Philadelphia police opened an investigation into one of their own detectives and the role the policeman may have played in last week’s deadly riots at the United States Capitol, officials said on Sunday.
The department is aware of “social media posts alleging that a PPD detective may have been present at Wednesday’s” protest, which became violent when crowds invaded the Capitol, the Philadelphia police spokesman, Sergeant. Eric Gripp said in a statement.
The revolt, provoked by President Donald’s Trump’s lies, that the fraud cost him the election to President-elect Joe Biden, has killed at least five people.
“An IAB investigation was opened to determine whether any PPD policies were violated by the detective and whether they participated in illegal activities while they were present,” said Gripp.
“The detective’s assignment has been changed pending the outcome of the investigation.”
Representatives of the Philadelphia Police Fraternal Order, Shop No. 5, said the detective went to Washington, DC, in her own time and did not commit criminal acts.
“Our detective traveled to Washington, DC on her day off and exercised her First Amendment rights to attend an event,” union president John McNesby said in a statement.
“We believe she has done nothing wrong and look forward to the results of a thorough internal review. We strongly condemn the violence and loss of life on Capitol Hill and hope that those responsible will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Both the union and the police department declined the detective’s name, now under scrutiny.
Mayor Jim Kenney is asking for public help to identify any city officials who may have participated in the riot, by calling or sending an email to the Office of the Inspector General of Philadelphia.
“To be clear, at the moment we have no evidence that a city official broke the law last Wednesday, when the Capitol was violated,” Kenney said in a statement on Monday.
“And I cannot stress enough that any resulting investigations would not lose sight of the right to engage in activities protected by the First Amendment.”
Over the weekend, police in Rocky Mount, Virginia, put two officers on administrative leave for their alleged involvement in the riots.
And police in Seattle said that at least two of their off-duty officers attended the event in Washington, DC, last week.
A West Virginia lawmaker, who recorded and then deleted a video of him attacking the United States Capitol, is also among those criminally accused in connection with deadly combat. Derrick Evans, a Republican state representative, was accused of intentionally entering a restricted area.
Evans says he didn’t break any laws, but the freshman legislator resigned over the weekend, saying in a statement: “I hope this action I take today can remove any cloud of distraction from the state legislature, so that my colleagues can work seriously building a better future for our state. “
Evans won his seat in November with 37.3% of the vote, beating his closest rival, Democrat Ric Griffith, with 25%.
