Frank Rizzo's billy club, “Last Chance: What You'll Find at the Frank Rizzo Estate Sale”, November 25, 2018, NBC 10 Philadelphia.
Although many students, School District leaders, and Black Power leaders described the terror inflicted by Rizzo and his officers,the city’s response was tepid.
"The complaints [of the students] contain allegations such as these:
(1) The officials and officers of the Philadelphia Police Department 'have repeatedly physically abused, beaten, detained, held in custody, arrested the plaintiffs, deprived them of their liberty and of their property, and without probable cause have placed plaintiffs under surveillance, and threaten to continue said course of conduct
(2) The ... officials and officers "have established a pattern of conduct, denying plaintiffs the right to see counsel and prohibiting counsel from seeing their client
(3) 'For a period of years defendant Rizzo has engaged in a series of raids, involving multiple arrests without probable cause, harassment and annoyance of teenage boys and girls whose lawful behavior or appearance is unorthodox or unusual. (He) has arrested or caused the arrest without warrant of youths who were patrons at coffee houses, who frequented Rittenhouse Square and other public places, and who assembled peacefully on the streets of Philadelphia'"
-"Heard v. Rizzo", 1968.
(1) The officials and officers of the Philadelphia Police Department 'have repeatedly physically abused, beaten, detained, held in custody, arrested the plaintiffs, deprived them of their liberty and of their property, and without probable cause have placed plaintiffs under surveillance, and threaten to continue said course of conduct
(2) The ... officials and officers "have established a pattern of conduct, denying plaintiffs the right to see counsel and prohibiting counsel from seeing their client
(3) 'For a period of years defendant Rizzo has engaged in a series of raids, involving multiple arrests without probable cause, harassment and annoyance of teenage boys and girls whose lawful behavior or appearance is unorthodox or unusual. (He) has arrested or caused the arrest without warrant of youths who were patrons at coffee houses, who frequented Rittenhouse Square and other public places, and who assembled peacefully on the streets of Philadelphia'"
-"Heard v. Rizzo", 1968.
The defense of Rizzo made the following arguments:
"There is no dispute that the Police Department was advised on the late afternoon of November 16 that the number of demonstrators expected on November 17 was estimated by the school officials to be three hundred and the Board's fifteen security officers (former policemen) were considered by the School Board to be sufficient to handle the group, but that over three thousand were present by noon. The school officials were advised on November 16 that a limited number of non-uniformed police of the Civil Disobedience Unit would be present the next morning and there was one van of uniformed officers in reserve several blocks from the building.
As a result of a call from the Chief of the Civil Disobedience Unit at or after 11:30 A.M., Commissioner of Police Rizzo arrived at the Board of Education building about 12 Noon and testified as follows:
(1). He ordered 111 men who had just been in a promotion ceremony at City Hall to the area and put in effect Riot Plan No. 3 to prevent the demonstrators from going north into a residential area of the city. Additional police were also apparently brought to 21st and Winter Streets.
(2). He found a howling, undisciplined and disorganized mob which had taken over the area of 21st and Winter Streets. The mob of full-grown juveniles and adults were running over the tops of parked vehicles and hurling obscenities at the police.
(3). Police moved in among the mob about 12:30 P.M. and cleared the streets in the area in ten minutes. The order to move in was given to assist two or three policemen who had arrested a prisoner and were being attacked by the mob which was trying to rescue the prisoner. Aerials were being ripped from cars and other damage was being done by the young demonstrators" -"Heard v. Rizzo", 1968.
"There is no dispute that the Police Department was advised on the late afternoon of November 16 that the number of demonstrators expected on November 17 was estimated by the school officials to be three hundred and the Board's fifteen security officers (former policemen) were considered by the School Board to be sufficient to handle the group, but that over three thousand were present by noon. The school officials were advised on November 16 that a limited number of non-uniformed police of the Civil Disobedience Unit would be present the next morning and there was one van of uniformed officers in reserve several blocks from the building.
As a result of a call from the Chief of the Civil Disobedience Unit at or after 11:30 A.M., Commissioner of Police Rizzo arrived at the Board of Education building about 12 Noon and testified as follows:
(1). He ordered 111 men who had just been in a promotion ceremony at City Hall to the area and put in effect Riot Plan No. 3 to prevent the demonstrators from going north into a residential area of the city. Additional police were also apparently brought to 21st and Winter Streets.
(2). He found a howling, undisciplined and disorganized mob which had taken over the area of 21st and Winter Streets. The mob of full-grown juveniles and adults were running over the tops of parked vehicles and hurling obscenities at the police.
(3). Police moved in among the mob about 12:30 P.M. and cleared the streets in the area in ten minutes. The order to move in was given to assist two or three policemen who had arrested a prisoner and were being attacked by the mob which was trying to rescue the prisoner. Aerials were being ripped from cars and other damage was being done by the young demonstrators" -"Heard v. Rizzo", 1968.
In the end, the court ruled:
"The plaintiffs have only raised a doubt in the Court's mind as to what occurred on November 17, 1967, at about noon, at 21st and Winter Streets. They have not negatived the testimony of the Police Commissioner that he was required to make a decision during a riotous situation where his officers were being attacked during an effort of others to rescue a prisoner from police custody. We do not find on this record that the Police Commissioner acted in bad faith in directing the police to move into the mob"-"Heard v. Rizzo", 1968.
"The plaintiffs have only raised a doubt in the Court's mind as to what occurred on November 17, 1967, at about noon, at 21st and Winter Streets. They have not negatived the testimony of the Police Commissioner that he was required to make a decision during a riotous situation where his officers were being attacked during an effort of others to rescue a prisoner from police custody. We do not find on this record that the Police Commissioner acted in bad faith in directing the police to move into the mob"-"Heard v. Rizzo", 1968.
Another tragedy of the walkout was that Pennsylvanian Courts ruled that Rizzo's actions were justified and that he had the right as police commissioner to continue them.
“Nobody did anything about it….I have no idea why. It was just something that happened” - A student at the walkout, Frank Rizzo: The Last Big Man in Big City America.