Free Republic

Philadelphia businesses are being forced to set up booby traps like hidden sprinkler systems to fend off drug users. Local activist Frank Rodriguez has revealed that business owners in the Kensington area of the city are having to devise tricks to keep addicts off their stoops. The neighborhood has become ground zero for the city's drug epidemic, and is frequently seen strewn with trash and addicts injecting drugs in the open. Speaking to Fox News, Rodriguez said: 'Businesses end up throwing soapy water on the ground just so it is wet and it is not a comfortable place to sit...

A teenager in Philadelphia has been arrested and charged for plotting what authorities have called a “catastrophic terrorist attack.” The 17-year-old boy was arrested by SWAT forces on August 11, following an investigation FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. The teen is accused of being in contact with Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad, an extremist Islamist group affiliated with Al Qaeda. Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad was officially designated as a terrorist organization by the US State Department in 2022. He received instructions from the group on the construction of IEDs and purchased materials used to make explosives as well as...

The Pennsylvania Senate voted 29-19 on Wednesday to call Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, to Senate chambers for a trial to answer for seven articles of impeachment against him. The articles could result in his removal from office. But the timing of this move is awkward because it was done in a special session on Nov. 30, the last day of the 2021-2022 session. The new session starts at midnight, but no action will be taken because newly elected lawmakers take their oaths of office and are seated in January. “The majority party is attempting to set an...

The Pennsylvania Senate will head back to its chamber after Thanksgiving to start the impeachment process of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. Split along party lines, House Republicans voted 107–85 on Nov. 16 to impeach Krasner, saying he violated his oath of office by enforcing policies that have been a direct cause of rising crime in Philadelphia. It is a vote that may not have happened next session, when Democrats take control of the House. “The Senate’s Constitutional obligations are clear, so we are prepared to fulfill our duties and continue the impeachment process of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner...

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia’s Democratic district attorney had harsh words for the Pennsylvania Legislature in his first public statement since the vote last week to impeach him. Lawmakers and community activists joined Larry Krasner on Monday as he called the vote a product of the “MAGA wing” of the Republican Party and said the movement to reform the criminal justice system will not be silenced. “Once again, they're trying to tell you all what you think,” he said. “Well, the people know what they think.”

Pennsylvania state representatives expect to vote Wednesday on whether to impeach Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D); a legislative panel voted to move the idea forward on Tuesday. All 14 attending members of the state House of Representatives Judiciary Committee supported advancing an impeachment bill sponsored by State Representative Martina White (R-Philadelphia). All eight Democrats present for the vote opposed the legislation. Many lawmakers say the far-left prosecutor’s laxity on the job has led Philadelphia to suffer its worst spike in violent crime ever. First elected in 2017, Krasner campaigned on being more lenient than his moderate-to-liberal predecessors, attracting the...

The sister of a slain West Philadelphia community leader said she is "fed up" with a "broken" system as she slammed the city's Democratic prosecutor for lax criminal justice policies that allowed a suspect in the case to have been freed from prison following a previous violent crime. In September, Charles Gossett was gunned down in Overbrook, a prominent neighborhood near St. Joseph's University noted as the childhood home of actor Will Smith. His sister told "The Story" Friday their family and community is missing its leader. —— break ——- he suspect sought in Gossett's killing, Jamir Harris, was last...

A group of violent Philadelphia ATV drivers was caught on video attacking police by throwing bricks and bottles at the officers before fleeing the scene, police said. The group unleashed its assault on police just one day after a Republican city councilman accused the administration of Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat, of instructing officers "not to enforce the law." The Philadelphia Police Department shared video on Tuesday showing "a large group of people riding dirt bikes and ATV’s" around a gas station near Delaware Avenue and Spring Garden Street, police said. According to police, a dirt bike rider initially crashed...

Pennsylvania Republicans were primarily written off this cycle. I admit I thought we were toast, given that Dr. Mehmet Oz winning the Republican Senate primary exposed the state party's appalling candidate depth. Gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, who I like, was seen as too extreme for Keystone voters, though he was polling within the margin of error with Democrat Josh Shapiro. With summer over, Oz is within striking distance of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, whose mental health has been called into question due to his recovery from a stroke. Mastriano needs a boost—in fact—the whole statewide slate could use a leg...

Lefty Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner claimed violent crime was worse in “Trump states” — as he denied his soft-on-crime policies were to blame for his city’s soaring crime rate. Krasner’s bold statements came during a fiery interview with Fox29’s “Good Morning Philadelphia” Wednesday, when he was grilled by anchor Mike Jerrick a day after five teens were shot at a high school.

For the last several years, billionaire philanthropist George Soros has been quietly financing a revolution in criminal justice reform, doling out tens of millions of dollars to progressive candidates in district attorney races throughout the country amid movements to abolish bail and defund the police. Working with an activist attorney, Soros, 91, mainly funnels cash through a complicated web of federal and state political action committees as well as non-profits from coast to coast, public records show. Last year, the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a nonprofit in Soros’ orbit, gave $3 million to the Community Resource Hub for Safety...

In 2017, Philadelphians elected “progressive prosecutor” Larry Krasner as district attorney. Since taking office, Krasner has pursued a policy of de-prosecution—the decision not to prosecute certain crimes regardless of whether they actually took place—as homicides have spiked. While Philadelphia experienced de-prosecution and rising homicides leading up to Krasner’s election, both trends have accelerated dramatically under his leadership. That he now faces a serious primary challenge in his quest for reelection should come as no surprise. Under Krasner, Philadelphia is on track to set two city records: the lowest number of felony prosecutions in modern history and the highest number of...

A court transcript shows little was done by the Philadelphia DA’s office to prosecute the alleged killer of an 11-year-old for a previous assault charge mere weeks before the murder occurred......“When I was in the DA’s office, you typically had three strikes before the case would be discharged for lack of prosecution,” said Lorainne Donnelly, who served over ten years at the Philadelphia’s DA’s office. “But in this transcript, the prosecutor was not ready to proceed at the second court listing and specifically told the Judge that the Commonwealth ‘did not have a motion,’ signaling to the Judge that she...

Dark money group spent thousands to send Larry Krasner to Germany, Portugal amid deadly year As Philadelphia's top law enforcement officer spent two weeks on a jaunt through Europe financed by a liberal dark money group, the city witnessed 3 murders, 30 rapes, 63 armed robberies, and 120 assaults with a firearm. Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner traveled to Germany and Portugal in May 2019, a year in which his city experienced a 12-year high in homicides. Liberal dark money group Fair and Just Prosecution footed the bill for Krasner and other attendees to learn from the European countries how...

Philadelphia is a busy urban nucleus. February 17th was no exception. Famous musician John Legend and Senator Elizabeth Warren held a $1,000 a person fundraiser for Billionaire George Soros backed Philadelphia District Attorney, Larry Krasner. Just prior to these famous folks and their deep-pocketed socialist friends celebrating a murderous political figure, 8 people were shot in broad daylight in a busy Philadelphia intersection leaving one man in critical condition.This is nothing new in Krasner’s Philadelphia. Just last year more than 2,400 people were shot in Philly, breaking recent records, and since 2015, 8,500 shootings have left people wounded or killed...

In a move that's sure to offend every cop in the city, District Attorney Larry Krasner's office has covered up a "Wall of Remembrance" that features a couple dozen plaques honoring hero cops who died in the line of duty. ---SNIP--- In the photo, the wall is covered with a backdrop that bears the repeated images of the DAO logo of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. We already knew that Larry Krasner hates cops. When he was a defense lawyer, he sued the police department 75 times. At his victory party, the crowd chanted "F*ck the FOP."

When District Attorney Larry Krasner showed up at Temple University Hospital, where a police officer died this morning, the fallen officer's comrades linked arms and wouldn't let Krasner in. Moments later, Fox 29 reporter Jenn Frederick, who was broadcasting live, asked Krasner on camera, "It appears that the police officers were literally keeping you outside." Krasner didn't answer the question; instead he looked right past the reporter and gave a robotic speech. "So the reason I'm here is we have a very serious incident involving a police officer," he said, stating the obvious. "I was here for the victim for...

The recent theft of a laptop and several USB drives from a Philadelphia elections equipment warehouse appears to be a random crime that was not motivated by the 2020 election, District Attorney Larry Krasner has confirmed. “There were reports of someone trespassing or otherwise getting into a warehouse, and there were initially some concerns that this might be an effort to suppress the vote,” Krasner said at a news conference Wednesday. “The investigative information we have received from the Philadelphia Police Department indicates that is not the case, that what occurred in that situation appears to be more in the...

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) on Friday offered a warning to individuals who may try to act as uncertified poll watchers in the state during next week's elections. “I’ve got a jail cell, and I’ve got criminal charges and you can stand in front of a Philadelphia jury — which, by the way, is a diverse jury — and you can explain why you thought it was OK to come to Philly and steal our votes,” Krasner said during an interview on CNN. “This is the birthplace of democracy. We’re not doing this," Krasner added. "Wannabe fascists stay home,...

U.S. Attorney William McSwain of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania blames Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner for the rise in violence in the City of Brotherly Love. Krasner’s policies, McSwain announced, “create a culture of lawlessness; they leave criminals emboldened; and they have inevitable consequences.” Indeed, since Krasner took office in 2018, homicides are up 49 percent and shootings have climbed by 59 percent. If the trend holds, Philadelphia will tally more than 450 homicides in 2020—the highest count in nearly 30 years. Crime is spiking precisely because Krasner isn’t holding serious offenders accountable. An analysis by my group, the...