#BlackLivesMatter Protesters Block Prosecutor’s Office
Tanya Dickerson, center, is flanked by Asa Khalif, left, and Brian Mildenberg, right, during a press conference in March.
Activists seeking the re-opening of the Brandon Tate-Brown case protested at District Attorney Seth Williams‘ office today, briefly shutting down the street outside and blocking the door while they made their case. Protesters included Tate-Brown’s mother, Tanya Brown-Dickerson, and cousin, Asa Khalif.
#BrandonTateBrown supporters now blocking Penn Square near City Hall. Begging for arrest?But cops redirecting traffic pic.twitter.com/A0tr1r9weB
— Dana DiFilippo (@DanaDiFilippo) August 10, 2015
Breaking BLM protesters have shut down 3 Penn Square. http://t.co/VIcL1xL9rg #BrandonTateBrown
— #NoDAPL Resistance (@NoDAPL_) August 10, 2015
https://twitter.com/DustinSlaughter/status/630702508244103168
Tate-Brown, 26, died early December 15th after two officers stopped him on Frankford Avenue, near Magee Street, for driving without headlights. Officials say one officer saw a gun in the car’s middle console; Tate-Brown was asked to step from the car and a struggle ensued. Tate-Brown was shot, they said, when he broke away from officers and tried to reach into the car, apparently for the gun. D.A. Seth Williams in March announced he would not file criminal charges against the officers in the case.
But his family says video released in June showed that Tate-Brown had been shot near the rear of his car — and not, as police contended for months, at the passenger door of the car, reaching in for a gun. They asked that the case be re-opened and filed a civil suit in the matter.
On Friday, the NAACP, the Philadelphia Black Clergy, and other community civil rights leaders said they back calls for a new investigation, calling for an independent federal investigation in the matter.
Today’s protests reportedly ended without arrests.
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