PHILADELPHIA—Every day, Philadelphians grapple with the consequences of a dictatorial White House and the complicit twins of a GOP-controlled Congress and the conservative Supreme Court. Some duck and cover, others freeze. District Attorney Larry Kranser, however, has used his platform to urge more residents of conscience to organize their communities for a mass fightback.
On Sept. 18, at a church in Southwest Philly, community members gathered for an evening town hall organized by the DA’s office. Expert panelists represented the perspective of African immigrant merchants, Muslims, anti-gun violence advocates, Black youth mentors, and professors of law. Together, these community leaders acknowledged the severity of our nation’s political crisis and the harms of GOP policy on Philadelphia’s prospects.
Krasner challenged President Donald Trump’s narrative that National Guard deployments to America’s cities would protect residents.
“It’s not about making society safer, in fact everything this president is doing is detrimental to public safety…. The real emergency is Donald Trump…someone who wants to roll tanks in and overthrow the government.”
A right-wing provocateur attempted to disrupt the event, shouting that Krasner was somehow complicit in the vicious murder of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
“We are organizing to defend our civil rights. Your accusations against me are a deliberate attempt to derail our conversation. You will not succeed and we will proceed,” Krasner responded.
The District Attorney suggested that Philadelphians stand ready to videorecord federal agents they believe are acting unlawfully. Krasner indicated he would be prepared to charge federal agents with state crimes such as official oppression and said his office is establishing a legal unit dedicated to protecting constitutional rights.
Krasner joins other progressive elected officials like Working Families Party Councilmember Kendra Brooks and State Rep. Chris Rabb in advocating for unity and common action in the face of federal overreach. Others, like Mayor Cherelle Parker, have opted not to speak too much about Trump for fear of incurring his wrath.
Meanwhile, thousands of Philadelphians still find themselves collecting unemployment after Elon Musk’s destructive DOGE cuts to the federal workforce, and young people have been hung out to dry after the closure of Jobs Corps centers across the city.
During the community panel portion, Natasha Danielá de Lima McGlynn, an executive director of a major anti-violence non-profit, lamented the isolation of immigrant communities amidst the ICE surge.
Her organization’s work is funded by the 1984 Victims of Crime Act, which affords protections to all persons, not just citizens. Unfortunately, if immigrants are fearful of filing police reports, then they will struggle to access services.
When de Lima McGlynn, a Latina woman, spoke, she took the opportunity to assure her grandmother watching from home on the livestream that she was safe. She connected the atmosphere of fear and tension in the normally sacred space with immigrants’ daily experience.
Voffee Jabateh, a Liberian-American and community leader, presented a vision of a future where Black immigrants from all over the world could feel at home in Philadelphia’s “Africatown.”
“The law isn’t being taken away but tampered with. No one should point to us immigrants as enemies. We are one people,” Jabateh declared.
“We have to come out of our silos and connect the dots. The only way to unite people is our common drive to form a more perfect union,” argued Imam and Vietnam War veteran Kenneth Nuriddin.
Philadelphians are expected to re-elect Krasner to a third term this November. His opponent, former judge Pat Dugan, lost the Democratic primary earlier this year and will be running as a Republican in the general election.
In a local television interview, Dugan characterized Krasner’s call to record National Guard troops, should they be deployed, as harassment of patriots just following orders.
“If there’s help out there in law enforcement, then so be it, it is what it is. I don’t have any say. That’s between the president, the governor [Josh Shapiro], and the mayor,” Dugan said.
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