Philly City Council president criticizes finger-pointing after officer’s killing: ‘We haven’t even had a funeral’
District Attorney Larry Krasner earlier this week faulted the police department for botching an earlier murder case against the man now accused of ambushing and killing Officer Shane Seiber.
Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson on Thursday offered a thinly veiled critique of District Attorney Larry Krasner, who earlier this week faulted the police department for botching an earlier murder case against the man accused of ambushing and killing Officer Shane Seiber last weekend.
“This is about us coming together and figuring out how we work together to make the city safe,” Johnson told reporters Thursday after Council’s weekly meeting. “Assigning blame, for me, right now is not relevant. We haven’t even had a funeral for this officer.”
The comments from the typically subdued Council president were notable because Johnson, a Democrat, has been an ally to Krasner. He endorsed Krasner’s reelection bid last year and has been the progressive prosecutor’s most high-profile political supporter in City Hall.
But on Thursday, Johnson — who was answering a question about Krasner’s allegations but did not name the district attorney — expressed disappointment in the “back-and-forth” that the prosecutor kicked off.
Johnson is the highest-ranking official in the city to weigh in on Krasner’s remarks. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker deferred comment to the police department earlier this week.
“This is a very, very dark week here in the city of Philadelphia, so at the end of the day, who done what, to me, doesn’t matter,” Johnson said. “We should be talking about supporting the family, and we should be talking about supporting the officers who lost their colleague, but also us as a city as a whole. We have to heal, because I know it impacted all of us.”
Krasner touched off a firestorm Tuesday when he posted a YouTube video in which he insinuated that Eric Lewis, the man now accused of killing Seiber and critically wounding another officer, was able to commit that crime because police had tanked an earlier murder investigation.
The district attorney called the conduct by police in that case potentially “criminal.”
In 2023, a judge acquitted Lewis on charges related to the 2019 shooting death of Christopher Williams in what investigators described as a road-rage incident. The Inquirer reported that the judge was so troubled by the weakness of the investigation presented in court that he took the extraordinary step of alerting the police department’s internal affairs bureau.
Krasner, in his video, said that a police officer who had dated Lewis’ sister sought to “torpedo” the case and provided false information to law enforcement.
He also accused the homicide detective assigned to the case of failing to investigate key aspects, and said that prosecutors in his office had done “everything humanly possible” to convict Lewis.
Police spokesperson Sgt. Eric Gripp said in response to Krasner’s allegations that the department was reviewing the investigation into the 2019 homicide, but that the leaders of the force are focused on supporting Seiber’s family and other officers grappling with the death of their colleague.
“Assigning blame while families are grieving does nothing to advance accountability or support those affected,” Gripp said in a statement. “True leadership does not seek to assign fault in a moment like this. It stands with the families. And when the time comes, it holds itself to the same scrutiny it asks of others.”
» READ MORE: How a brief conversation on a West Philadelphia porch left one officer dead, and another seriously wounded
Police said Lewis on Saturday fatally shot Seiber and wounded his partner outside his home in West Philadelphia while the officers were responding to a 911 call. Lewis is charged with murder and related crimes in connection with Seiber’s death. He also faces 10 counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting of the second officer and for allegedly firing at nine others who rushed to the block.
