An embattled Larry Krasner is back on the attack | Mike Newall
What are the questions that need answering?
Every Sunday, Mike Newall brings you an inside look at a story defining Philly this week and a preview of what’s coming in the week ahead.
On Tuesday, Philadelphia will grieve fallen Officer Shane Seiber, fatally shot while responding to a call in West Philadelphia. The 40-year-old, who leaves behind a wife and two young children, will be mourned according to the rituals and militarylike precision of how the Philadelphia Police Department has buried its dead for generations — in solemn funerals attended by hushed tides of blue.
But beneath the silence simmers the recriminations of who is to blame. Embattled District Attorney Larry Krasner made sure of it.
Disregarding a bit of unwritten decorum — assigning blame while a family freshly grieves — Krasner seemed to be chomping at the bit to point the finger. In a surreal, self-recorded YouTube video, Krasner declared that Eric Lewis — the water department employee accused of killing Seiber and severely wounding another officer — was free to commit his crimes because of the “arguably criminal” actions of two police officers. Krasner vehemently defended the actions of his prosecutors during a calamitously mishandled 2023 murder trial against Lewis.
But Krasner’s blistering broadside raises critical questions about his own office’s conduct in a train wreck of a murder trial and sets up a likely looming battle between a district attorney’s office and police department with an already rocky relationship.
Krasner had a bad summer, from a Supreme Court scolding to a potential federal probe into his own possible crimes. Now he’s in a street fight with the cops. While ignoring questions regarding his own office’s possible culpability, Krasner has since suggested a possible inquiry into “police misconduct.” The records in the 2023 case are now sealed.
Ellie Rushing, who covers criminal justice and law enforcement for the Inquirer, has been reporting on both the police and the district’s attorney’s office’s handling of the case. She’s here to update us on her reporting and tell us where the tragic story might be headed.
Mike: What are the questions that need answering?
Ellie: There were obvious issues with both the police investigation and the prosecutorial strategy. Our questions, from conversations with experts and other prosecutors, are:
Is the police department conducting a review of the homicide detective’s other cases?
Did the internal affairs investigation conclude that crimes were committed?
When did the D.A.‘s office become aware of these alleged crimes that police may have made in this case? And did they investigate then?
Part of a prosecutor’s job is to oversee the homicide investigation. What sort of prep work was done in this case?
And if this case had such glaring weaknesses, why was it brought to trial?
Mike: This looks like it’s going to get ugly.
Ellie: We’ll see what Police Commissioner Bethel has to say after the funeral.
Data deep dive
Urban birding across Philly and its burbs is soaring, reports my colleague Frank Kummer. Residual COVID-19 isolation. Campus clubs. A thicket of nature apps. Whatever the reasons, Philly is cuckoo for birds, and I love it (even if my knowledge ends at the differences between a penguin and pigeon). Philly may have more birding activity and research than anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, one expert told Kummer. Beat it, Colombia. Go (Philly) Birds!
With peak fall migration upon us, here are the best regional spots to watch everything from songbirds and sparrows to warblers and raptors.
Video of the Week
The Museum of the American Revolution is far from done commemorating the 250th birthday of America. Tipping my Tricorne hat to their hilarious Revolutionary Rocky spoof. Yo Adrian: Huzzah!
A look ahead
Orphaned Atwater Kent collection ping-pongs back to city: But are they committed to protecting “Philadelphia’s attic?”
How will this “Disease Detective” navigate the politically charged environment of the worst measles outbreak in the country?
Do you want to duke it out with a slab of beef, just like Rocky? Here’s your chance.
One more thing
Lovers of Tofani doors: Check out South Fellini’s love letter to the fading jewels of South Philly Atomic Age design: Doors of South Philly: A Collection of Tofani Doors. The book offers a stunning visual celebration of the iconic, mid-century doors adorned with dazzling glasswork patterned in starbursts, keyhole, heart, and diamond shapes that still dot South Philly rowhouses.
Tony Trov and Johnny Zito, co-founders of South Fellini, the East Passyunk Avenue culture and lifestyle shop, have been photographing and collecting disregarded Tofani doors for a decade. The books offer over a 100 photos of their favorites and a deep dive into the local family business that made the doors almost a century ago.
When my wife and I bought our South Philly rowhouse we immediately fell in love with our Tofani door — a Galápagos-blue beauty with beveled windows in the shape of Wolverine claws. For us, the door brought character and style — a sense of history and place. The way the razor-blade shaped windows throw light and shadows. The door’s deep thud. Like the book says, a Tofani door “turns any rowhouse into a rowhome.”
