Posted on 06/23/2005 7:59:51 AM PDT by m1-lightning
IN A MATTER of seconds, protest chants fell silent and cops' stone-faced glares faded.
Suddenly, it wasn't about power and activism or who was right or wrong outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center yesterday afternoon.
It was about one man, a cop of 19 years, who crumpled to the street and died apparently of a heart attack after a standoff between a blue line of cops and a corps of drum-banging idealists fighting the biotech industry came to a head.
Paris Williams, 52, who worked in the Civil Affairs Unit, lay motionless on asphalt as cops bent over him on Arch Street and performed CPR, trying desperately to save his life. Those protesting the biotech industry convention held at the center bunched together outside and moved towards the fallen cop.
They pushed forward, forming a human barricade. Some cops swung their bikes at demonstrators to move them away from the fallen officer, hitting some people.
Ian Cox, 16, of Moorestown, N.J., said he was standing taking pictures. "One cop turned and just punched me in the gut," he said.
"It's a shame," said Eileen Nathanson, 66, a protester forced back on the sidewalk on Arch Street near 12th. "They're all nice kids... I think it was a miscommunication."
Williams, a father of two, was rushed to nearby Hahnemann University Hospital, where doctors said his heart had already stopped.
Shortly after he was pronounced dead at 1:12 p.m., the mood on Arch Street turned solemn. The protesters walked to the Convention Center steps on Arch facing a line of cops gripping nightsticks.
Out of respect for Williams, they shared a moment of silence and left.
"We were gathered in Philadelphia to celebrate and protect life, and any loss of life is a tragedy to us all," said Hart Feuer, of Bio-Democracy. "We're deeply saddened by the news and send our heartfelt condolences to the family."
The peaceful "Summer Solstice Day of Action" that began simultaneoulsy in various places at about 9 a.m., heated up when protesters moved in front of the Convention Center after noon. They blocked Arch Street, and a line of police tried to move them back, holding their bikes and nightsticks.
A protester poured a bottle of water down the back of an officer. The officer spun around and grabbed the protester, said a protester who wanted to be known only as Nathan.
"It was like a tug of war. The cops pulled the protester, and protesters grabbed him and wouldn't let go," said Nathan, a tall lanky 16-year-old Alaska native, who wore a bandanna that covered the lower half of his face.
A scuffle then broke out, and Williams rushed over and bent down over protesters in the street. Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson said he didn't believe Williams was involved in the scuffle.
Within moments, Williams stepped back, with sweat covering his face. He looked as if he felt excruciating pain in his chest before he collapsed.
"Here's an officer who has been doing an outstanding job for 19 years in the department... He died doing his job," Johnson said outside Hahnemann. "Once an officer leaves home, there's no guarantee he'll be coming home, and this is an example of that."
No arrests have been made, but some protesters are being questioned. "Homicide is handling the investigation at this point... because they have the manpower and expertise," Johnson said.
"There's no indication the Police Department did anything wrong or anyone else did anything wrong... It appears he died of a heart attack."
Mayor Street said unfortunately when you're a cop, anything can happen.
"We live in a great country where people have a right to congregate and people have a right to protest and exercise their First Amendment rights," Street said.
At the same time, he said, protesters should be respectful to cops who "are simply trying to do their jobs," he said.
"Unfortunately, in this case, we had a confluence of circumstances at the end of which we find one of our Police Department officers has lost his life."
Protesters have come from all over the country because the Biotechnology Industry Organization 2005 Annual International Convention is here this week. The forum, which kicked off Sunday, is the one of the largest conventions Philadelphia has hosted since the 2000 Republican National Convention.
Nick Cooney, 24, who works at the University of Pennsylvania in nutrition education, stood outside GlaxoSmithKline Headquarters, at 16th and Vine streets, to protest animal testing.
"All your money. All your lies," he chanted in a bullhorn, looking toward a security guard who stood with his arms crossed inside behind tinted glass.
After the officer died, some protesters headed to LOVE Park at 16th and JFK, where they danced and pranced in the fountain, and skateboarders pounded their boards on the edge to the beat of the drums.
The skateboarders were protesting the city ordinance that bans them from skating in the park.
Some demonstrators there dressed up as tomatoes while others carried cutouts of corn labeled with phrases like "Resistance is fertile." Another popular sign, "Free Our Earth," was held by protesters who say they are with the "green movement."
"I'm not anti-science," said Norman Carter, 35, a Phialdelphia teacher, holding a cutout of an ear of corn. "I'm anti-corporate greed, pollution and genetic engineering."
Kaya Weidman, 22, dressed as a sun, is a vegetable farmer in upstate New York. "Food should be from natural elements, not be genetically engineered," she said.
Other protesters wanted to see an end of bioweapons and war.
"It would be nice if they invested into fighting AIDS and cancer and not war," said Tino Rozzo, 45, of Vineland, N.J. "I just want people to see how they profit from war."
Many protesters said they are not the kind who throw bricks through windows or vandalize cars. "We use puppets and music... People get our message, and all we're doing is causing minimal traffic delays," Feuer said.
But after Williams died, some protesters said that, in the end, cops and protesters aren't so different.
"The police and demonstrators are just humans on a planet," Feuer said.
"We're aiming for the same thing - good health care, good livelihoods, good nutrition. When someone is ripped from our collective clutches, we all feel the tragedy."
Police Officer Paris Williams jumps into the fray to assist other officers who were breaking up a scuffle that started after a protester poured water down the back of a cop.
During the scuffle, Williams 52, loses his hat.
Lord, it's hard not to hate these people.
How terribly sad for the officer and his family (although the Big One would have hit anyway, soon.)
Such lovely, caring "people," no...?
Carolyn
If they formed a human barricade and prevented medical help for the officer the whole lot of them should be charged with murder or manslaughter at the least.
Naaah. No bias here.
I believe they were kicking a different cop and Williams tried to pull them off. I'll have to see if I can find the video.
This is a local news station and the video is a link on this site.
Good for him, you ghoulish little faggot.
Just wondering.
AFTER he died... they "danced and pranced in the fountain."
Remember that.
amen
I've said it before. These protesters are some of the laziest people among us. The only energy they spend is used to prevent others from being productive. This helps to mask their own worthlessness.
No, Dick Durbin is on a local campaign to repolish his image as he kisses Rep. Ray Lahood's butt at some renaming ceremony.
durban had tears in his eyes, so its ok.
That's what a liberal does when they can't find a job... blame someone else and take them down too. They are pathetic people who deserve the Stalinist government they dream of.
Carolyn
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