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Darrin Manning case in the works

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and District Attorney Seth Williams called for the public to mind their own business—unless they can contribute…

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Last Friday, Pennsylvania State Representative Curtis Thomas called for the immediate suspension of the officer who is accused of rupturing Darrin Manning's testicles during a police frisk. Today, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and District Attorney Seth Williams called for the public to mind their own business—unless they can contribute any factual evidence to the case.

Attorney Williams announced that police are investigating the day that Manning was stopped at Broad Street and Girard Avenue and frisked. The teen asserted to the media that a female police officer sexually assaulted him, patting him so roughly that he was forced to have emergency surgery. 

The police report of Manning's arrest for aggravated assault, resisting arrest and reckless endangerment claimed that Manning struck an officer. Manning was in custody for hours and underwent surgery the following day, according to hospital records.

Movements on social media called for the dismissal of the officer who frisked Manning. Twitter users circulated petitions from websites such as change.org and colorofchange.org, demanding that police, "drop all charges against Darrin Manning and prosecute the officer who assaulted him."

"We picked up the investigation based on media reports, not based on a formal complaint," Police Commissioner Ramsey explained to press, pointing out that Manning did not file an official complaint with the Internal Affair Bureau. 

District Attorney Williams said that the case won't be won by sending messages, unless they contribute to the investigation. "There was an entire group of people that sent me probably a couple hundred Twitter messages a day," Attorney Williams said. "We deal with evidence and facts in the real world." 

 

On Jan. 31, Philadelphia State Representative Curtis Thomas' office released a statement calling for the suspension of the officer accused of injuring Manning.

"If the facts we hear are true," Rep. Thomas' office wrote, "She should not be working at all. There was no reason for her to allegedly put her hands on him when he was already under control."

"The state rep does not have access to information that I have," Commissioner Ramsey told press. "I think this call for dismissal is premature. I will make a decision based on evidence that I have—facts and evidence, not emotion."

Rep. Thomas also pointed out that male officers were present to pat Manning down. At the Feb. 6 press conference, Commissioner Ramsey confirmed police policy that an officer of the same sex should not pat down a detainee, unless there is an immediate threat.

In Philadelphia, the ACLU estimates that police make pedestrian stops without reasonable suspicion in 43 to 47 percent of cases and 76 percent of stops target African American and Latino individuals.

For now, city officials insist that there is not enough evidence to draw conclusions, and are urging the public to contact police if they have any information on events that took place on Jan. 7. Darrin Manning's trial is slated for the beginning of March. 

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