When the Phillies posted their lineup card ahead of Monday’s series opener against the Marlins, Trea Turner’s name was where it has been for the past few weeks: second in the order.
Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said he didn’t consider giving Turner some time off as he’s continued to struggle at the plate. Turner was already slumping before the Phillies departed for their 3-3 road trip to Toronto and Milwaukee, but a 3-for-26 trip lowered his average to .219 and his OPS to .598 on the season.
Turner, who won the batting title in 2025 with a .304 average, has a 23% strikeout rate and 27.8% whiff rate this year. But Mattingly is steadfast that things will turn around.
“Because it’s Trea. He’s always hit,” Mattingly said. “It’s what we talked about earlier in the year with [Alec Bohm], when everybody was ready to bench him, not ever play him again. Guys who hit, hit. He’s a great player, and he’s going to be a great player for us.”
A few days off did work for Bohm’s own struggles this season. He had a two-day reset in May after his batting average dropped to .159 and then he hit two homers in the game immediately after. In the 32 games since then, Bohm has a .281/.326/.504 slash line.
Bohm was out of the lineup on Monday because he was a little “banged up,” according to Mattingly, who added that he was still healthy and should be back Tuesday. Edmundo Sosa started at third base in his place.
Alec Bohm benefited from his two-day “reset” in May.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“He was just kind of gathering nicks and bruises as that road trip went on, a little bit in the hammy, a little bit in the hip, a little bit in the shoulder,” Mattingly said. “So I just wanted to give him a day, a chance to recover.”
Mattingly also said he hasn’t considered moving Turner further down in the batting order from the No. 2 spot.
“Not at this point. If it gets to that point, then [I’d] consider anything that’s going to help us win,” Mattingly said. “Everybody, all of a sudden, is talking about Trea today, but when we don’t score, Trea’s not the only reason when things like that happen. Trea’s a big piece of what we are, what we’re going to be, and if we’re getting really successful, we’re going to need Trea. So for me, I’m not giving up on Trea, I’m not moving him right now. It’s just the way I feel about it.
“ … I want to show confidence because I feel confidence. I wouldn’t say the things I say if I didn’t feel confident that Trea was going to find it, and be swinging more consistently and better as we go through the season.”
Phillies backup catcher Rafael Marchán has not been diagnosed with a concussion after he took a foul ball off the mask on Sunday in Milwaukee, Mattingly said. But the Phillies are still monitoring him.
“The update’s been good, and that we’ll continue to keep an eye on him,” Mattingly said. “I guess things can happen a couple days later, too, so we’ll keep an eye on him. But at this point the doctors have checked him out, he’s been through everything, and he’s good to go. ”
Extra bases
Left-handed reliever Kyle Backhus (left elbow inflammation) pitched one-third of an inning Sunday for triple-A Lehigh Valley for his rehab assignment. He entered with two inherited runners, walked a batter, and then struck out the next batter to end the inning. Backhus is next scheduled to pitch for the IronPigs Wednesday, and the Phillies plan to start building multiple innings. “He’s doing good, everything’s going in the right direction for him,” Mattingly said. … Outfielder Steward Berroa returned from the paternity list on Monday and was optioned to Lehigh Valley, the Phillies announced. … Jesús Luzardo (5-4, 4.35 ERA) is scheduled to start Tuesday against Marlins right-hander and Bishop Eustace product Tyler Phillips (1-1, 1.86), a former Phillie.
IRVINE, Calif. — The U.S. men’s soccer team’s big win over Paraguay electrified this World Cup, especially for American fans. But the players can’t spend too long reveling in the moment, because the next game is now on the horizon.
Monday was always going to be a natural moment to turn the page, since it marked the return to work after two days off. But there was also a wakeup call over the weekend, when Australia upset Turkey and blew Group D wide-open.
The players got the message.
“We saw a team that went out against Turkey and competed at a very, very high level,” stalwart U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams said of his team’s next opponent. “They’re combative, they’re smart, tactically they were unbelievably sound. So I think it’s going to be an extremely difficult game.”
Tyler Adams making a point to a teammate during a drill.Jonathan Tannenwald
As he got ready for Monday’s practice, Adams said it was “pretty easy” for the team to shift its focus ahead.
“I think that having a day off is obviously nice to just be able to disconnect,” he said. “I think having this amount of time in between games is really nice, just for the body, the mind, everything in between. It was a good start — it’s exactly what we wanted and we set out to do. That being said, the focus has to be on Australia now.”
Australia’s win raises the stakes even higher in what was already a much-anticipated game (3 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo). The scene will be just as much of the story as the action on the field, as soccer-mad Seattle finally hosts the U.S. after not being part of any previous World Cup in this country, from the 1994 men’s tournament to the 1999 and 2003 women’s ones.
The city looked terrific in its first time on the big stage, Egypt’s 1-1 tie with Belgium on Monday.
A view of the full house in Seattle as Belgium and Egypt’s players lined up for the national anthems.Maddy Grassy
When the U.S. and Australia met in a friendly last October, striker Haji Wright scored both American goals in the 2-1 win. He reflected Monday on watching tape of the Turkey game, and how these Socceroos compare to last fall.
“Saw a well-executed game plan from Australia,” he said. “They’re tough to break down, they’re dangerous on counterattacks, they have good players at the top of the pitch, and they were able to be effective and damage Turkey. I think Turkey kind of came into the game a bit overconfident, and I think we won’t make that same mistake.”
That was a reference to team captain Hakan Çalhanoglu claiming a few days earlier: “I think we will dominate the game, because we have more qualities and a more talented team.”
Some U.S. pundits have done some boasting of their own, and Adams was asked about that. He quickly brushed it off.
“I don’t think any commentary helps anybody,” he said. “And no, it’s not going to be a layup. If anything, it’s going to be one of the most difficult games that we play.”
Haji Wright (center) in a drill at Monday’s practice.Jonathan Tannenwald
The U.S. will be on alert not just for Australia forward Nestory Irankunda, already justifying the hype as a breakout star. Adams’ yellow card in the second half against Paraguay means that if he’s is booked again in this game, he’ll miss the group finale against Turkey on June 25. Card accumulation is then reset after the group stage ends, and after the quarterfinals.
“I live with yellow cards,” Adams said. “I think that for me, it’s something that you have to manage of course, but especially in the second game, you can’t take your foot off the gas.”
When kickoff arrives, it will have been a week since the Americans’ group opener. That’s a rare sight in a World Cup, created by FIFA’s expansion of the field to 48 teams. In the past, there were usually three or four days between games.
“I absolutely love it after playing a long season,” said Adams, who plays his club soccer for the English Premier League’s Bournemouth, noting too that the last World Cup in 2022 — his first — was the first moved from the summer to autumn because of Qatar’s heat.
Tyler Adams drew a big crowd for his session with the media, as he always does.Jonathan Tannenwald
“Your body feels it, obviously, a little bit more coming into the end of the season, into a World Cup where there’s so much emotion, so much adrenaline, all these things,” he said.
Pulisic trains separately
As he nurses the hamstring knock that sent him out of the Paraguay game at halftime, Christian Pulisic did not take the field with his teammates Monday morning. He emerged separately a few minutes later, and worked on his own with a trainer on the next field over.
A U.S. Soccer spokesperson said Pulisic was scheduled to do a “modified training session” with “gym and individual field work.”
Pochettino wasn’t scheduled to meet with the media on Monday, but he came over during practice to say hello and talk casually for a few minutes. When a reporter asked him how Pulisic is doing, Pochettino answered “Good.”
Christian Pulisic working with a trainer on a separate field Monday morning.Jonathan Tannenwald
Adams shared the sentiment, and a few more words.
“Come on — Christian will be ready, everyone. Let’s relax,” he said with his usual spirit. “I think that he picked up a knock a few days before the game, and I think he got kicked in the same spot again during the game, and when you go in at halftime, things obviously get tight within the 15-, 20-minute break. But he’ll be fine.”
U.S. Soccer also announced that 20-year-old goalkeeper prospect Julian Eyestone of English club Brentford has joined the camp as a training player. Diego Kochen of Spain’s Barcelona departed last week, while the Union’s Andrew Rick has stayed all along.
Though U.S. Soccer didn’t say why Kochen left, ESPN reported last week that the 20-year-old is on the verge of a season-long loan to Danish club Lyngby to get some regular playing time. Lyngby earned promotion to Denmark’s top flight last month, and its ownership includes the Union holding a partial stake.
Julian Eyestone (left) is another of the U.S. program’s leading young goalkeeper prospects.Jonathan Tannenwald
Jay and Patty Wright attended a wedding Saturday night in Red Bank, N.J., and Game 5 of the NBA Finals was at halftime when it was time for them to head home.
Watching Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart is like watching his own children, Wright said, and he wasn’t going to miss this. Patty took the wheel, Jay put the game on his phone in the passenger seat. The game was nearing its end when it was time to exit the Blue Route.
They weren’t going to make it home in time, so the Wrights pulled off the main road and onto a side street. They watched the ‘Nova Knicks win their first NBA title and end a 53-year New York Knicks championship drought in a Radnor cul-de-sac.
Wright intentionally stayed out of the spotlight during the playoff run. He did a spot on ESPN’s Inside the NBA because the guy who asked him to come on was his old producer at Turner Sports and Wright wanted to do him a solid. He reluctantly attended Game 4 because Rick Brunson, Jalen’s father and a Knicks assistant, asked him to. He sat near the court with Patty on one side and Billy Lange — the former St. Joe’s head coach, and former Villanova assistant who is now in the Knicks’ front office — on the other. The epic comeback was followed by singing Frank Sinatra and Jay-Z, hugs with his former players and celebrities like Stephon Marbury and Spike Lee. It was, Wright said, “one of my favorite sports moments of all time.”
Josh Hart shares a moment with his @NovaMBB coach Jay Wright!
But it was maybe fitting that he watched the series end in the car with Patty, just the two of them, proud “parents” watching the guys who played a huge part in delivering the family and the school two NCAA national championships.
“What I enjoy about coaching is just sitting back and watching them all grow and then being a small part of their lives when they make a change or are accomplishing something and they call me or text me to ask me advice or share something with me,” Wright said Monday. “That’s what you love. It just happens to be that these three are doing it on the world stage and you’re watching them handle it with such maturity.
“It’s really heartwarming, like if you watch your own kids do it.”
Wright, 64, is a sort of basketball dad to Brunson, Bridges, and Hart. You don’t need to squint to see the style of play Wright and his coaching staff instilled in the trio during their time at Villanova. The staff would tell them that they would teach the “Villanova way” during their time playing college basketball, and it was up to them to take that to the next level and put their own spin on it.
Jay Wright, Jalen Brunson, and Josh Hart during a 2016 Villanova win over Temple.Charles Fox / Staff Photographer
“You see things that they specifically took from our program,” Wright said. “You see the mentality that they took from our program. You also see what they added themselves to that, their own individualism, their own level of maturity, their own level of knowledge of the NBA game that I don’t have. It was fascinating for me to watch that.”
There was no doubt this trio would end up contributing in the NBA in some capacity. Hart, who graduated from Villanova in 2017, was a first-team All-American. Bridges and Brunson left a year later after another title. Brunson was the player of the year.
Wright talked to scouts both years. Hart, he told them, would be one of the greatest competitors a team could find. They didn’t need to worry about what position to play him at. Bridges, he said, would be the type of player who was capable of being a leading scorer but had the IQ to understand winning was more important than anything.
He was right about those two evaluations. But Brunson? Wright thought he could be a point guard on a championship team. And that would be fine if he left the evaluation there. He’s right about that. But Wright thought he would need a leading scorer next to him. Dallas, where Brunson played before New York, was the perfect setup, Wright thought. Brunson could be the lead guard, but Luka Dončić was there to provide the bulk of the scoring.
“I didn’t think he would be the guy that would score 45,” Wright said.
Brunson, the Finals MVP, joined Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to score 45 in a road clincher. He averaged 11.2 points in the fourth quarters of the five Finals games. He is now in a new stratosphere of fame and is on a Hall of Fame type of path.
All of this has been a unifying moment for the university and for the former teammates of the trio. It was alumni weekend and the school held a watch party on campus Saturday night. Later that night, after the Wrights pulled away from that cul-de-sac and returned to their home, Wright got a text message with a picture. On the court with Bridges was Phil Booth, a former teammate who now works with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and former Villanova walk-ons Matt Kennedy and Tom Leibig.
“Personally, it has been a thrill for me,” Wright said. “I’m proud of all of them.”
Danny Simmons, founder of Rush Arts Philadelphia, an arts community that provided space and motivation for local artists to be discovered and show their work, has died at 72. The cause of death was not announced.
Mr. Simmons was the older brother to hip-hop mogul and Def Jam Recordings cofounder Russell Simmons and Rev. Joseph “Run” Simmons, one-half of the classic rap group Run-DMC.
Mr. Simmons’ death was announced Monday by his brother Russell on Instagram.
“It is with a profound sense of loss that we honor and celebrate the life of Danny Simmons Jr., a beacon of love and creativity,” Russell Simmons wrote on the social media post.
“He was not just a brother, father, uncle, grandfather, and loving husband; he was a vibrant artist, dedicated supporter of creatives and a cherished friend. Though he has transitioned from this world, his legacy of kindness, generosity, and artistic brilliance will forever shine brightly in our hearts.”
Daniel Simmons Jr. was born on Aug. 17, 1953, in Hollis, Queens. His father, Daniel Simmons Sr., was a truant officer and Black history professor who also wrote poetry. His mother, Evelyn Simmons, was a teacher who painted as a hobby.
Both of his parents encouraged Mr. Simmons’ art but also pushed him to work a stable job with a pension. After receiving his degree in social work from NYU, he worked at the New York Bureau of Child Support through the 1980s.
“He was the true artist in the family,” Russell Simmons said in a subsequent social media post. “Joey and I went into music … but Danny was the one who created from the deepest place. His poetry, art, and ideas shaped how we think and gave us freedom to dream beyond limits.”
In 2003, Simon & Schuster published Mr. Simmons’ Three Days as the Crow Flies, a novel about a drug-addict hustler named Crow Shade, who poses as an artist in New York’s drug and arts scene.
Three Days as the Crow Flies is fictional, but by the 1990s, Mr. Simmons had kicked a 20-year heroin addiction, given up his 9-to-5, and leaned into abstract painting.
“I quit my job, started painting, and it started taking off,” he told The Inquirer in 2016. “But I couldn’t find a whole lot of outlets for my work. There were very few galleries dedicated to emerging Black artists. I figured if I was in that position, there had to be other artists in that position.”
Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons (left), Danny Simmons (center), and Russell Simmons attend the 12th annual Art For Life Benefit Gala at Russell Simmons’ estate in East Hampton, N.Y., on Saturday, July 30, 2011.
(Charles Sykes / AP Images for Rush Philanthropic)AP IMAGES FOR RUSH PHILANTHROPIC
Mr. Simmons became an avid collector of Black art, opened two galleries in downtown Manhattan, and founded Rush Philanthropic Arts Organization, supporting Black artists around the world.
“Danny’s impact has been global,” said Vashti DuBois, executive director of the Colored Girls Museum in Philadelphia. “His investments in and support of Black artists and Black institutions have fundamentally transformed the landscape of the Black art scene.”
In the early 2000s, Mr. Simmons convinced his brother Russell to produce HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. The show, a spinoff of HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, ran from 2002 to 2007 and breathed new life into spoken word poetry, first popularized by the 1970s Black Arts movement.
A prototype of Def Poetry Jam, that often showcased Philly artists Sonia Sánchez and Ursula Rucker, was filmed at the African American Museum in Philadelphia.
Mr. Simmons won a Tony for the stage adaption in 2003.
Danny Simmons speaking at a Mural Arts Philadelphia event to unveil the 2023 mural, “My Crazy Red Rooster.”Mural Arts
In 2015, the African American Museum hosted his solo show, “Badass Art, Man!” a colorful collection of paintings, collages, and statues he described as “neo-African abstract expressionist.”
Later that year, he moved to Northern Liberties, because it reminded him of parts of Brooklyn, into a place with a backyard large enough to store his immense collections.
He purchased an old bank building in the Logan section of Philadelphia on Old York Road and made it a home for Rush Arts Philadelphia, a community center and gallery. Until last month, the center supported the work of Philadelphia artists through a series of shows, exhibitions, and receptions.
“Mr. Simmons had a remarkable ability to bring people together through art, inspiring others to see the world through a more vibrant lens,” said Ashley Jordan, president and CEO of the African American Museum in Philadelphia. “His presence was as memorable as the masterpieces he created and championed.”
Mr. Simmons served on the Mural Arts board from 2022-25 and was the lead artist on four mural projects in Germantown and North Philadelphia.
His work resides in the Woodmere Art Museum and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. In 2019, he was appointed to the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s African American Collections Committee.
“Danny was an extraordinary artist and human being,” said Jane Golden, founder and executive director of Mural Arts. “Danny was one of a kind, and he leaves very big shoes to fill in our city and our world.”
Apart from his brothers, Mr. Simmons is survived by his wife, Keia Simmons; son, Jamel Simmons; and other family members and friends.
Memorial services and celebrations have not been announced by the family.
One of three Philadelphia police officers wounded in an exchange of gunfire that left a retired firefighter dead in West Philadelphia late Saturday was released from the hospital Monday, as authorities continued to investigate the shooting.
The officer, whom police did not identify, left Penn Presbyterian Medical Center shortly after 1 p.m. Monday, 6abc reported. Dozens of uniformed officers lined the emergency department entrance and saluted as their colleague was pushed outside in a wheelchair and helped into a silver SUV. The crowd erupted in applause as the vehicle pulled away.
His release came nearly two days after authorities say Eric Franks, 57, opened fire on officers who were investigating an unrelated report of a vehicle struck by gunfire near 54th and Arlington Streets in Wynnefield around 10:30 p.m.
As the investigation entered its second day, both law enforcement officials and Franks’ family struggled to understand what could have led him to shoot at police. The police department declined to provide additional details about the confrontation, but a source familiar with the case said footage from the officers’ body worn cameras offered little explanation for such a reaction.
According to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, as officers investigated the vehicle that had been struck by bullets, Franks approached and began complaining about crime and policing in the area.
He appeared frustrated, the source said, that officers had not yet cordoned off the area around the vehicle with crime scene tape, and became increasingly agitated as officers repeatedly asked him to step back so they could do their jobs.
Video obtained by The Inquirer appears to show Franks yelling at officers, then pushing one, before stepping back and pulling a gun from his waistband.
Franks then fired multiple shots at the officers, according to the video and police accounts, and four officers returned fire. Three officers — including a sergeant — were struck by gunfire. Franks was shot in the chest and leg and later died at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Police said Franks had a license to carry a firearm. Commissioner Kevin Bethel said investigators are trying to determine why Franks confronted the officers.
District Attorney Larry Krasner said at a news conference Monday that his office is investigating. He said representatives of his office had spoken with Franks’ family, and had visited the scene and begun reviewing evidence, including video footage that captured the events leading up to the fatal encounter.
Krasner declined to provide additional details, describing the investigation as “very active” and saying he could not divulge further information in order to “preserve the integrity of the investigation.”
The district attorney said his “thoughts are with all the people who have been affected and harmed,” but added that his office — like Franks’ family and members of the community — has questions about what transpired.
He joined Mayor Cherelle L. Parker in a promise to “make sure officers receive the support they need as they heal and process the trauma connected to the shooting.” At the same time, he said, “We also stand in solidarity with all Philadelphians who want to make sure we get the truth, and that we apply the law appropriately.”
He encouraged anyone with information about the shooting — including police officers — to contact his office and speak with investigators.
Franks’ wife, Michele, described her husband as a longtime Wynnefield resident, business owner, and former Marine who spent nearly two decades with the Philadelphia Fire Department before retiring last year.
“He cared very much about community, and about Wynnefield,” she said.
The retired firefighter was also a community activist, an attorney representing Franks’ family said, adding that Franks had met with City Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. about an uptick in drug-related crimes in the neighborhood.
In a letter posted Sunday on Facebook that did not mention Franks by name, Jones wrote that he was “deeply saddened and heartbroken” by the shooting, and called for a continued commitment to “building a safer, and more peaceful Wynnefield for all.”
Bucks County prosecutors on Monday said they had resolved the case of the last teenager arrested during an anti-ICE protest in Quakertown that turned violent.
The 16-year-old girl was scheduled to stand trial Monday on misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, as well as a summary offense of obstructing traffic, according to her lawyer. Instead, prosecutors said, she agreed to enter into a diversion program in exchange for the dismissal and expungement of the charges.
The girl’s lawyer, Ed Angelo, said the agreement includes 20 hours of community service, among other things, to be completed over a 90-day period. “She is a wonderful young lady who, I think, exercised great courage,” both during the protest and throughout her criminal case, he said.
The agreement closes the last outstanding case among five Quakertown Community High School students arrested after a February demonstration against ICE escalated into a physical confrontation with the borough’s police chief and manager, Scott McElree.
The teens’ arrests sparked months of public debate over the melee, which was captured on camera by onlookers whose videos circulated widely online. One video showed McElree, who was dressed in plain clothes, grappling with a boy on the sidewalk. Another captured 72-year-old McElree placing a girl in a chokehold.
Following the confrontation, Bucks County officials said McElree had sought medical care for injuries that included fractured ribs. He also took worker’s compensation leave for several weeks before returning to work in May. And a panel of area police chiefs later cleared McElree of wrongdoing following a review of the case.
The teens were each initially charged with aggravated assault as well as misdemeanor offenses. But on Monday, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement that after reviewing evidence in the case — including “video footage obtained after the initial filing of the charges” — prosecutors had dismissed the aggravated assault charges because they “were unsupported by the evidence as a whole.”
Over the last few months, prosecutors have struck diversion-program deals with the other teens that are “designed to meet the needs of each juvenile,” according to their statement.
The 16-year-old girl, who was 15 at the time of her arrest, had been the only teen whose case remained unresolved.
“She should never have been charged,” Angelo, her lawyer, said.
Angelo had previously sought to have the case dismissed outright, arguing that the allegations relied heavily on secondhand accounts and that his client had done nothing wrong.
The district attorney’s office also said Monday that it continues to investigate the conduct of Quakertown police during the protest.
That investigation began a day after the demonstration, when prosecutors were tasked with independently reviewing the department’s response. In its statement, the office said county detectives had spent the last four months gathering evidence, including video footage submitted by members of the public.
Now that all five of the teens’ cases have been resolved, prosecutors said investigators are working with defense lawyers to secure voluntary interviews with the teenagers so they can provide their accounts of what occurred.
The office did not provide a timeline for completing the investigation but said it intends to move “expeditiously” toward its conclusion.
The Philadelphia Democrat whose district includes Independence Hall accused President Donald Trump of trying to transform the 250th anniversary into a celebration of himself rather than the country.
Trump announced on Truth Social Monday that a Trump rally will now take place in Washington on July 4, absorbing the long-planned 250th anniversary fireworks celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Post reported.
The move has prompted criticism, including from U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, whose district was the site where the Declaration of Independence was debated and signed.
“Our nation’s 250th anniversary should be an opportunity to bring us together as Americans,” Boyle wrote in a statement. “Any previous president — from either party — would make this event about our nation. But not Trump. He makes it about himself. Because he only cares about himself.”
Boyle is one of several Democratic lawmakers to criticize Trump’s expanding role in the celebrations.
“We are going to host the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all, a ‘TRIBUTE TO AMERICA,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform. “This HUGE Celebration will honor our Country’s People, Spirit, Strength, Resolve, and Triumphs.”
Trump said in the post that the event will include air shows, patriotic music — from Trump’s own playlist — a fireworks show, and a keynote speech from him.
“To conclude the program, and commemorate this Historic Occasion, I will be launching, what will be, the LARGEST FIREWORKS SHOW IN HISTORY,” Trump wrote.
The rally is just the latest in a string of controversial choices by Trump ahead of the 250th. The president announced the rally a day after he hosted a controversial Freedom 250 UFC event at the White House for his 80th birthday.
Sen. Andy Kim (D., N.J.) criticized the decision to hold the UFC event at the White House, noting on X that Trump holds shares in the company and that UFC CEO Dana White donated $1 million to a pro-Trump super PAC.
“This isn’t a celebration of America 250,” Kim posted on Sunday. “This is corruption on full display on the White House lawn.”
The event drew further controversy when fighter Josh Hokit made offensive comments about former first lady Michelle Obama in his postfight interview.
The Trump administration says the events are a way to inspire and excite Americans, the Washington Post reported.
“Fight for freedom,” the Department of Homeland Security, headed by former MMA fighter Markwayne Mullin, posted on Facebook. “Fight for our way of life. Fight for America.”
When Ecuadorian soccer content creator Leandro de Vera, aka DonFutbol, tied his country’s flag around the neck of the Rocky statue at the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s steps, he was unaware of the butterfly effect he had set in motion.
De Vera inadvertently triggered the “Rocky statue curse” — a jinx that comes into effect when a team’s fans dress the boxer in an opposing team’s gear — at an Ecuadorian fan celebration at the Art Museum on Saturday.
Earlier that day, two Ecuadorian journalists from Guayaquil’s Radio Diblu had warned fans not to put flags or jerseys on the statue.
“The people of Philadelphia say doing that doesn’t bring good luck and can make a team lose,” reporter Carlos Morales said Saturday, standing by the Rocky statue at the base of the Art Museum.
“The recommendation is to take a picture, put your flag next to it, but don’t put anything on him,” reporter Nico Rivera added.
In the past, multiple NFL fan bases have dressed the statue in their team’s colors prior to a matchup with the Eagles. Most went on to see their team lose. Most notably, Vikings fans wrapped a purple towel around Rocky’s waist before being blown out 38-7 in the 2017 NFC Championship. The Patriots, 49ers, and Commanders have fallen to the same jinx.
Philadelphia sports magic strikes again 🥊
The moment Ecuador fans put their shirt on Rocky, the outcome was inevitable 🫣 pic.twitter.com/IeqYaICygy
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) June 15, 2026
Ecuador was no exception. On Sunday, to kick off World Cup play in Philadelphia, Ecuador was defeated by Ivory Coast, 1-0, at Lincoln Financial Field, renamed Philadelphia Stadium for the World Cup. Ivory Coast’s single goal came in the 90th minute. Meanwhile, Ecuador could not catch a break. The team hit the post three times — becoming just the fourth team in World Cup history to do so and go on to lose.
Perhaps it was the emotion, naivete, or the fact that de Vera was standing on the Rocky statue at the top of the steps, rather than the bottom. But his excitement was apparent when he climbed the statue, screaming: “Friends, we are here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rocky is from Ecuador — Rocky Zambrano,” he proclaimed in Spanish, baptizing the Philly icon with a common Ecuadorian last name.
Ecuadorian soccer fans attend a flag waving event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, ahead of their first round World Cup match against the Ivory Coast, on Saturday, June 13, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Ecuadorian Instagram commenters reacted in horror, letting the content creator know of the bad omen he had cast upon their team.
“Friends, it’s amazing how much I’ve been insulted for putting the flag on Rocky,” said de Vera in Spanish in a video posted to social media. “I look at my direct messages, and they’re dragging my mamita [mother] through the mud.”
After Ecuador lost, the hate worsened. One fan even approached de Vera to take a photograph with him just to caption it: “with the most insulted person in Ecuador.”
“It’s been tough since the game ended,” de Vera told The Inquirer in Spanish.
De Vera’s own superstitiousness has made the entire situation harder to deal with. He commonly wears different-colored socks to send his team good luck, and it hurt him personally not to have known about the curse ahead of time. If he had, he would have never touched the statue.
“I was just excited, and there was so much going on I didn’t even realize people were screaming ‘no’ to me until much later,” he said.
De Vera meant no disrespect to his team or to Rocky, he said. He just wanted to bring both Philly and Ecuadorian cultures together, hence giving the fictional boxer a temporary Ecuadorian last name.
“I saw the first movie, but by the time he was done climbing the stairs, I was so out of breath I couldn’t watch the other movies,” de Vera said jokingly. “Let’s wait until the World Cup ends and I will watch the rest. I owe it to the city.”
A young Ecuadorian soccer fan sits under the Ecuadorian flag during a flag waving event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, ahead of Ecuador’s first round World Cup match against the Ivory Coast on Saturday, June 13, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
‘I think I messed up’
De Vera wasn’t alone in taking the blame.
Colombian social media star Beta Mejía, who is dating Ecuadorian influencer Alejandra Jaramillo, was also in the hot seat after videos of him doing the same went viral. As he wrapped the flag around the statue’s shoulders, shouts of “No” from Ecuadorian fans familiar with the curse rained down the museum steps.
Beta Mejía 🇪🇨 protagonizó un curioso momento en Filadelfia 🥊 al intentar colocar una bandera ecuatoriana sobre la famosa estatua de Rocky, pero su acción fue detenida de inmediato con un contundente “¡No, no, no!” 😅. pic.twitter.com/EZax5oWb0p
— ÚLTIMA HORA ECUADOR (@UltimaHoraEC_) June 14, 2026
“Parse, I think I messed up,” Mejía said in Spanish on a video Sunday before the match. “God, it’s me again, your favorite soldier; I didn’t know, I really didn’t know.”
Mejía blamed his actions on an act of kindness, saying he was trying to help a fan who had passed him the flag. After the backlash, he looked to reverse the bad luck. On video, Mejía lit four candles, praying for God to bless the Ecuadorian players with his blood.
“Fear nothing,” Mejía said, ending his video quoting Ecuadorian player Niño Moi (Moisés Caicedo) and rooting for the team to win.
Ecuadorian soccer fan Freddy Baquelo cheers during a flag waving event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, ahead of their first round World Cup match against the Ivory Coast on Saturday, June 13, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Along with de Vera and Mejía, another fan dressed Rocky, attaching a custom Rocky jersey to the statue. He explained his rationale on an Instagram post:
“This is my good luck charm,” Gigio Benavides Peralta wrote. “Traveling for more than 26 hours, more than 5000km from Loja Ecuador to fulfill my promise to put the T-shirt on Rocky. For if I did that, Ecuador would win the World Cup… Let’s go Ecuador.. thanks to @maconsport and my Aunt Odi who helped me make the shirt.”
Despite the supposed Rocky curse, many Ecuadorians on social media seemed to think the bad omen did not come from the shirt or flags, but rather from having the president at the match.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa left the small South American country on June 11 for a four-day U.S. diplomatic trip meant to build bilateral relationships with the United States. He was captured at the game by FIFA cameras, shocking many Ecuadorians.
In a post-match video posted by Ecuador TV, Noboa was recorded leaving the stadium with his cabinet and a band of security guards.
Ecuadorian fans are heard in the background booing him, surrounding his convoy, calling him “salado” (an Ecuadorian word for someone with or who brings bad luck), and shouting that he “came for a vacation.”
Philadelphians react — and also blame Hard Rock Cafe ‘takeover’
Meanwhile, Philadelphia fans are having a bit of fun with the whole ordeal.
“Attention all teams visiting Philly, if you put your jersey on the Rocky Statue the ghost of Adrian will direct all of your shots towards a goalpost,” one wrote on X. “She and Paulie haunt the Linc, it’s a thing.”
As one fan pointed out on social media, Ecuador may have been jinxed by its fans flocking to the Market Street Hard Rock Cafe — just as Commanders fans did before their team’s 55-23 loss to the Eagles in the 2025 NFC Championship.
"Philadelphia has a cursed Hard Rock Cafe" is honestly just fun world building. Love this development. https://t.co/u5GN2objpJ
— one dozen rats at a keyboard (@PanasonicDX4500) June 15, 2026
A Commanders fan known as Tailgate Ted proudly proclaimed that his fan base had taken over the chain outpost prior to the 2025 conference championship game. At the time, the video received mass ridicule from the Philadelphia faithful, including Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott, as the restaurant has little cultural significance to the city.
“Oh no the Philly Hard Rock has fallen. Maybe next they will take over Applebees,” one Eagles fan wrote at the time.
On Saturday, Ecuador will face Curaçao in Kansas City before playing Germany in New York on June 25. De Valera is hoping to enact the Rocky curse again — this time for his benefit.
“We are not out of the World Cup; Argentina once lost [their first match] and still won the World Cup,” de Valera said. “But now that I know, I am going to buy a Germany flag for Rocky ahead of the game.”
Ecuadorian soccer fans wave their flags ahead of their first round World Cup match against the Ivory Coast during a flag waving event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Saturday, June 13, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
As a young nurse in Philadelphia, Phyllis Taylor met dying people desperate for hospice care. So she did it.
She met people in prison desperate for a healthcare advocate and an empathetic chaplain. So she did that, too.
In 1963, she met Sarah Baker and her family as they struggled to live as the first Black family in Folcroft, Delaware County. The Bakers were desperate for fearless allies to help fend off months of racism and violence. She also did that.
For nearly her whole life, Phyllis Taylor championed peace, justice, and human rights, and helped people who were desperate. She got arrested for civil disobedience, cofounded and directed several nonprofit social service programs, and, with her husband, Richard, helped establish Witness for Peace in Nicaragua, and the Movement for a New Society in Philadelphia.
She fed the hungry at St. Vincent de Paul Church, befriended immigrants and refugees with the New Sanctuary Movement, and comforted children and families at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. “Her entire life was about giving,” her son Dan said. “She refused to be someone who watched injustice and did nothing.”
On Thursday, June 4, Phyllis Taylor died of endometrial cancer at KeystoneCare Hospice in Wyndmoor. She was 84.
The Daily News published this story about Mrs. Taylor in 1973.Newspapers.com
“I really love what I do,” Mrs. Taylor told the Pennsylvania Prison Society in 2025. “I get the satisfaction of being able to journey with somebody, to let them know that they are not abandoned and alone.”
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Mrs. Taylor earned a bachelor’s degree at what is now Arcadia University in 1963. After nursing school, she became a volunteer nurse and then a consultant for the University of Pennsylvania health services at Holmesburg Prison and elsewhere.
She became senior counselor of hospice service for the new Death and Dying Program at Albert Einstein Medical Center’s Northern Division in 1978, and taught classes about death and grief, counseled parents whose babies had died, and comforted patients with terminal illnesses.
Mrs. Taylor graduated from what was then known as Beaver College in 1963. It is Arcadia University now. Courtesy of the family
She was featured in a 1980 story in the Sunday Inquirer called “The Gift of a Good Death” and said that her own health scares motivated her to embrace nursing. The horrors of the Holocaust, she said, compelled her to human rights activism, and the deaths of a friend, her brother, and her father moved her to hospice work.
“It makes me happy to give someone the gift of a good death,” she told The Inquirer.
Mrs. Taylor was also an enterostomal therapy nurse, head of the AIDS committee at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine medical center, and director of education at the old Hospice of Delaware Valley. She wrote research articles for journals and letters to the editor, appeared on local TV and radio shows, and lectured often at conferences and seminars about death, grief, and medical and financial ethics. She never retired.
Mrs. Taylor and her husband, Richard, traveled the world together fighting for peace, justice, and human rights. Courtesy of the family
She went on Freedom Rides to integrate buses in the South and moved in temporarily with the Bakers as they sought to integrate Folcroft in the 1960s. In the 1970s, she demonstrated against the Vietnam War and America’s involvement in Iran and elsewhere.
In the 1980s, she taught civil disobedience classes and protested violence at the border between Nicaragua and Honduras. In the 1990s and beyond, she volunteered to protect Muslims and Arabs from reprisals after the Sept. 11 attacks, traveled the world to decry pollution and unfair housing practices, and volunteered with Amnesty International and Planned Parenthood.
She earned credentials as a chaplain and volunteered for decades with the Pennsylvania Prison Society to counsel and advocate for crime victims and prisoner rights. She was featured in the 2016 documentary Blockade, named the Prison Society’s Volunteer of the Year in 2022, and honored at Arcadia’s 2025 Women Who Lead Forum.
As a chaplain, Mrs. Taylor officiated at weddings and funerals, and advocated for prison reform.Courtesy of the family
“She felt a deep unwavering need to dedicate all her waking time to marginalized populations,” her son said. “Someone called her a merging of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Mother Teresa.”
Phyllis Claire Brody was born Aug. 10, 1941. She grew up Jewish in Lawrence, N.Y., and joined a Quaker meeting after she moved to Philadelphia.
She met fellow peace activist Richard Taylor at a civil rights event in 1962, and they married in 1963 and lived in Germantown, Mount Airy, and West Philadelphia. They reared their son, Dan, and daughter, Deborah, and welcomed Blessing Mtshali and other children and families into their home for extended stays. Her husband died in 2024.
Mrs. Taylor and her husband liked to hike and canoe. She lived with lupus and mailed handmade birthday cards to family and friends year after year.
“What a life well lived,” her son said.
In addition to her children, Mrs. Taylor is survived by her sisters, Margaret Noonan and Audrey Randolph, many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and other relatives. A brother died earlier.
Mrs. Taylor stands with her son Dan in 2017.Handout
A celebration of her life is to be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, at Germantown Monthly Meeting, 47 W. Coulter St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19144.
Tanya Clark’s knees bounced as she sat in the courtroom, her eyes darting toward the doors. For nearly four years, she’d waited for this moment — for the person who killed the nephew she’d raised like a son to admit to what he’d done.
But as Aaron Coles, 21, took a seat next to his lawyer and prepared to plead guilty to killing Jabarr Richards, 20, in Southwest Philadelphia in 2022, Clark had to leave the room.
How, she said she thought, could this be the person that ruined my life?
“I went in with anger and hatred,” she said. “And then you see this child.”
Coles on Monday pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, conspiracy, and gun crimes, admitting that when he was 17, he and two others shot Richards nine times at 53rd Street and Greenway Avenue on Halloween night.
Tanya Clark (center) gathers with family to celebrate and mourn on what would have been Jabarr Richards’ 21st birthday in July 2023. Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
For nearly 18 months, Richards’ killing — one of more than 500 homicides in 2022 amid an unprecedented spike in violence — went unsolved. Clark and her family agonized over the possibility of becoming one of the hundreds of families in the city who might never get to face their loved one’s killer in court.
But Assistant District Attorney Anthony Voci said Homicide Detective Joseph Cremen had persistently worked the case, amassing evidence that ultimately showed Coles was involved.
Voci said Coles’ cousin had been killed several months earlier, and that his crew from the Bartram Village projects blamed young men from 53rd and Greenway. The lawyer said there’s no evidence to suggest that Richards was involved with that earlier homicide, and believes he was targeted simply because he was from the area.
Tanya Clark holds a photo of her nephew Jabarr Richards, who was fatally shot in Southwest Philadelphia in October. He was 20 years old, and she had raised him like a son.Ellie Rushing
At the time of the shooting, he said, Coles was wearing a GPS ankle monitor for an earlier illegal gun possession arrest, and had placed aluminum foil around the monitor to try to obscure his location.
But even through the foil, Voci said, the monitor communicates with cellphone towers, which showed Coles near 53rd and Greenway at the time of the shooting. Coles’ Instagram messages also referenced the shooting, he said, and included a photo of a firearm that appeared to resemble one of the Smith and Wesson guns used to kill Richards.
Coles was arrested and charged in June 2024.
In the courtroom on Monday, Coles’ mother bounced her knee anxiously and wiped away tears as her son repeated that he was guilty.
He’s scheduled to be sentenced in August.
In the hallway, Clark, alongside her daughter and Richards’ older brother, David, tried to find some comfort in the fact that they wouldn’t have to sit through a lengthy trial.
“One step over the hill, toward healing,” Clark said.
Tanya Clark raised her nephew Jabarr Richards as if he was her son. Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
She thanked Cremen, the detective, who told her he was still working to identify the two other gunmen.
Clark nodded and believed him.
Back at her West Philadelphia home that afternoon, Clark sat with the morning’s hearing still running through her mind. She just kept thinking about Coles.
“This boy was lost and caught up in a world that was too fast for him,” she said. “What hurt so bad that you had to take my child? Why my child?”
Her child — the goofy one who’d survived his own painful childhood with absent parents, who played basketball and pestered his older siblings but would have done anything for them.
Her voice cracked and faded as she repeated: “I just wanna know. I just wanna know. I just wanna know.”
