissioner have called for the public to withhold judgment.

The Fox station has come under some heat in Philly for broadcasting the tape, but I can't blame them. They're journalists, it's news, and you don't sit on something that's news. What is unfair, however, is that the police beating became a national story while the Liczbinski shooting did not. The only reason Al Sharpton hasn't arrived in Philly yet is because he's tied up at the moment.

The headquarters of the Fraternal Order of Police is two blocks from my office; every news truck in town was parked outside there this morning.

Meanwhile, a Philadelphia mosque has announced that they will refuse to conduct funeral services for the alleged shooter, "We don't want one slight scintilla hinting that we condone his behavior." I'm going to guess that neither Daniel Pipes or Debbie Schlussel will make any mention of that today.

Posted by Stephen Silver at May 8, 2008 04:33 PM
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