The Political Dynamics of Justice Reform in The U.S.

William McSwain issued the inflammatory statement hours after a drug suspect
shot and wounded six Philadelphia police officers
President Donald Trump’s top federal prosecutor in Philadelphia launched an
extraordinary attack on the city’s elected district attorney on Thursday, just hours after a
drug suspect shot and wounded six of the city’s police officers.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania William McSwain issued an
unusual and inflammatory statement slamming Philadelphia District Attorney Larry
Krasner, a civil rights attorney elected in 2017 who has become one of the faces of the
prosecutor movement in the U.S. McSwain said the shooting was “precipitated by a
stunning disrespect for law enforcement” that is “promoted and championed by District
Attorney Larry Krasner.”
McSwain claimed that Krasner, who litigated cases against the Philadelphia Police
Department before his election, engaged in “vile rhetoric” that endangered police, and
accused him of “lawlessness” and “making excuses for criminals.”
At a press conference outside the Philadelphia federal building, McSwain said he would
be looking very closely at Krasner’s office and providing “adult supervision.”
Krasner, in a statement issued to HuffPost after the press conference, suggested
McSwain’s attacks were inappropriate.
“The U.S Attorney is not a political elected office. I’m surprised that William McSwain
would seek to detract from the great collaborative work of law enforcement last night ―
for which bipartisan leaders in City Hall just minutes ago had nothing but praise, and
rightly so ― for his own political agenda and personal gain,” said Krasner, who spoke
with the shooting suspect, 36-year-old Maurice Hill, during the standoff with police.
“Thank you for your question but I will not be part of a distraction from the serious work
before law enforcement in Philadelphia, which is to fully investigate this assault on our
police officers and neighbors, and to bring the perpetrator ― and any co-perpetrators ―
to justice,” Krasner added.
McSwain’s statement and press conference mark a remarkable escalation in the war of
words between McSwain and Krasner. It comes days after Attorney General William
Barr spoke before the Fraternal Order of Police, where he slammed “anti-law
enforcement DAs” who “style themselves as ‘social justice’ reformers” and “spend their
time undercutting the police, letting criminals off the hook, and refusing to enforce the
law.”
“It’s unfortunate to see this type of rhetoric and messages from a law enforcement
leader,” Miriam Aroni Krinsky, the founder and executive director of the group Fair and
Just Prosecution, told HuffPost of McSwain’s statement. “But perhaps not surprising
given the tone that’s been set by some of our federal leaders.”
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