In what looks to be a reckless, irresponsible move by the 4,700 workers of Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, the union decided to strike early Tuesday morning affecting nearly one million riders a day.
Plus, being in the middle of early voting and Philadelphia being a huge Democratic stronghold, it could affect the outcome of the election.
The authority’s regional rail service — the commuter lines that extend from the city into the suburbs — continued operating, providing an alternative in some parts of the city for riders who would usually take buses or subways. The commuter trains accepted transit passes and express trains made local stops to take on more passengers.
But the regional rail service, which normally provides 130,000 rides a weekday, could absorb only a fraction of the overflow. Trains became crowded and some ran as much as an hour late into the Center City area. The transportation authority warned of possibly dangerous overcrowding on commuter rail platforms during the evening rush.
Members of Transport Workers Union Local 234 had voted to go on strike at midnight if a contract settlement was not reached, and negotiations on Monday failed to produce an agreement. The union last walked out in 2009, in a strike lasting six days.
• And speaking of Republicans – did you miss this week’s Republican debate from Las Vegas? No worries – CNN has the 90 highlights reel. Check it out below.
Several sources are now reporting that the Amtrak train derailement last night near Philadelphia, killing seven and injuring dozens, may have been caused by the train traveling at more than twice the speed limit.
An Amtrak train involved in a fatal crash here appears to have been traveling at more than 100 miles an hour as it entered a sharp curve where it derailed Tuesday night, killing at least six people, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation.
The speed limit in that section of track drops to 50 miles per hour, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.
Investigators are focusing on the possibility that excessive speed was a factor in the derailment, one of these people said.
Multiple cars overturned, severely injuring some passengers and pinning others. Six people were killed and more than 200 were injured, including eight who were in critical condition.
Lawyers for the three accused gay bashers in Center City last September plan to ask the court to reduce or throw out charges at a pre-trial hearing on April 16th.
Of course, sinners in hell want ice water, but that’s not happening either.
The three defendants — Kevin Harrigan, Philip Williams and Kathryn Knott — all of whom are in their mid 20’s, appeared with their lawyers for the status hearing.
At the preliminary hearing stage in December, a Municipal Court judge ruled there was sufficient evidence to prosecute them on aggravated assault, conspiracy, and other charges.
Defense lawyer Louis Busico, who represents the 24-year-old Knott, says all of the defendants maintain their innocence:
“Perhaps some of the charges may never see a courtroom, or they all may. That’s the purpose of reviewing discovery.”
The three are charged with two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of simple assault, two counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count of conspiracy.
Twitter user @FanSince09, who has been credited in leading a social media manhunt in identifying the suspects in the September 11 gay bashing in Center City, Philadelphia, appeared on The View to share why he decided to put his social media skills to work and help solve a crime.
The social media sleuth – @FanSince09 – chose to keep his identity anonymous:
“I did maybe about 45 minutes of work, but with crowd sourcing, we got at least three people identified within two hours.”
Since the violent attack, a bill that would amend Pennsylvania’s hate crimes statues to include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity has recently passed the House Judiciary Committee 19-4.
(L to R) Kevin Harrigan; Kathryn Knott; Philip Williams
According to recently released court documents regarding the violent gay bashing in Center City two weeks ago, the victims were punched and repeatedly called “faggots” by the three charges suspects.
It should be noted that nowhere in the report is there any mention that the three acted in “self-defense.”
Now that Kathryn Knott, Kevin Harrigan and Philip Williams have been charged with the crime, an affidavit of probable cause describing the incident has been made available by the court.
According to that document, the incident began when “words were exchanged” between the two groups of people, with suspect Kevin Harrigan allegedly calling the victims “faggots” several times before a “heated argument developed.” The affidavit also alleges that Knott screamed “faggots” at them and hit one of them in the face.
See the affidavit below. Here is a transcript of the affidavit:
On September 11, 2014, at approximately 10:45PM, Conplainant #s 1 and 2 were walking east on the 1600 block of Chancellor Street when they encountered a large group of males and females who were walking north on 16th Street. Words were exchanged between the two groups and one male in the second group, later identified as Kevin Harrigan, called the complainants “faggots” several times. A heated argument developed and, during the resulting altercation, another member of the second group, later identified as Philip Williams, punched Complainant #1 in the face an undetermined number of times, causing Complainant #1 to fall to the ground. Complainant #2 approached Williams and Williams punched Complainant #2 in the face, also causing him to fall. The second group then left the area north on 16th Street.
Complainant #1 was transported to Hahnemann Hospital with extensive injuries to his face, including a broken orbital bone, a broken jaw and a deep laceration that required twenty-four stitches to close. Complainant #2 suffered injuries to his face that did not require hospital treatment.
Video was recovered from the surrounding area that showed the second group in its entirety. That video was aired on local news programs and on social media. As a result, the whole group was identified. Photo arrays containing individual photos of that group were shown to the complainants and several witnesses. Kevin Harrigan was identified by both complainants as initiating the incident and calling the complainants “faggots”. Complainant #2 also identifies Harrigan as striking him during the physical altercation.
Both complainants positively identified Philip Williams through photo arrays. Williams was identified by Complainant #2 as punching him. Williams was identified by Complainant #1 as being part of the group and being one of the “main aggressors”.
Another member of the group, Kathryn Knott, was positively identified by Complainant #1, after viewing a photo array, as calling them “faggots”. Complainant #2 identified Kathryn Knott from the video as screaming “faggots” at both complainants and striking Complainant #2 in the face. A witness at the scene who was interviewed by detectives further positively identified Knott from a photo array as striking Complainant #2.
Openly gay Pennsylvania state Rep. Brian Sims shared this tweet earlier today in reference to the Love Park rally held today in support of adding sexual orientation to the state’s current hate crimes bill.
At the rally Sims said, “There are some in Harrisburg who object to restoring sexual orientation and gender identity protections to the hate-crime law. But they haven’t been calling for repeal of the law’s remaining protections, for victims targeted because of their race, color, religion or national origin — they know they would take a political hit for that. Unfortunately, they think there’s no political penalty or constituent outrage to face for leaving out women, LGBT people, or people targeted because of their ancestry or mental or physical disability. Pennsylvanians who don’t like this injustice need to let their state representative and senator know now.”
Watch Sims’ impassioned speech this past Tuesday in the state capitol where he expressed his frustration about the LGBT community’s lack of rights outside of marriage.
This state doesn’t offer a single statewide LGBT civil right to people like me other than marriage, and that’s ridiculous,” Sims said, gesturing emphatically.
“Don’t let people tell you that we only have six or seven days left in session,” Sims added. “That’s B.S.!”
A new city hate crime ordinance introduced today by Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown and Councilman Jim Kenney looks sure to pass as the proposal was co-sponsored by the entire city council.
The measure comes just weeks after the brutal gay-bashing in Center City on September 11th that left two men hospitalized, one requiring his jaw to be wired shut for 8 weeks.
“We value diversity and diversity matters, and for those who don’t get it, there’s a price to be paid,” Reynolds Brown told BuzzFeed News when reached by phone. “Right at the door, all of the members get it and understand the value in putting forth this important measure to close this loophole in the law.”
She said she can “predict quite confidently” the ordinance will pass and be signed into law by Mayor Michael Nutter. “I can’t say that about too many pieces of legislation,” she added.
The Philadelphia proposal would ensure that hate crimes based on a victims actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability will carry consequences in addition to existing criminal charges such as up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000, according to the councilwoman.
