Philadelphia, PA – Protesters gathered by car outside city hall to demand that Philly Mayor Jim Kenney and other city officials take swift action to release prisoners from local jails as the COVID-19 pandemic crisis intensifies. Jails and prisons have become some of the largest epicenters of coronavirus outbreaks in the USA, due to their close quarters and unsanitary conditions.
Unicorn Riot reported from the scene at Philadelphia’s city hall:
A call for the car protest was spread by the local chapter of the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement (RAM), a self-described “political movement dedicated to freeing people from bondage and building resistance in the United States.”
The demonstration was organized by Decarcerate PA, ACLU of Pennsylvania, the Youth Art & Self-Empowerment Project, Philadelphia Community Bail Fund, Philadelphia Bail Fund, and Media Mobilizing Project.
This demonstration is happening on Friday. Please turn out! We must free them all! Please and retweet! pic.twitter.com/SEhxuNEMNA
— RevAbolitionPHL (@RAM_Philly) April 9, 2020
During the past two weeks Unicorn Riot has covered other physically-distant car demonstrations demanding the release of prisoners during the pandemic — a #NeverAgain demo outside the home of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in St. Paul, MN and a demo to #FreeThemAll in downtown Denver, CO.
Unicorn Riot's COVID–19 Coverage:
- The Coronavirus Crisis in Brazil – An Interview with EmiciThug - May 22, 2020
- Nurses Picket Over Lack of Protection From Ongoing Viral Pandemic - May 21, 2020
- Mutual Aid to Detained Refugee Women Grows — Coronavirus in Greece Part 3 - May 7, 2020
- Minneapolis May Day Protest Supports Essential Workers - May 2, 2020
- MN Demonstrations, Demands to Free Prisoners Escalate - April 30, 2020
- Denver ‘Clean-ups’ Displace 100+ Unhoused Residents Amid Health Crisis - April 30, 2020
- Worker-Occupied Factory Sends Soap to Refugee Camp – Coronavirus in Greece, Part 2 - April 28, 2020
- A Country Quarantined, Coronavirus in Greece Part 1 - April 25, 2020
- Who’s Calling to ‘Liberate Minnesota’, and Why? - April 21, 2020
- Living with COVID–19 - April 17, 2020
- Philly Mayor and Judges Pressured To Release Inmates From Jail - April 15, 2020
- Calls for Rent and Mortgage Freeze Outside MN Legislature - April 14, 2020
- What Is Coronavirus and How Do Humans Defeat It? - April 10, 2020
- Car Protest Demands Philadelphia Officials Release Prisoners To Save Lives In Pandemic Crisis - April 10, 2020
- ‘Cancel Rent’ Demo Calls for a Rent and Mortgage Payment Freeze as COVID-19 Spreads - April 9, 2020
- Coronavirus in the Caribbean: COVID–19 Update from Puerto Rico - April 2, 2020
- ‘Never Again’ Demo Demands Release of Detainees Amidst COVID–19 Pandemic - March 30, 2020
- South Africa Under Lockdown as COVID–19 Spreads - March 29, 2020
- Providing Mutual Aid Amidst the Coronavirus Pandemic in Minnesota’s Twin Cities - March 27, 2020
- As U.S. Coronavirus Cases Top the World Charts, Minnesotans’ “Stay at Home” Order Goes Into Effect - March 27, 2020
- “Everyone Deserves A Cost-Of-Living Adjustment”: Interview with UCSC Striker Yulia Gilich - March 26, 2020
- ‘Real boog hours’: Neo-Nazi Terror and the Coronavirus Crisis - March 20, 2020
- Coronavirus Concerns End St. Paul Educators Strike, Close Many Public Schools - March 14, 2020
Title image credit: Antoine Taveneaux via Wikimedia Commons (CC 3.0)
