PHILADELPHIA(KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia City Council committee held a hearing Wednesday on how police responded to crowds in the gay community after the Pride parade in June.
Councilmember Rue Landau, who called for the hearing, began it with a series of TikTok videos showing a massive police presence, including officers on horses and motorcycles, corralling crowds in the part of Center City known as the Gayborhood.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel responded with his own videos of teenagers fighting and unruly behavior.
“We have a duty to make sure that when this event happens, particularly Pride, that we are protecting those who are attending,” he said.
Bethel said police had expected activity to be confined to the Parkway, a new site for the parade. His explanation got no sympathy from Landau.
“You put motorcycles on the sidewalk with barricades when there were too many humans on there and you knew it and you did it anyway. You brought horses in to terrify people,” She said.
Landau said she wanted an apology. She didn’t get one, though Bethel conceded some of the officers’ behavior was troublesome, including the wearing of masks, which is against department policy. He promised next year would be better .
