What we know about the shooting on the Parkway | Morning Newsletter
Plus, a look at former labor leader John Dougherty's fight against the FBI's use of an informant in his inner circle.
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The Morning Newsletter
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Today will be a little cloudy, but hot, with temperatures expected to hit a high of 92.
First, the latest on the 4th of July Parkway shooting. The Philadelphia Police Department is still investigating the incident that injured two police officers, now saying the shots came from outside the event site. Mayor Jim Kenney has also walked back comments he made at a news conference after the shooting when he said that he’ll “be happy” when he’s no longer the mayor of Philadelphia.
Plus, my colleagues Jeremy Roebuck and Oona Goodin-Smith have more on the member of John Dougherty’s inner circle who taped dozens of conversations for the FBI. The informant said he recorded the conversations out of concern that the labor leader was threatening members of his union — but Dougherty’s lawyers are arguing the informant’s efforts may have tainted their client’s conviction and his upcoming trials.🔒
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— Katie Krzaczek (@hashtagkatie, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Philadelphia highway patrol officer Sergio Diggs, 36, suffered a graze wound to the forehead, and Deputy John Foster, 44, of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad, was grazed in the right shoulder when gunfire broke out on the Parkway during Monday night’s July 4th celebrations, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said. Both officers were treated for their injuries and were “in great spirits,” Outlaw said, before they went home.
The commissioner also said the department is investigating the possibility that the bullets came from so-called celebratory gunfire.
In his first public comments following the shooting, Mayor Jim Kenney had said he’ll “be happy” when he’s no longer the mayor of Philadelphia, leading some to call for him to resign. Kenney later said his comments were made in a “late-night, overwhelming moment of frustration.”
Read up on everything we know so far about Monday night’s shooting.
The legal battle over an informant in Johnny Doc’s inner circle
A warning — and a threat
During a November 2019 gathering at Local 98 of the International Brotherhood Electrical Workers, John Dougherty, the union’s business manager at the time, issued a stern warning to any members who might be considering cooperating with the FBI against him.
“I’m going to make sure everybody, everywhere – everybody at your kids’ school — knows that you’re a punk and a rat and a creep,” he said to the room. “Your kids don’t want to grow up knowing your daddy’s a rat, daddy’s a punk.”
The FBI already had an informant in Dougherty’s circle, and he was recording the labor leader’s message, including the suggestion that death might be a better option for anyone willing to turn against him. “Go right to the bridge,” he said at the time. “Jump right off the bridge. Make it easy.”
Why does it matter?
Dougherty was convicted last fall on federal bribery charges, and he faces two more trials later this year on extortion and embezzlement charges. His legal team is arguing that the federal informant’s recordings — more than 30 in total — may have tainted the former labor leader’s right to a fair trial, and they’re suggesting his earlier conviction should be called into question. Jeremy Roebuck and Oona Goodin-Smith have all the details about the informant in John Dougherty’s inner circle.
What you should know today
New Jersey has adopted a package of 7 new laws that will regulate the sale of ammunition, tighten access to some weapons, and empower the state’s attorney general to prosecute gun manufacturers and retailers.
SEPTA is looking for a new police chief after Thomas J. Nestel III retired Tuesday. His abrupt departure comes after intense public criticism of the transit police for a recent spike in violent crime on the region’s trains, trolleys, and buses and in stations.
The first case of monkeypox in Camden County was reported on Tuesday, health officials said. The resident, who recently traveled out of state, is currently isolating at home.
Black artists and historians are criticizing the city of Philadelphia’s process to commission a design for a permanent Harriet Tubman monument. The city awarded the $500,000 commission to Wesley Wofford, the sculptor who designed the traveling statue Harriet Tubman: The Journey to Freedom, which stood outside City Hall earlier this year, without seeking drawings or proposals from other artists.
Brittney Griner, the WNBA player who has been detained in Russia since being arrested in February, made an appeal to President Joe Biden in a letter passed on to the White House through her representatives saying she feared she may never return home.
Local Coronavirus numbers: Here’s your daily look at the latest COVID-19 data.
🧠 Philly Trivia Time 🧠
A fungus is destroying one of America’s most iconic trees, which were once called the “grandfathers” by Indigenous peoples due to their heights reaching 100 feet or taller. Today’s question: Which species of tree used to number around 4 billion in the U.S. and has historically called Pennsylvania’s forests home? Take a guess, and find the answer here.
a. Spruce
b. Sycamore
c. Oak
d. Chestnut
Photo of the day
That’s all for today. Have a great Wednesday! ✌️