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Protesters carried a banner in honor of Walter Wallace Jr., who was shot and killed by police in West Philadelphia in October 2020, on 52nd Street, April 25, 2021. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Updated: 4:15 p.m.
About 100 people have gathered at West Philadelphia’s Malcolm X Park to honor Walter Wallace Jr., the 27-year-old Black man who police fatally shot in October.
The event kicked off with a drum line and chants of “long live Walter Wallace.”
“Tomorrow is six months to the day that police murdered Walter Wallace,” said YahNé Ndgo, who helped organize Sunday’s event. “We want to make sure that people always remember what happened.”
It is important to remember that the bulk of the mummers and their organized groups made it clear that they were not going to march this year because of health concerns, Kenney said. So the major divisions of the parade who are organized made that decision early on.
During the summer the city opted to cancel all large public gatherings and events in Philadelphia through February in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. These restrictions were imposed in July and have resulted in other major events in Philadelphia – like the Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Broad Street Run – being called off, too.