Rizzo Mural Defendant Legal Fund

In August of 2017, our friend was arrested and charged with vandalizing the Frank Rizzo mural. Ten months later, the court case is finally nearing an end. 

Over the last 10 months, our friend:

- spent 24 sleepless hours shivering in a jail cell where their shirt
was confiscated and the air conditioning put on full blast.

- sat through 8 hearings totaling around 15 hours spent in courtrooms at
the CJC.

- dedicated countless hours and days planning for best and worst case
scenarios with their pro bono lawyer, friends, and community members.

- experienced persistent emotional stress and anxieties caused by the
case.

- faced charges that snowballed into two felonies and a misdemeanor,
which could have led to a judge putting our friend in prison for 7-16
years.

- took the substantial risk of rejecting an offer to drop the felony
charges in exchange for 4 years of probation, and a $9,200 fine paid to
Mural Arts, who sent a representative to take the stand and testify to
the damages.

The new DA has presented a different offer: 50 hours of community
service and a $2,000 fine. 

Please help us come together to raise money to cover this fine and stand with our friend. 

Any financial contributions are deeply appreciated. Please share with
friends and community members on social media.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!

The Frank Rizzo mural and statue still loom over downtown and the
Italian Market, as Mural Arts has refused to publicly take a stand on
the issue of whether or not they support a giant 40-foot emblem of
racism and homophobia. Here are two articles among man documenting his career and legacy:

http://www.broadstreetreview.com/cross-cultural/calls-continue-for-mural-arts-program-to-remove-its-frank-rizzo-mural

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kwxp3m/remembering-frank-rizzo-the-most-notorious-cop-in-philadelphia-history-1022