In response to the police violence and terror in West Philly and on 676 this summer, PHL City Council is considering a bill that would ban use of tear gas against "any individual engaging in 1st Amendment Activities" but 1/

in the committee hearing about the bill today, @PPDCommish said “The moment something becomes violent it is no longer a 1st Amendment protected activity" and referenced damage to cop cars as examples of violence that took place during protests this summer, 2/

if the @PhillyPolice can rule property damage as "violent," what use is this bill? Seems to me like this bill wouldn& #39;t even have protected the people brutalized by police this summer, bc PPD would/will claim protestors are being "violent" to justify any use of force they want.

This bill just isn& #39;t it. @PHLCouncil needs to defund and demilitarize the police. @HelenGymAtLarge @CouncilmemberJG @KendraPHL @CMThomasPHL @CouncilmanDerek @CouncilmemberKJ @Mr4thDistrict

also thank you to @gwensnyderPHL for twitter coverage of the hearings that lead to this bill, which put it on my radar in the first place