6 Key Moments From the Brandon Tate-Brown Police Lawsuit Announcement

Tanya Brown-Dickerson greets supporters after a press conference at Dilworth Park.

The family of Brandon Tate-Brown, who was killed in a December scuffle with Philadelphia Police, held a noontime press conference at Dilworth Park today to explain their wrongful death lawsuit against the city. Six key moments from that event:

• Tanya Brown-Dickerson, Tate-Brown’s mother, on why she filed the suit:

“I believe with all my heart that my son’s rights were violated. He was not given a chance. I want the rest of Philadelphia to feel safe…

“I want the pain to stop, but I can’t stop fighting. I’m fighting for my son, and my neighbor’s 26-year-old.”

• Her attorney, Brian Mildenberg, on why he’s asking a judge to take control of Philly’s reform efforts after Mayor Nutter already appointed an oversight committee:

“We don’t oppose the oversight committee. An oversight committee is wonderful. But the fact of the matter is, only a judge can make an order people have to follow.”

• Mildenberg, on what reforms he wants to see to reduce the number of police-involved shootings:

“I think every police officer in the city of Philadelphia must carry a Taser. … If officers have a Taser, that’s a choice that they can make … to disable the suspect instead of kill him.”

• Mildenberg, on the credibility of the police department, and whether a gun found in Tate-Brown’s car at the time of the shooting actually belonged to him:

“There’s a trial going on in federal court right now where police are accused of planting evidence. So it’s not like this doesn’t happen.”

• Mildenberg, on how protests and riots in Baltimore will affect the case:

“This is a discrete case. … We support all forms of nonviolent protest. But I don’t think that’s going to impact this case.”

• The Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler, pastor at Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, on the presence of racism in the police department:

“The culture of racism in America is on autopilot. … It doesn’t matter if the chief of police is black, if the mayor is black. We’re talking something that’s been in the works for centuries.”

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