About two dozen No ICE Philly activists gathered Saturday outside a parking garage in Old City, demanding the Philadelphia Parking Authority end an arrangement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
At issue are 16 parking passes at the federally owned garage on Second Street, which is managed by the PPA. The group sang protest songs, held signs, and passed out informational flyers that resembled oversized PPA parking tickets.
“Who doesn’t know what these things look like, you know?” said one activist handing out flyers.
Group organizer Jay Bergen said the rally is meant to pressure the PPA — and to let people know that ICE is using the parking garage.
“It’s scary that you could be parking downtown, and unbeknownst to you, parking next to an ICE agent,” Bergen said.
Bergen, a 34-year old pastor at the Germantown Mennonite Church, pointed to public records showing a $53,520 contract that allows “for parking of government vehicles for ICE Homeland Security investigations” at the garage.
That contract was set to expire at the end of September, but another one, beginning in October and running through at least next September, gives Department of Homeland Security “16 leased parking spaces,” records show. ICE is part of DHS.
PPA spokesperson Martin O’Rourke declined to comment on the contracts.
An activist holds “violations” resembling PPA parking tickets to pass out to people, while a crowd gathers to demand the PPA stop leasing parking spaces to ICE.Brett Sholtis
Bergen said the group opposes ICE for “kidnappings” of immigrants and others, including people who have lived legally in the community for decades. One recent example is a 30-year-old nurse from Delaware County, who was arrested while taking her son to Disneyland.
Bergen said most people detained by ICE did nothing wrong. Some had minor lapses in paperwork or had been convicted of summary or misdemeanor crimes.
“Their goal is terror. It’s not public safety in any meaningful way,” Bergen said.
The local ICE field office did not respond to a request for comment Saturday.
At the rally, protester Akarsh Balaji said that the amount of money PPA makes on the contracts is “less than what they spend every year on salt to de-ice the streets.”
Balaji said he’s seen ICE harass his Puerto Rican neighbors in West Kensington. Puerto Ricans are Americans — so is Balaji, who is of Indian ethnicity — but that doesn’t seem to matter, he said.
“Nobody should have to live in fear, or be told that they’re harmful to society,” Balaji said.
Balaji said he got involved with the group in February after feeling a need to do something, “and be part of a movement that is so much bigger than I was.”
“We want to make it as difficult as possible for ICE to do its job,” Bergen said.
In Philly, ICE has faced obstacles from residents and elected officials. In April, the city adopted some of the nation’s most aggressive polices aimed at restricting ICE. The legislation took effect in July but the federal Department of Justice sued the city over some of its directives.
Bergen said ICE has changed its tactics since early this year, when its Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota — and the killings, captured on video, of U.S. citizens Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti — led to overwhelming public opposition to the agency.
“But the fear has not gone down. I heard this week about someone whose mother is afraid to go to doctor’s appointments, because she’s afraid ICE might grab her,” Bergen said.
Tim Boyce, the former director of Emergency Services for Delaware County, was convicted Friday of assaulting and harassing two of his female employees.
Weeks later, a second set of charges was filed when another woman Boyce hired and worked with for years, said he showed her pictures of his penis, lifted up her skirt to look at her genitals and once muted a Zoom call she was part of to ask her graphic questions about sexual positions she preferred.
After about nine hours of deliberation, jurors convicted Boyce of all but one count, the simple assault charge.
Boyce was taken into custody after the verdict was read and the judge set his bail at 10% of $50,000. He will be sentenced in December.
His attorney, Andrew Edelberg, said afterward that he was disappointed with the verdict, but respected the jury‘s decision.
County officials fired Boyce shortly before the criminal charges were filed, after the first woman filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In his closing arguments, Edelberg told jurors that the case against his client was “botched, bungled, fumbled, messed up” by investigators who failed to find evidence corroborating the women’s allegations.
He accused prosecutors of attempting to play on jurors’ emotions with the testimony of the two women, who he said offered unreliable testimony.
“The Commonwealth wants so badly to convict Mr. Boyce, they’re desperately clinging to this story,” he said.
The women’s true intention was money, he said, referring to potential settlements from lawsuits they both have filed against the county.
But Deputy Attorney General Madelyn Abry, in her closing arguments, warned jurors not to be distracted by what she described as “filibustering by the defense.”
“Mr. Boyce is upset, he’s sad, he was devastated because he was caught, because his actions have finally caught up with him,” she said. “And they did so because of these two brave women.”
Abry told the jurors Boyce chose his victims intentionally: Both women were single mothers at the time, desperate for better-paying jobs that would provide health benefits for their families.
“I’m not making excuses because I have nothing to excuse myself for,” he said, calling the second woman’s assertions “absolutely a lie.”
He became emotional under questioning by Edelberg, saying that he checked into a rehab facility in Arizona for treatment of suicidal ideation, and later sought treatment from a second facility in Pennsylvania.
Edelberg, in his closing arguments, described Boyce as a hero who helped recover bodies from Ground Zero during the Sept. 11 attacks, and who once saved three children from a burning building as an Upper Darby firefighter.
He noted that the second woman remained friendly with Boyce after the first alleged assault, which was in 2018. And she later invited him to her wedding, he said.
“Why would you include a man who tells you these horrible, dirty jokes … and not tell anybody?” he asked jurors. “It’s the same theme, ladies and gentlemen: excuse after excuse.”
During her testimony, the woman said she waited to report the first assault, and endured the subsequent ones, because of Boyce’s authority.
“I’m nobody,” she said. “He’s the director in charge of all 911.”
The first woman testified that she sent Boyce a text message after the assault, telling him he had degraded her and made her feel like a piece of meat.
Boyce responded to that text, saying he was “sorry and not making excuses,” according to a copy of that text exchange displayed in court.
When pressed by Abry about that text, Boyce, while denying the assault, said he apologized because he believed the woman was drunk while she was texting him and attempting to “set him up.”
A nearly 4-acre Delaware County estate, complete with a multi-sport court, pool, par-three golf hole, and dedicated entertainment space, is on the market for $4 million.
Located at 1120 Clover Lane, the Glen Mills property features the primary residence, an “entertainment lodge,” a pool with a poolhouse, and additional living space over a detached garage.
The home has been expanded and blends different architectural styles.Derrick Kunzer/HomeJab
The main home was built around 1979 and was later expanded by previous owners, who added a second kitchen and a second story with three bedrooms. The roughly 4,500-square-foot home — a blend of Craftsman- and Tudor-style architecture — has six bedrooms, five full bathrooms, multiple living areas with fireplaces, and a bar in the walkout basement that leads to a poolside patio.
The three upstairs bedrooms include a primary suite with a walk-in closet and access to a sunroom that overlooks the grounds.
With two kitchens and multiple living spaces, the home could be reconfigured to include a separate suite.
“It is an opportunity to customize to the buyer’s wants,” listing agent Robert Capps of Coldwell Banker Realty said.
The property also has multiple sports amenities, including a lighted, multi-sport court for tennis, pickleball, and basketball, as well as an in-ground pool. A poolhouse has a full bathroom, a kitchenette, and a sauna. Nearby is an area for grilling, Capps said.
Elsewhere is a par-three golf hole, with a tee box near the house.
The living space above the detached garage, which has a full bathroom and kitchenette, is currently configured as an office.Derrick Kunzer/HomeJab
There’s a four-car detached garage with living space above it. The open-concept area is currently configured as an office, and also has a living area with a fireplace, a kitchenette, a full bathroom, and its own deck.
Rounding out the property’s structures is adedicated “entertainment lodge” complete with two bars, a “restaurant-quality” kitchen, a brick patio, and a second floor loft with a projector.
“I think anyone that likes to entertain would love this space,” said Capps of the lodge, which is slightly separated from the main home.
A separate entertainment lodge has two bars, a kitchen, and a projector, as well as a bedroom and full bathroom.Derrick Kunzer/HomeJab
The space has exposed stone walls, brick floors, large chandeliers, and a row of skylights.
In addition to space for entertaining, the lodge has a bedroom and full bathroom, providing additional accommodations.
“You’d be hard pressed to replicate this property starting from scratch just because of the size of the lot and all the other amenities,” Capps said, adding “there’s nothing like it for sale or that sold like this recently.”
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
Delaware County nurse Monica Ryadi and her husband couldn’t wait to take their 3-year-old son to Disneyland, so he could meet his adored Cars movie characters — Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater, and the rest.
They didn’t get there.
The family had barely stepped off the plane at Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 15 when they were surrounded by four or five men in street clothes who said they were ICE agents, flashed a badge, and snapped Ryadi into handcuffs.
When her husband protested, the officers threatened to arrest him and send their toddler, Luca, to child-protective services, the couple said in court filings. One officer told Ryadi she was here illegally and, “I don’t care if you are the president of the United States or a congresswoman like Ilhan Omar,” court records say.
Ryadi, 30, said she kept insisting that she was a legal immigrant.
And that’s true.
She has lived in the U.S. since she was 9, brought to this country by her parents when they fled religious persecution in Indonesia.
They entered on legal visas in 2005, and five years later were officially granted what’s called “Withholding of Removal.” That’s where an Immigration Court judge agrees that deporting someone to their homeland could get them hurt or killed.
It’s similar to asylum, the key difference being the federal government retains the right to deport someone if it can find a third country willing to take them. Withholding does not include a path to citizenship.
Traditionally, people who gained that relief were left alone.
Now that’s changed, as the Trump administration takes a new, hard view — seeing those who have Withholding, even those who have lived here for decades, as candidates for deportation. Some immigrants are held in ICE detention for months while the administration tries to find a foreign government to accept them.
On Tuesday, after 15 days in custody at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, Ryadi was ordered freed by a U.S. magistrate judge. Her husband and son flew to her immediately, and the family reunited that night, at the same Los Angeles hotel they booked when they planned to visit Disneyland.
“It’s a lot of emotions,” Ryadi said in an interview after her release. “I am still terrified, I’m still living under fear.”
At the same time, she said, “I can’t stop thinking about the other women that are in there.”
Video: A Delco nurse arrested by ICE reunites with her family
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Ryadi was “an illegal alien” taken into custody “during a targeted enforcement operation at Los Angeles International Airport.”
DHS said she entered the U.S. legally in 2005 but “overstayed her welcome” in violation of immigration laws. An immigration judge issued a deportation order in 2010, DHS said, but did not note that such an order is a standard part of receiving permission to stay, work, and live in the U.S. under a grant of Withholding of Removal.
Ryadi’s husband, Steven Sary, 35, said he was overjoyed to be reunited with his wife. “But there’s still work to do,” he said. ”What’s the next step for us? We’re still living in fear.”
He tried to stay positive and supportive while Ryadi was detained, even at moments when they were both crying on the phone. He told her, “You don’t have to worry about Luca, I’m doing the best I can.”
The couple has arranged their lives around their son, setting schedules so one parent is always home with him. Ryadi works weekends at Riddle Hospital in Media, while her husband works Monday to Friday as a UPS truck driver.
The two met when they were children growing up in Philadelphia, and married in 2021.
Ryadi graduated high school from the Academy at Palumbo in the Bella Vista neighborhood, then earned an associate degree at Philadelphia Community College before obtaining her bachelor’s degree at Ohio University.
She became a nurse, she said, because she wanted to help people.
The court order that freed Ryadi came the same day that the Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration could resume the fast deportation of immigrants to countries other than their own.
The court granted the government’s emergency request to block an appeals court ruling that said the process was unlawful, because immigrants were not given sufficient opportunity to raise safety concerns.
The Supreme Court said it would hear oral arguments in the case in December, with a final ruling likely next year.
Steven Sary hugs his 3-year-old son, Luca, at their Delco home, waiting for word on his wife, who at the time was detained in California by ICE. She was detained by ICE agents after getting off a plane in Los Angeles as the family traveled to Disneyland. Steven M. Falk / For The Inquirer
“What happened to Monica should be treated as an extrajudicial kidnapping,” said Ryadi’s Philadelphia immigration attorney, Eric Rosenfeld, who is handling the case pro bono.
He noted that Ryadi is a registered nurse, the wife of an American citizen, and the parent of a son who is an American citizen — yet ICE casually told her she would be sent to an undisclosed third country.
She was never given any type of document or warrant to explain her arrest, he said. Upon release she was fitted with a GPS ankle monitor, and she knows ICE will likely try again to deport her, the attorney said.
“This is a respite. Not security,” Rosenfeld said.
As the Trump administration pursues its mass-deportation agenda, the protection offered by Withholding and similar relief “is proving to be very little protection at all,” the American Immigration Council wrote. “The Trump administration is trying to ship them out wherever it can — and keep them locked up in the meantime.”
A Philadelphia man who was arrested in July remains in detention, despite having lived legally for almost 20 years.
Mamadou Fadel Cherif of West Oak Lane was granted protection from potential political violence in his native Guinea. Now the administration wants to deport him to Ghana.
To receive Withholding of Removal, applicants must prove they were persecuted in the past or that their lives would be threatened in the future, that their home government harmed or will harm them — or failed to control others who might do so.
When that relief is granted, the immigration judge also enters a deportation order, then tells the government it cannot deport the person to their homeland. In that way the removal is “withheld.”
“We were planning to have an amazing trip with the family,” Sary said, “to see Cars Land with our son. But that changed.”
This image shows Delaware County nurse Monica Ryadi, left, in white, being arrested by ICE agents at Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 15. She and her husband were taking their 3-year-old son to visit Disneyland.Courtesy of the family
“It felt like I was kidnapped,” Ryadi said. “I kept saying, ‘I’m legal, I’m a legal immigrant.’”
She grew up in the United States with government permission, has work authorization, a Real ID, and a Social Security number. She pays taxes. Yet she was chained wrist, ankle and waist like a criminal, she said.
Ryadi wonders if the ICE operation against her began in Philadelphia. As her family waited to board the plane, she said, a woman in a black jacket approached and made small talk.
The woman didn’t have luggage, Ryadi said, and she didn’t get on the flight. Instead, she walked away to talk to a man who also did not appear to be a passenger.
When Ryadi was released from the Adelanto detention center, 90 miles northeast of Los Angeles, immigrant-aid volunteers gave her a ride all the way to the city.
There she flew into the arms of her husband and son.
“I’m so happy to see you!” she cried.
At the hotel, the family saw people decked out in Disney attire, coming back from the theme park. Young Luca asked if they could go.
The Delco 10 Miler hits the road for the second time Sunday. This year’s race will have a new course and a new pace, and is open to twice as many runners.
Here are a few of the runners to look out for:
Dad and son run for a personal cause
Will Getty, 8, is pumped to run the Delco 10 Miler, said his mom, Jessica, and dad, Mark, who will push him in an adaptive jogging stroller on Sunday. But it’s more than just a fun run for Will, who has cerebral palsy, and his family.
It is also part of an effort to raise money for an accessible playground at Wallingford Elementary School with help from the Kyle Pease Foundation.
Pease,41,who also has cerebral palsy, visited the school in 2025 to meet students and share his foundation’s purpose: creating inclusive opportunities in sports and endurance races for people with disabilities.
After his visit, teachers began brainstorming. What if Will and Pease participated in the Delco 10 Miler together? And could they support fundraising for the playground at the same time?
“It was a perfect opportunity to cheer them both on and to hold an event where we could raise the money and awareness of what we’re trying to do here,” special education teacher Lauren Bannon said.
The school, which is on the race course on Providence Road, will hold a festival with food, games, and a station to create signs for Will from 8 to 10 a.m. on the morning of the race. School officials recommended getting there early before Providence Road closes and using the school’s rear entrance on Kershaw Road.
The Kyle Pease Foundation donated Will’s jogging stroller and is managing fundraising for the playground. Donations can be made at https://givebutter.com/wes-loves-pease.
Will’s dad said a group of Wallingford teachers will take turns pushing Will to the finish line. Training has become a new way to bond for Will and his dad, and a playlist of Will’s favorite band, Coldplay, has been essential listening during practice runs.
“He sees people, waves to them, and if I put the music down for a second, he’s telling me to turn it back up,” Mark Getty said.
Allie Wilson won a heat in the women’s 800-meter run during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials on June 21, 2024, in Eugene, Ore.Charlie Neibergall
Just a normal Sunday for Olympian Allie Wilson
Running 10 miles on a Sunday is part of the normal training routine for Strath Haven grad and Olympian Allie Wilson. This weekend, there will be a little more fanfare to it.
Wilson’s older sister, Val, is running the Delco 10 Miler and asked Allie to join her.
“I might as well have fun and get to be around other people for once, since I’m usually just running by myself,” Allie Wilson said.
Is a gold medal in the bag? It’s a little bit longer than her usual race, Wilson said, by 9½ miles.
“My race is 800 meters,” Wilson said. “It’s less than two minutes long. Like, I’m borderline a sprinter.”
But you don’t get to the Olympics without a competitive edge. Wilson originally planned to stick with Val in the race, but she said her sister told her not to.
“I know I’m going to get excited and I’m going to feel left out if I want to be trying to go with the people up front,” Wilson said. “We decided my competitiveness might come out too much.”
Next up for Wilson after the Delco 10 Miler: She will continue training with her sights set on a return to the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
Zach Miller crossed the finish line first at the Delco 10 Miler on Sept. 28, 2025.PEL Productions for Visit Delco
A run down memory lane for last year’s winner
The Delco 10 Miler charts a course through some of the most important parts of Zach Miller’s life.
The starting line is near Rose Tree Park, where Miller ran cross-country races in high school and later proposed to his wife, Heather. It goes through Media, where he grew up, and passes through Widener University, which is Miller’s alma mater and the place he met Heather.
“It’s these little nuggets that make the race kind of special to me,” said Miller, 43, of West Chester.
One more nugget to make it special: Miller won the inaugural 10 Miler last year.
He has been waking up at 5:15 a.m. on Wednesdays to train with longtime Downingtown West High School cross-country coach Scott Burns and a group of fellow runners.
“I really wouldn’t be training or, you know, competing at the level I am without the support and kind of accountability of that group,” Miller said.
Miller said he is excited for this year’s race but considers Steve Jordan, another member of his group who is also training for the Olympics, to be the front-runner.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
The Delco 10 Miler will take off again Sunday, cutting a partially different path across the county that organizers hope is safer, more driver-friendly, and more fun for participants.
In addition to a new course, the race will host up to 2,500 runners, up from 1,200 last year, and benefit some new groups in the community.
Last year’s race followed a mostly straight line down Providence Road from Rose Tree Park before taking a few turns on Widener University’s campus, crossing I-95, and then carrying on through Chester toward Subaru Park.
The start and end are the same this year, but organizers made a few improvements. Runners will turn off Providence Road at West Rose Valley Road and take a few turns through neighborhoods in Nether Providence. There, the route will meet up with its original course on Widener’s campus.
This change will free up more of Providence Road to drivers and will make it easier for parishioners to attend church services along the route. It is also more runner-friendly, said Diana Shacklock, director of special projects at Visit Delco, the race’s organizer.
Last year’s course brought runners to a spot where they could see the finish line, but made them run several blocks past it before looping back, Shacklock said. Some runners commented on it after the race, so the loop was eliminated.
“It is no longer an ugly finish,” race director Kevin Nolan said.
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Road closures for the race
Roads along the route will be closed between 7:30 and 10 a.m. Police will have rolling openings and closings, meaning some roads will be open before runners reach that part of the course and after they pass.
The ramps from the Route 1 Media Bypass to Providence Road/Route 252 will be closed at 7:30 a.m.
Organizers asked for patience and recommended planning ahead if you need to travel along the route.
Organizers recommend parking at Subaru Park lot G before the race and taking the shuttle from Subaru Park to the starting line. Shuttles run between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. Runners can also be dropped off at Springton Lake Middle School near the starting line, but any cars left there will be ticketed and towed, Shacklock said.
Runners can stow their items in mobile lockers, which will be delivered to the finish line. Unwanted clothing can be donated.
The first group of runners will take off at 8 a.m. and the restwill be staggered over three- to five-minute intervals. Runners pushing wheelchairs will be able to leave a few minutes before the first corral.
Runners will be treated to refreshments from Delco Steaks and 2SP Brewing at the finish line.
What groups are partnering with the Delco 10 Miler this year?
Delco Volunteers was created as an effort to give back during America’s 250th, and funding from the race is intended to help the group continue beyond 2026, organizers said.
There will be a simultaneous festival at Wallingford Elementary School, with food, games, and a station where attendees can make signs for runners, who will pass directly in front of the school. The school is working with the Kyle Pease Foundation and accepting donations at givebutter.com/wes-loves-pease. Proceeds will go toward making the school’s playground inclusive for children with disabilities.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
Crime and punishment in colonial America was a brutal business. Incarcerated people were barely fed, were often beaten, and fell ill from unsanitary conditions.
Inspired by the benevolent Quaker tradition, Benjamin Rush and Benjamin Franklin decided, in the late 17th century, to institute a new system through which people in prison could atone by reflecting and reading the Bible.
The catch was they had to be “penitent” all alone, without any human contact. With the birth of solitary confinement, came Eastern State Penitentiary.
Artist Cody Stuhltrager captures the distinctive aesthetic of Eastern State Penitentiary and its enduring presence in Fairmount in this No. 1Cody Stuhltrager courtesy of Colibrí Workshop
Construction started in 1821 and in 1829, the 11-acre institution opened on what was once a cherry orchard situated at the intersection of Fairmount Avenue, Corinthian Avenue, Brown Street, and 22nd Street. Nestled behind a 650-foot stone wall were 250 rooms.
The intention was that every man, woman, and child would have their own cell and would neither see nor talk to another human being.
“Eastern State is considered the first penitentiary in America because it is the first institution that uses solitary confinement for the entire length of the inmate’s incarceration,” explained Kerry Sautner, president and CEO of Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc.
America’s first penitentiary — the country’s first true correctional facility — will be remembered Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Eastern State Penitentiary.
The observance is part of the Philadelphia Historic District’s 52 Weeks of Firsts Celebrations. The weekly day parties, or firstivals are part of a yearlong citywide celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
Eastern State Penitentiary’s legacy of torturous solitary confinement makes this a somber celebration.
The institution’s first prisoner was 18-year-old Delaware County burglar Charles Williams. Within a few years after his arrival, Eastern State became a model for prisons and penitentiaries throughout the country, Sautner said. Still, its controversial methods of rehabilitation were considered cruel.
Eastern State Penitentiary cellblock in 1837.Eastern State Penitentiary
During his first visit to America, author Charles Dickens, who toured the penitentiary, wrote, “I believe that very few men are capable of estimating the immense amount of torture and agony which this dreadful punishment, prolonged for years, inflicts upon its sufferers.”
“People quickly learned that solitary confinement was a cruel form of punishment,” Sautner said. “But they didn’t to let it go easily.”
Despite the formation of the Pennsylvania Prison Society — responsible for part of the state constitution that stressed on the rights of incarcerated people — solitary confinement lasted through the late 19th century. It remained a part of the prison’s culture until it was completely removed from the books in 1913.
During the early 20th century, each cell housed two people.
“We have evidence of a proclamation banning solitary,” Sautner said. “And we found evidence of small Christian gatherings celebrations [within Eastern State] of Jewish holy days in September.”
(Although the penitentiary was founded in the Quaker tradition, there is evidence that prisoners worshipped in Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths within its walls by the 19th century.)
In 1965, it was designated a national historic site by the federal government. By the early 1970s, Eastern State Penitentiary was immensely overcrowded with more than 2,000 prisoners. It closed in 1971 and its population was moved to Graterford.
Throughout the 1980s, the building remained mostly abandoned except for a few sporadic instances like when it served as the set for the filming of Tina Turner’s 1985 single “One of the Living” from the Mad Max soundtrack.
In the late 1980s, the city began looking at ways to restabilize what many considered an eyesore in the center of Fairmount, a neighborhood that was in the midst of being revitalized. Planners considered turning the space into condos, a shopping center, and even a youth hostel.
Eastern State Penitentiary hosts Halloween Nights, a festival-like attraction with characters dressed as scary clowns, zombies, vampires and other ghouls — but not prisoners or prison guardsEastern State Penitentiary
In 1988, at the urging of a task force of concerned architects, preservationists, and historians, Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode halted the process of selling the site. And in 1994, it opened as a nonprofit historic site offering group tours under the leadership of Sally Elk.
1997 marked the first “Terror Behind the Walls” the annual haunted house attraction. In 2021 it was rebranded as “Halloween Nights,” a less spooky, more gentrified version with a beer garden.
This week’s Firstival is Saturday, Oct. 3, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., at Eastern State Penitentiary at 2027 Fairmount Ave
The leader of a Philadelphia offshoot of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was charged with a firearms crime for carrying a concealed gun without a permit in the city of Chester — and the group’s growing visibility in the Delaware County community is sparking a clash with the city’s mayor.
Paul Birdsong, who founded Philly’s Panther group, was arrested this summer during what the group says was an armed community patrol of Chester’s streets.
Birdsong had been carrying two holstered handguns, one of which police said was partially obstructed by his waistband and constituted carrying a concealed weapon, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
Birdsong, 40, is out on bail and appeared earlier this month in Magisterial District Court, where a judge ruled he should stand trial for that crime.
The judge dismissed two counts of disorderly conduct and one count of resisting arrest stemming from the July 11 incident, court records show.
Birdsong’s arrest, as well as the arrest of another Panthers member in Chester in August, marked the latest run-in between police and the armed citizens group, which is styled after the 1960s political and militant organization. The Panthers first made headlines this winter during anti-ICE protests during which they carried assault-style weapons in Center City.
Panthers members say they are Second Amendment advocates and regularly conduct patrols in the name of public safety. They say the guns are not meant to intimidate, but to deter crime and encourage responsible firearms ownership. The group also holds weekly giveaways of food and essential supplies for those in need.
To address the Panthers’ presence, Roots and members of Chester City Council met with Birdsong and other members in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday.
Councilmembers appeared to have left the meeting with supportive views of the group. But tensions flared when Roots grew frustrated during talks and abruptly left the gathering early, according to Birdsong.
Roots declined to comment Tuesday, saying only that he had not been aware of the Panther members’ arrests. He did not immediately respond to an additional request for comment Wednesday.
A spokesperson for DOJ did not return a request for comment on the status of the investigation. A police spokesperson referred The Inquirer to the city’s law department, which declined to comment.
After the restrictions in Philadelphia, Panthers became active in Chester, where members have patrolled in the past.
In July, Birdsong was armed when he was stopped by a police officer near Barclay and West 5th Streets, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
The officer said that he recognized Birdsong from a past encounter in Chester, and that he stopped him after seeing one of his handguns holstered “inside his right pants pocket with the majority of the firearm being concealed from view,” the document said.
Birdsong questioned why he was stopped and began to record the interaction, the affidavit said. He began to “curse and yell” when additional officers arrived, and he was detained, the document said.
In an interview this week, Birdsong disputed the officer’s account. He said that the gun was clearly visible and that he believes the enforcement was racially motivated.
“They’re arresting us as an effort on their part to bully us, to scare us,” he said.
Carrying a firearm in the open without a license is legal in Pennsylvania — but not in Philadelphia, where a license is required to carry either open or concealed.
Birdsong’s lawyer, Lyandra Retacco, said the matter would be resolved in court.
The July incident was not the only time Panthers have clashed with Chester police.
On Aug. 28, member William Ozah was charged with disorderly conduct and evading arrest after police said he ran from an officer who attempted to stop him for having a knife protruding from his pants pocket, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
The officer used a Taser to subdue Ozah, the document said. During the chase, the officer said, Ozah tried to reach into a satchel, which he believed concealed a firearm.
After detaining Ozah, officers recovered a knife and a Bryna SD pepper-ball pistol — a less-lethal firearm that uses compressed gas to shoot projectiles filled with a chemical irritant.
He was held for court on both charges, court records show.
Meanwhile, Panthers have continued their Chester presence.
In addition to armed patrols, the group is handing out informational pamphlets to those curious about the group’s mission: to “protect and defend ourselves and our beautiful Black people,” it said.
The group had arrived, the pamphlet said, because “people reached out to us for help.”
This article has been updated to reflect comments made by Birdsong’s attorney.
A former assistant volunteer fire chief in Delaware County was sentenced Monday to 23 months of restrictive probation for calling a Black woman the N-word during what he described as a “road rage encounter” in 2024.
John Romano, 48, must serve the first seven months of his sentence on house arrest, according to a ruling from Judge Margaret Amoroso. He also must undergo anger management and racial sensitivity training, and have no further contact with the victim.
During Monday’s proceeding, First Assistant District Attorney Kristin Kemp asked the judge to send Romano to jail for up to two years.
“I don’t doubt he’s a racist,” the judge said. “But being a racist, in and of itself, is not a crime.”
Amoroso said she was focusing more on threats Romano made to the victim, which included taking a picture of her license plate and telling her he would “take care” of her at her home.
Romano, the former assistant fire chief of the Sharon Hill Fire Company, encountered the woman on Hook Road in Darby Township in November 2024, while he was using a forklift to unload Christmas trees. His forklift was blocking the road, the woman testified at trial, causing a traffic jam of irritated drivers who were honking their horns.
After the car in front of hers squeezed through a small gap near the forklift, the woman said, Romano got out of the forklift and “rushed” to her passenger window. Romano then called her the N-word. He later told Darby Township officers who responded to her 911 call that she was “a wild animal” and said he was “tired of dealing with them,” according to body camera footage played in court.
In a statement to the judge, Romano said Monday that he never intended to threaten the driver, and expressed frustration that he was “being prosecuted over words.” He took a photo of her license plate, he said, because she struck his forklift and he was afraid she would drive off without exchanging insurance information.
Kemp, the prosecutor, said Monday that Romano had demonstrated a pattern of violent, bullying behavior throughout his life, including an arrest in 2006 for ethnic intimidation in a similar incident and a 2013 gun-possession conviction for which he spent two years in state prison.
“This isn’t someone who had a bad day and mouthed off about his beliefs,” Kemp said. “This is someone who seeks others out to put them in fear, whether with a weapon or his hands.”
Romano’s attorney, Christopher Boggs, said the case had been blown out of proportion.
“I have never understood the level of attention this case received,” he said.
Unlike other people charged with ethnic intimidation, Romano had made no effort to “hunt or stalk” someone, Boggs said, drawing comparisons to crosses burned on Black families’ lawns.
Two people close to Romano spoke on his behalf, saying, despite his strong personality, he is dedicated to his community through his volunteer firefighting, as well as other service he’s provided during floods and snow storms.
But Amoroso made her feelings clear.
“Maybe you’re a great guy to the people who don’t piss you off,” she told Romano. “But you’re a bully, and that’s what you did: You threatened [the victim] for pissing you off.”
“The director of all emergency services, all 911, just assaulted me and made me feel the worst I had ever felt in my life,” the woman said at the start of Boyce’s trial on charges of indecent assault and harassment involving two of his former employees.
“I didn’t know who to trust at that point,” she said, adding that she later told Boyce, then the head of county’s department Department of Emergency Services, his behavior had made her feel disgusting and “like a piece of meat.”
Boyce was fired in May 2024, not long after the woman filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in which she also said he grabbed her cheeks and attempted to pull her in for a kiss.
Criminal charges followed soon after that incident, along with allegations that Boyce had assaulted and harassed another female employee, who told investigators that Boyce showed her pictures of his penis, pulled up her skirt, and asked her if she enjoyed a particular sex act.
In court Monday, Deputy Attorney General Madelyn Abry told jurors Boyce was confident that because of his position of authority, no one would find out about his actions.
“What she thought she was getting was a job that would help her,” Abry said of the first victim. “But what she got was a job that was too good to be true.”
Boyce’s attorney, Andrew Edelberg, denied those assertions, telling jurors “there is not a single piece of corroborating evidence anywhere” supporting the charges against him.
No one else witnessed the alleged assaults, he said, and the two women waited several months before reporting them to police.
He described Boyce as a 40-year public servant, starting as an Upper Darby firefighter who “ran into burning buildings to save children.”
The allegations, he said, came at a time when Democrats had come to power in the longtime GOP stronghold of Delaware County, and Boyce, a Republican, was “low-hanging fruit” for them to target.
Edelberg also suggested that former District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, who, at the time the women came forward was running for attorney general saw the case as a way to boost his campaign. Stollsteimer lost his bid for that office and is now a county judge.
“This case is about power, politics, and punishment, because of an administration change, and because someone was running for office and couldn’t look weak on TV,” he said. “And what else? Money, money, money.”
Both women have filed civil suits against Boyce and the county, and Edelberg said they were motivated, in part, by potential monetary settlements.
Boyce’s trial is expected to last through Friday before Delaware County Court Judge Stephanie Klein.
