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  • Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee are in a competition for QB2 duties. And they’re trying to embrace it.

    Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee are in a competition for QB2 duties. And they’re trying to embrace it.

    Sixteen years into his NFL career, Andy Dalton has seen just about everything. But this training camp — his first with the Eagles — is unlike any Dalton has participated in before.

    Dalton, 38, is competing with incumbent Tanner McKee to back up Jalen Hurts. That isn’t a new phenomenon for Dalton. He hasn’t been a full-time starter since 2019, his ninth and final year with the Cincinnati Bengals, the team that drafted him 35th overall in 2011.

    What is unfamiliar, however, is that Dalton doesn’t know when it’s his turn to take reps with the second-string offense in team drills. Neither does McKee. Both quarterbacks wait for orders from their coaches before one or the other joins the huddle.

    A.J. Epenesa on Cleveland backing out of signing him: ‘Happy that I’m not a Brown and that I’m an Eagle’

    At first, Dalton had questions about how they would split reps. Now, he’s accepted the surprise element of their current situation, which is reminiscent of game days for the backup quarterback.

    “I was joking with Tanner, I was like, ‘This is just real life right here,’” Dalton said Tuesday. “‘You don’t know when you’re going to be going in.’”

    It’s been an offseason of surprises for Dalton, who was traded to the Eagles after spending the last three seasons with the Carolina Panthers. He had never been traded before. He only had experience choosing to sign with teams in free agency, including the Dallas Cowboys (2020), Chicago Bears (2021), New Orleans Saints (2022), and Panthers.

    Still, Dalton said he is “excited” to be in Philadelphia and to play in the new Sean Mannion-led offense. But the scheme isn’t entirely new to him. Dalton has experience in similar offenses that were also offshoots of the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay coaching tree, namely Zac Taylor’s first year with the Bengals in 2019 and the past two seasons with Dave Canales and the Panthers.

    Andy Dalton (right) knows some of the principles of the Sean Mannion offense from his time working alongside Zac Taylor (left) in Cincinnati. Wilfredo Lee

    There are some similarities among the three systems. Dalton pointed out their shared emphasis on quick decision-making and pure-progression passing. He also noted that Mannion’s offense requires its quarterbacks to use a cadence that Dalton has learned in the past.

    “Everybody’s got their own little variation of it,” Dalton said of the broader offensive scheme. “But for me, I feel very comfortable in this offense.”

    The trade may have come as a surprise to Dalton, but McKee expressed an understanding of Howie Roseman’s rationale behind the move.

    Yes, McKee was the primary backup last season, a role that was hardly threatened in camp by Dorian Thompson-Robinson (who is now playing in the UFL) or Kyle McCord (who is in camp with the Green Bay Packers). McKee has generally fared well in his handful of preseason and regular-season outings over the last two years, save for his lone start in 2025 — a 24-17 loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 18 — in which he primarily played with backups.

    Moro Ojomo watched fellow defensive tackles Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis get paid. He’s using it as motivation.

    However, McKee acknowledged Roseman’s objective to strengthen the roster every season.

    “I don’t think you can be surprised whenever they bring in somebody or there’s competition, because in the NFL, there’s always going to be competition,” McKee said Tuesday. “They’re trying to improve the roster every year, and so anybody that they can bring in to make you compete or make you earn your spot, that’s definitely what everybody wants.

    “And for a player, it’s great. It is great to have somebody to push you and to make you better. The stakes in practice are a little bit higher, and so it makes it fun.”

    Tanner McKee has been focused on trying to learn things from the veteran Andy Dalton, even as both vie for the same job. Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    McKee is embracing Dalton’s presence, especially his knowledge of the offense. In practice on Tuesday, for example, the 26-year-old quarterback was on the field for a play that broke down. Later on, McKee said he went to Dalton for insight on how he would’ve read the play given the defensive coverage.

    “It is great having that overall wisdom, I guess you could say, of just the experience that he’s had to talk through things,” McKee said. “It really does make each other better, and that’s exactly what everybody wants when we have competition, is to make the Eagles organization better.”

    The lessons McKee has learned aren’t limited to firsthand experiences on the field. Because he is splitting second-string reps, unlike last year’s training camp, McKee is forced to take more mental reps from the sideline while Dalton is on the field.

    Eagles’ 53-man roster projection: How the picture looks entering training camp Week 2

    McKee likened that experience to practices during the season, when Hurts is commanding the majority of the snaps. Those mental reps can be valuable, too, he explained.

    “Sometimes, you learn from mistakes, but a lot of times you have to learn from mistakes of other people as well,” McKee said. “And so paying attention on the sideline, watching film, all those things are just a little bit more important when you’re not getting as many.”

    The two depth quarterbacks will soon take their competition to the next level when preseason begins. The Eagles open their exhibition slate against the Baltimore Ravens on Aug. 15.

    Each player will make his case for the backup role. Dalton may not have the starting job he once held down at the outset of his career, but he has approached his role as a backup with the same level of preparation and attention to detail.

    Most importantly, he hasn’t lost his love for the game and all of the surprises that come with it.

    “There’s nothing else like this,” Dalton said. “So I’m trying to soak it all in as much as I can. Trying to get the most out of the game because obviously once you’re done, you’re done.”

  • DA Larry Krasner to appeal overturned murder conviction in 2012 killing of Philly cop Moses Walker Jr.

    DA Larry Krasner to appeal overturned murder conviction in 2012 killing of Philly cop Moses Walker Jr.

    District Attorney Larry Krasner on Tuesday said he strongly disagreed with a judge’s decision to overturn the murder conviction of a man who killed Philadelphia Police Officer Moses Walker Jr. in 2012 and vowed to appeal.

    Krasner said Common Pleas Court Judge Jennifer Schultz, who handed down the ruling Monday, was “legally incorrect” in vacating the conviction of Rafael Jones, who is serving life in prison for killing the officer during a street robbery at the end of his shift.

    In deciding that Jones deserved a new trial, Schultz cited the case’s connection to disgraced ex-homicide detective Philip Nordo, who was convicted in 2022 of sexually abusing witnesses and suspects for more than a decade.

    But Krasner, speaking at a news conference alongside Walker’s mother and Roosevelt Poplar, president of Lodge 5 of the Fraternal Order of Police, said Jones’ conviction was different from others involving Nordo that have since been reevaluated.

    “We believe now that Rafael Jones is guilty — that he murdered Moses Walker Jr.,” Krasner said.

    If the appellate court denies the district attorney’s appeal, he added, “we will be retrying this case. We have a lot of evidence to do so. And we will be retrying it vigorously.”

    Jones’ attorney, Jason Edward Parris, said Tuesday afternoon that the vacated conviction represented justice.

    If jurors heard Jones’ case today, Parris said, they would have information about Nordo’s sex abuse crimes involving informants in homicide investigations that was not available at the time of Jones’ trial.

    “I don’t think anybody should be comfortable with someone serving life in prison based in part on an investigation done by an officer who is now doing 49 years [in prison] for crimes committed during the investigation of this case,” Parris said.

    Walker, 40, was shot and killed shortly before dawn on Aug. 18, 2012.

    The officer had just left the 22nd District station in North Philadelphia dressed in civilian clothes when Jones and another man, Chancier McFarland, targeted him in a robbery, prosecutors said.

    Jones fired at Walker after the officer reached for his gun, according to prosecutors. Both men were arrested, and McFarland pleaded guilty and testified against Jones as part of a deal to avoid life in prison.

    Years later, during Nordo’s sexual abuse trial in 2022, one of his accusers testified that the detective had steered him toward a $20,000 reward and later raped him.

    Though Krasner acknowledged the “messy history” that came with Nordo’s involvement in Jones’ case, he said the district attorney’s office was confident in the conviction.

    There were multiple pieces of evidence that pointed to Jones’ guilt, he said, including a murder confession that was not introduced at trial because Jones did not testify, and McFarlane’s eyewitness account of the crime.

    “We concluded years ago that this conviction was in the category that should not be disturbed,” Krasner said.

    The district attorney’s office will appeal Schultz’s ruling to Superior Court, a process Krasner said could take up to two years.

    Poplar, the FOP president, said he had faith that Krasner’s office would prevail.

    “Yesterday was a tough day,” he said, echoing comments made by Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, who said he was disappointed by the ruling.

    Walker’s mother, Wayniya, said she and her family “would not allow these latest developments to weaken us.”

    “We remain confident justice will prevail,” she said, adding that she hoped that the death of her son, not the vacated conviction of his killer, would “remain at the center of this case.”

    “No decision rendered can alter what happened on Aug. 18, 2012,” she said.

  • A fugitive pornographer, his troubled son, and missing women: 5 takeaways

    A fugitive pornographer, his troubled son, and missing women: 5 takeaways

    What started as a routine car stop in Philly quickly evolved into a mystery concerning the fate of two missing women — and a boarded-up home in Olney that contained a confounding set of clues.

    In June, police encountered 44-year-old Eugene Horsch with a woman near Independence Mall, carrying drugs, illegal guns, and fake IDs. One of them featured the name of Blair Tonzelli, a woman who has been missing for three years.

    That led local and federal investigators to Horsch’s twin house in Olney, where they unearthed an array of disturbing evidence, including vats of chemicals, notes describing serial killings, and Tonzelli’s bank cards. Tonzelli’s case also resurfaced questions about Amy McHale, who was last heard from at the Olney house in 2016 and is the ex-wife of Eugene Horsch’s deceased father, Raymond “R.C.” Horsch.

    Eugene Horsch remains in jail on illegal gun and drug charges, as well as one count related to carrying fake federal law enforcement credentials. No bodies have been found, and police have not charged him with any crimes related to the women.

    Despite the disturbing evidence found in the Olney home, the investigation is clouded by the unusual lives and predilections of Eugene Horsch and his father, who was an erotic filmmaker and photographer obsessed with depicting sexualized violence against women in addiction — many of whom he lured to his home studio with drugs.

    To unravel the backstory behind the case, The Inquirer interviewed more than 30 people familiar with the Horsch family, reviewing hundreds of pages of police documents, court records, newspaper clippings, and archived interviews. The result is a portrait of a thrill-seeking criminal artist and his son as they navigated seaside New Zealand, rural Bucks County, and the drug markets of Kensington.

    Here are five takeaways from our weeks of reporting:

    Raymond ‘R.C.’ Horsch’s directorial debut was a violent pornographic film financed by a Philly mob associate.

    Raymond Horsch was a bookish engineer from Bucks County who underwent a sexual awakening during the so-called Golden Age of Porn in the 1970s. His 1973 film, The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig, was financed by Philly mob associate Sam “The Barber” LaRussa, a nightclub owner and friend of Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo, who went on to run the Philadelphia-area Mafia.

    The low-budget movie depicts rape, bondage, underage sex, and the titular character’s violent relationship with a drug-addicted woman.

    These hypersexualized themes would become a constant fixation of Raymond Horsch’s later life and artistic works.

    Raymond and Eugene Horsch have long criminal histories.

    In the late 1970s, Raymond Horsch was busted for printing counterfeit money, and then a few years later for running a methamphetamine lab. He skipped bail after the second arrest and absconded to coastal New Zealand after stealing the identity of a real-life chemist.

    He married a longtime girlfriend, who gave birth to his son, Eugene, while Raymond Horsch was an international fugitive. Raymond Horsch worked in the port city of Timaru at a chemical plant thanks to his adopted alias and a forged Stanford diploma.

    He was ultimately caught in New Zealand with five fake passports and fled back to the U.S. He was apprehended in Florida and returned to Philadelphia, where he was sentenced to federal prison.

    Read the full story: A pornographer’s obsession and criminal past blur fact and fiction in Philly’s missing women mystery

    Raymond Horsch recruited dozens of women in addiction by trading drugs if they agreed to appear in his pornographic art.

    Between stints as a porn actor and director, Raymond Horsch searched the streets of Kensington for women in addiction to use, in his description, as models. He asked one of his son’s high school friends to star in one of his films. He recruited another woman with a classified ad for a housekeeper. He offered them cash and drugs in exchange for sexual favors and to appear in films or photographs, which often featured simulated acts of violence or death.

    After he was arrested in the 2000s on another drug charge, he lost his home in Chalfont. Both father and son moved into the home in Olney, which they had inherited from relatives, and Raymond Horsch allowed some of the women he recruited to reside in the home, sometimes for years.

    At least five women connected to Raymond Horsch died of accidental drug overdoses.

    Krista Killen lived off and on in the Horsches’ Olney house from 2016 until her death last year at the age of 47. Killen, who had been estranged from her family, told friends that Raymond Horsch was never violent toward her and that she cared deeply for him.

    But she told friends that she was scared of Eugene Horsch. She told two friends that one night, she was asleep when Eugene shattered her bedroom door and threatened to kill her. Raymond, then 80, had to pull his son away.

    In late 2024, within a span of a few months, doctors had to amputate part of Killen’s leg, her beloved tabby BabyCat died of a brain tumor, and Raymond Horsch died of a lung condition, leaving her alone in the Olney home with Eugene. Three months after Raymond’s death, Killen died of an overdose. Eugene Horsch shared the news on Killen’s own Facebook page. He wrote that he and Killen were in love and had planned to get married, something her friends said was not true.

    A woman missing since 2016 had close ties to the Olney house that’s now the target of a massive investigation

    Raymond Horsch said his art blended facts with his violent fantasies, and he wanted people to wonder what was true.

    Investigators are reviewing Raymond Horsch’s films and self-published novels, some of which depict various ways to murder women. He casts himself in some of the stories as an “empathetic” serial killer who preys on addicted women and kills them to end their suffering. The books are billed as true stories that include both real details from Horsch’s improbable life story and passages that he concedes are fictitious — noting that he wanted readers to parse fantasy from reality.

    In a scene from one of his novels, Raymond Horsch describes how he dissolved a body with chemicals in a bathtub. Is it just another of his violent fantasies? Complicating that question is the fact that a woman told investigators that Eugene Horsch told her he knew how to dissolve a body with chemicals, making it small enough to flush down a toilet.

    Read the full story here.

  • What happens when a village goes up for sale? St. Peter’s is ripe for more housing, but poses challenges.

    What happens when a village goes up for sale? St. Peter’s is ripe for more housing, but poses challenges.

    Doug Reeser first came to St. Peter’s Village as a youngster, running along the rocks at French Creek, like so many locals and tourists still do. As an adult, the charm of the quirky little village drew him and his partners to open a branch of their cidery business there three years ago.

    He’s one of many wondering what could change when the village goes up for auction in September, with more than a hundred home lots and a smattering of businesses available to the highest bidder.

    “There’s lots of positive energy around what’s happening, so I think generally everybody would love to be able to see that continue,” said Reeser, owner of Excursion Ciders at the Snug. “I know personally we’d love to stay there. We anticipate some changes with new ownership. We hope that we can absorb them, but obviously, it’s not unlimited change that we can handle.”

    The auction, scheduled for Sept. 30 at 2 p.m. at the Desmond Hotel Malvern, will put up for sale roughly 83 acres of the historic 19th-century village that sprung up in the Gilded Age, thanks to its rich mineral resources and its proximity to the creek. It became a recreational destination, one that people are still drawn to because of its scenic location. Visitors are able to take a dip, hike the nearby trails, and enjoy the artsy downtown.

    Nestled in Warwick Township — which has a population of roughly 2,600, according to newly released estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau — the small village could see a bump in residences, if initial development visions are seen through. The land, zoned for residential and neighborhood business, offers 121 subdivided home lots for development. A commercial core — which boasts dining and retail — is composed of both privately owned businesses and leased storefronts that will be picked up by the new owner. Thirteen commercial buildings, totaling about 43,500 square feet, are included in the auction, according to the site.

    The auction site teases mixed-land use development potential “suitable for major builders, venture capitalists, historic preservationists, and entrepreneurs.” The auctioneer, Douglas Clemens, said previously they had seen thousands of messages of interest — but who ultimately purchases the property remains to be seen.

    And concepts of high- and low-density housing from the previous owner — the Piazza family, which runs the Piazza Management Co. and owns multiple Main Line car dealerships, is listed on associated parcels — haven’t exactly come to fruition, and the site could be a challenge for new owners given its rural location.

    Reeser is among the renters who would love to see current businesses stay, and some rehabilitation of the historic buildings that have suffered some neglect in recent years, he said. He doesn’t think anyone would be opposed to more foot traffic in town, but too much could tip the scales.

    “There is this rural charm there, and that is part of what the village has built its reputation on over the years,” he said. “So, if development could be done with an eye towards preservation and minimal impact, I think that would be great.”

    The 83-acre St. Peter’s Village — a historic destination in Chester County will be sold at an absolute public auction to the highest bidder in September. Steven M. Falk / For The Inquirer

    What could residential development look like?

    The property offers an opportunity for someone to develop housing to the north and east on the available land, said Matt Edmond, executive director of the Chester County Planning Commission.

    Land development plans available through the auction site previously have laid a densely populated housing development near the commercial core on roughly 36 acres. Generally, that’s a good thing, Edmond said.

    “Our villages are kind of like small towns, and when they have a walkable commercial core, you want more dense housing in and around there to support those businesses to increase foot traffic,” he said of Chester County.

    An aerial view of one proposed development — which the current owner envisioned as a densely populated townhouse, twin, and single-family neighborhood — shows several completed homes.

    Eight buildings are unfinished, Clemens said. One finished building is occupied, and the lease would move over to the new owner.

    Farther back, on roughly 45 acres, a sketch plan posted on the auction site offers larger lots for lower-density housing. A unpaved road was established ahead of building.

    In the county’s comprehensive plan, there are areas called “rural centers,” built around larger villages, Edmond said. There are similarities among those places: a commercial corridor on a main road, with streets fanning out for walkable neighborhoods. St. Peter’s could become a rural center, if the previous vision was fulfilled. The growth would be somewhat akin to Marshallton or Unionville, other Chester County villages that people enjoy visiting.

    St. Peter’s scenic, rural location offers a bit of a unique problem. Though the village isn’t far from Elverson or Pottstown, it’s still a bit out of the way. Reeser, the business owner, has found the village to be seasonal, with business bolstered by an occasional social media post. In the winter, the cidery, open on Saturdays and Sundays, is frequented by locals.

    The 83-acre Saint Peter’s Village, a historic destination in Chester County, will be sold at an absolute public auction to the highest bidder in September.Steven M. Falk / For The Inquirer

    “The whole village, by and large, is somewhat off the beaten path. It’s not really near a highway. It’s certainly not near transit. There isn’t a whole lot around it,” Edmond said. “That’s probably one reason why the current owners couldn’t quite make it work, because the market just wasn’t quite there yet to do that sort of thing in that sort of place.”

    But just because the village has had challenges with finding footing for residential development, that doesn’t mean it’s ripe for other types of development — such as a data center, other industrial sites, or even a major shopping center.

    The village is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which doesn’t necessarily safeguard it from demolition. But it provides some protections, particularly if government funds are being used.

    Plus, its current zoning would have to be changed, and the infrastructure and conservation easements don’t “lend itself towards intense development,” Edmond added.

    “I think a lot of people are worried about that because they do see other parts of the county developing more intensely,” he said. “Every community is different, and Warwick Township is still very rural, and so it wouldn’t be surprising if a new owner tried to develop consistent with the character and the nature of Warwick, and certainly Warwick leaders would be looking for that type of development within their boundaries as well.”

    The 83-acre St. Peter’s Village, July 2026. Steven M. Falk / For The Inquirer

    Rich in natural resources

    The auction site notes the property’s “valuable subterranean mineral rights, including documented iron ore deposits, adding a rare investment dimension.” Those materials once bolstered the village’s economy, transporting its iron to Philadelphia. But it also became a place of leisure: a getaway for city workers, a majestic retreat to a scenic place.

    The village is surrounded by outdoor recreation, with state game lands adjacent to the property. French & Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust holds easements on a portion of the land. The easements are perpetual, and must be honored.

    Karl Russek, conservation director at French & Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust, anticipates the organization will be in conversation with the prospective bidders, working closely with future owners “to help them understand those limitations, and [we] are open to seeing what they have to offer and how the conservation value of the property might be improved.”

    But “much remains to be seen” for what could come to the land, he said.

    “St. Peter’s Village, and the area around it, is a very special place and has been a very special place for generations of families in this area. I took my kids down there when they were little. My peers remember spending time there when they were younger,” Russek said. “It’s a community hub in many ways, and so obviously many folks in the area are very invested in what ultimately happens, as are we as an organization.”

    Reeser hopes to see a purchaser who understands all of what makes it beloved — its natural beauty, its historic buildings, and its unique setting.

    “Change is inevitable, most likely, in this situation,” he said. “But if we could keep sort of what’s made it special alive, I think that would be great.”

    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.

  • A sports complex in King of Prussia? Here’s why Upper Merion says it makes sense

    A sports complex in King of Prussia? Here’s why Upper Merion says it makes sense

    Upper Merion Township wants to build a sports and entertainment venue in King of Prussia, and has been looking to get state funding for the project.

    The facility, which as proposed could host over 7,500 people, could be used by professional soccer and baseball teams as well as for concerts, festivals, graduations, and other community gatherings, according to a grant application seeking funding from the state.

    “There is still extensive preliminary work that needs to be discussed and developed,” Tina Garzillo, chair of the township’s board of supervisors, said via email on Monday, noting that “there is nothing definitive,” at this time about the project.

    The venue has been envisioned for Moore Park area, near hotels, housing, the Valley Forge Casino Resort, and a Topgolf. The proposed address on a state grant application is 650 Park Ave., but Garzillo said that is only “only one of several identified possible sites.”

    Garzillo did not say what teams could be expected to lease out the stadium, but the venue’s capacity is in the ballpark of other minor league baseball venues. The Lehigh Valley IronPigs play at Coca-Cola Park, which can host roughly 8,000 seated spectators, and the Brooklyn Cyclones play at Maimonides Park, which can seat roughly 7,000, with additional standing room.

    “The facility will serve as a catalyst for converting a traditional office park into a vibrant mixed-use district,” the grant application notes. “This transformation is especially important in a post-COVID world, as communities adapt to new work patterns and the decline of single-use office environments.”

    The DeVonta Smith & Friends celebrity softball game at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown on June 10, 2023.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    What would it cost?

    The proposed project would cost an estimated $197 million, which the township wants to fund through state, township, and county dollars as well as private contributions.

    The township applied for a $20 million grant through Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, but the project was not selected in the latest round of funding.

    The township is currently evaluating other funding options, Garzillo said, and does not currently have a new application in the works for the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.

    The program receives hundreds of applications in each funding cycle, and the majority do not get awarded, said Rosie Lapowsky, a spokesperson for Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office. Not receiving funding “is not a commentary on their value as projects or any potential future engagement from the state,” Lapowsky added.

    The funding application to the state program noted that the project includes “walkable connections, shared parking, and high visibility along major regional highways, positioning it as an anchor for ongoing redevelopment of the area into a dynamic ‘live, work, play,’ destination.”

    The development of the venue would create 3,196 jobs, according to the application. It does not specify what positions would be needed, and if some of those jobs would be temporary, for the construction of the site.

    The venue is also expected to create revenue through taxes, naming rights, corporate sponsorships, and other branding deals, the application notes.

    Those leading the project say they have been in touch with county and state elected officials as well as members of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration, noting that “these discussions highlighted the project’s alignment with state priorities and its anticipated benefits to the Commonwealth, including economic growth and community impact.”

    Upper Merion Township is interested in adding entertainment options to the area, said Garzillo, citing the success of nearby attractions such as Topgolf; the casino; Netflix House, which opened in November at King of Prussia Mall; and Dave & Buster’s.

    Exterior entrance to Netflix House at the King of Prussia Mall.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    As part of its effort to bring more entertainment options to the area, the township has changed the zoning language for the King of Prussia Mall to allow entertainment venues to occupy retail spaces, Garzillo noted.

    The King of Prussia District, a nonprofit focused on economic development in the area, declined to comment on the project.

  • The death of an immigrant held at Delaney Hall brings fresh focus to the ICE facility in Newark

    The death of an immigrant held at Delaney Hall brings fresh focus to the ICE facility in Newark

    A 41-year-old man from El Salvador who was detained at the Delaney Hall ICE facility has died, the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement confirmed Monday evening hours after his family and a member of Congress spoke out about the incident.

    Delaney Hall, a privately operated detention center under contract with ICE, has been the site of turmoil during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. It’s been the target of complaints almost since it reopened in 2025. Elected officials have clashed with the federal government over accessing the facility, and altercations between law enforcement and protesters outside the facility went viral earlier this summer.

    On Monday, immigrant rights group Cosecha New Jersey shared a video identifying the person who died as Edwin Jeovanny López Cornejo.

    María Cornejo, who identified herself as his mother, said in Spanish in the video that the hospital called her to inform her of her son’s death, and that his heart was not beating when he arrived.

    “There is this pain that has struck me now — it’s not just me who’s been struck by it, yet there are many people in this country who are growing tired of this pain,” his mother said in Spanish.

    “If they don’t ensure that justice is served, well, they’re going to keep doing this forever, and we don’t know how many more people we’ll have to lose in this country,” she added. “Hardworking people. People who aren’t involved in other things, but who devote themselves to their work.”

    Shortly after that video streamed on Facebook, U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez, a North Jersey Democrat, said in a video on X that he was showing up for an unannounced oversight visit to Delaney Hall. A few hours later, he said ICE confirmed López Cornejo’s death.

    “We asked certain medical questions which ICE couldn’t give us answers to,” he said. “We have to request it or his family has to request it, which we will.”

    Later on Monday, ICE said in a statement that López Cornejo experienced a medical emergency while in custody and was pronounced dead at University Hospital in Newark after medical staff “responded immediately” and called emergency services.

    The agency said the cause of his death is pending further medical review on Monday evening, but Sen. Andy Kim attributed it to a heart attack and cardiac arrest in a video he posted on X later that night.

    Kim, whose office said it was notified of the death Monday morning, noted that López Cornejo already had a habeus corpus case open arguing for his release due to his medical issues.

    “I’m not going to jump to conclusions, but we have to get answers to what happened to Edwin to understand all of what transpired,” the South Jersey Democrat said.

    Cornejo said her son took medicine for blood pressure, diabetes, and seizures. She said that while she does not know for sure whether he had access to his medicine, she believes ICE neglected to provide it to him, leading to his death.

    She said she last spoke on the phone with her son on Friday — the day before his death — when he said that he felt ill and part of his face and hand had fallen asleep. He told her he was taken to the doctor that day and they were going to run some labs, but he didn’t say when.

    ICE said López Cornejo “received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals.”

    Menendez said he learned that López Cornejo “complained of difficulties that he was having” on Saturday and collapsed at Delaney Hall, where CPR was performed before he was taken to the hospital.

    Cornejo said her son had been in the U.S. for 20 years and was a hard worker. She said he had a 12-year-old daughter who had not been able to see him since he entered the facility six weeks ago. He previously told her on the phone that his hands turned purple from the handcuffs he was arrested in.

    Danilo López, who identified himself as López Cornejo’s brother, said in the video he doesn’t know why his sibling was detained because he had a valid work permit.

    “I wouldn’t wish the pain we’re going through right now on anyone, and I don’t want this to keep happening,” he said. “Because it hurts so much — it leaves a void, it leaves a daughter orphaned, and above all, it leaves an irreparable void in the family. And that’s why I’m asking for justice for my brother.”

    According to ICE, López Cornejo was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol “for illegally entering the United States without inspection” in August 2006 and he was sent back to El Salvador that October.

    He later returned to the United States at an “unknown date” before he was arrested in Plainfield in Union County in June, according to ICE.

    Sebastiana Cornejo, who identified herself as López Cornejo’s aunt, said in the video that he was arrested on his way to work.

    She blamed her nephew’s death on ICE detaining him and called for the Trump administration to stop its mass deportations, and “that they stop separating families, leaving children orphaned with no one to care for them.”

    “Why are they detaining so many working people?” she said. “We immigrants don’t harm anyone; we come to work, not to harm anyone.”

    Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill said her administration is working with the state’s congressional delegation “to gather all the facts surrounding his death,” but noted that the state health department continues to struggle to access the whole facility for an inspection, which is at the heart of one of New Jersey’s court battles with Trump.

    “Every effort to block oversight raises serious questions about what is happening inside Delaney Hall and what those operating the facility are trying to hide,” she said. “This tragedy is another painful reminder of why Delaney Hall should be closed.”

    Sen. Andy Kim (D., N.J.) stands between federal agents and demonstrators in an attempt to prevent a clash outside the Delaney Hall migrant detention center in Newark, N.J., on May 25.DAKOTA SANTIAGO

    Turmoil at Delaney Hall

    Detentions have surged across the nation, from about 38,000 when Trump took office to more than 70,000 in January and standing at about 66,000 as of July. Delaney Hall, a gray, two-story building in an industrial area of Newark, has been a key part of that infrastructure.

    It has also been the site of protests, complaints, and political fights between the Trump administration and New Jersey Democrats since its doors opened in May 2025.

    Last year, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested outside the facility before his charges were dropped. U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, a North Jersey Democrat, still faces federal charges over an altercation outside the facility on the same day.

    And over Memorial Day weekend, reports of a detainee hunger strike exploded into violence between demonstrators and ICE officers and later between protesters and New Jersey State Police.

    Kim was pepper-sprayed outside the facility as he tried to quell tensions between ICE and demonstrators, and Sherrill faced pushback from her own supporters for unleashing state police.

    Federal officials insisted there was no hunger strike and said detainees there and elsewhere in the system were being held in safe and humane conditions.

    Delaney Hall is important to ICE officials who move detainees across the country and the world, because it offers easy access to major highways and to airports in the New York metro area. It also offers the Trump administration a stage for highly publicized battles against “sanctuary politicians” it believes should thank ICE for removing murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and drug traffickers off the streets.

    Research by Syracuse University professor Austin Kocher showed that 88.3% of detainees at Delaney have no criminal convictions. On a typical day the facility holds about 850 detainees, though the New Jersey Vindicator reported that about 120 were suddenly bused away during the July 4 weekend.

    Deaths in ICE custody

    At least 22 people have died in ICE custody so far this year, according to DHS data, provoking outrage from immigrant allies who blame poor medical care, unhealthy conditions, and lack of agency training.

    Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit watchdog group, calculated that more than 50 people died in ICE custody in the first 500 days of Trump’s term — the highest rate in more than a decade. It’s more than two and a half times as high as during the first Trump administration, and stands nearly four times that of the Biden administration, Human Rights Watch said.

    ICE says the health of detainees ranks among its highest priorities, and national detention standards require it to provide comprehensive medical, dental, and mental health care from the moment someone arrives at a facility.

    The federal agency says some people who are detained may not have received prior, reliable care for existing conditions. And some people may never before have had comprehensive medical care at all.

    In December, a 41-year-old Haitian national named Jean Wilson Brutus died one day after entering Delaney Hall, succumbing to what ICE said was suspected natural causes following a medical emergency. ICE said agents tried to revive him and EMS performed life-saving measures but he died in the hospital.

    Menendez said on Monday that another individual who had been in custody at Delaney Hall died just weeks ago at University Hospital after a possible seizure.

    Amol Sinha, executive director at the ACLU of New Jersey, said in a statement Monday that López Cornejo’s death is “another devastating result of the rampant inhumane conditions” at detention centers across the country.

    “The Trump administration’s detention and deportation machine continues to terrorize and traumatize communities at an unprecedented level, yet numbers cannot encapsulate the grief and devastation that these abuses cause,” he said.

  • Trump admin asks colleges to agree to reforms. Penn is a member of the group that helped draft them.

    Trump admin asks colleges to agree to reforms. Penn is a member of the group that helped draft them.

    The University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, Pennsylvania State University, and Princeton University belong to a national university group whose leaders helped the U.S. Department of Education develop a new list of reforms it would like all colleges to adopt by the end of the year.

    U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon on Monday sent a letter to colleges asking them to agree in public statements on their websites to wide-ranging reforms that include cracking down on protests, hiring more conservative faculty, combating grade inflation, taking steps to ensure there aren’t “covert” attempts to use race-conscious admissions practices, and containing tuition costs, among other changes.

    There is no plan to sanction schools that don’t sign on, but those that do could be in line to get more research funding, according to Bloomberg, the first to report on the letter, citing a White House official.

    Penn rejects Trump compact offered to colleges

    The latest effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to reshape higher education at least initially appears to be getting a warmer response than the list of demands made in its controversial compact that was rejected by most universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, last year.

    The reforms were developed with the help of four university presidents from the Association of American Universities, including the group’s board chair and vice chair, according to Bloomberg.

    “We’d much rather be a partner than play the guessing game as we have been,” Douglas Girod, president of the University of Kansas and board chair, told Bloomberg.

    AAU president Barbara Snyder told Bloomberg she planned to call on her member colleges to support the plan.

    Penn is one of 71 research universities nationally and in Canada that belong to the group. The university did not respond to a request for comment on whether it planned to participate.

    Penn last October rejected the White House’s university compact, which would have given the school preferential consideration for federal funding in exchange for agreeing to operational demands. Many groups on campus had spoken out against the compact, and Penn president J. Larry Jameson in a letter to the federal government at that time said he outlined areas where Penn found “existing alignment” with the compact and where the school had “substantive concerns.”

    Trump seeks influence over hiring and admissions at Penn in exchange for federal funding

    “For the good of the nation, university leadership must seize this occasion to drive essential reforms — a process some began by adopting positions of institutional neutrality and improving policies related to campus protests,” McMahon wrote in her letter Monday. She called on all colleges to “describe to the American public your commitments to rigorous teaching, pathbreaking research, and national service — commitments that make our universities a bedrock institution of the American republic.”

    She acknowledged that not every college’s response would be the same, but presented schools with a series of questions that they should address. Among them are:

    “How will your institution ensure admissions decisions are based on merit, achievement, and your university’s educational purpose?”

    “How will you guarantee that unruly and violent protesters do not harass students or disrupt classes, research, public lectures, and campus operations?”

    “How will your faculty hiring and evaluation practices support academic vitality and ensure that all relevant perspectives are taken seriously?”

    “What can your school do to contain costs, improve pricing transparency, and ensure that every academic program equips students to repay their loans?”

    “How will your school protect academic programs from foreign influence and safeguard the integrity of the research enterprise?”

    McMahon also warned against allowing academic disciplines to foster political and social goals.

    “When disciplines skew toward one side of the ideological spectrum, the truth-seeking function of the university suffers and public trust declines,” McMahon wrote.

    Penn State said its leadership team had received the letter and is reviewing it.

    Rutgers said it also had received the letter and “welcomes constructive dialogue with federal and state policymakers and remains focused on providing an excellent, accessible education that advances research to serve New Jersey and the nation.”

    Princeton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    “We look forward to learning more from the Department of Education about this effort and collaborating to advance shared goals,” Waded Cruzado, president of the Association of Public & Land Grant Universities, said in a statement. Penn State, Rutgers, Temple University, and the University of Delaware are part of that group.

    The other three AAU presidents involved in drafting the new reforms include Andrew Martin at Washington University in St. Louis, Michael M. Crow at Arizona State University, and Ron Daniels at Johns Hopkins University.

    Temple is not a part of AAU, but Temple president John Fry has worked closely with Crow, whose university sponsors the University Innovation Alliance that Temple joined last year. The alliance is a national organization of public universities aimed at finding innovations to improve learning and increase college attendance, retention, and graduation rates ― especially for low-income students ― then scaling those innovations across campuses. It was founded by 11 presidents including Crow.

    Temple joins national university group trying to graduate more students from low-income families

    Fry at the time described Crow as a mentor and said that he had known him for more than 30 years. They started presidencies simultaneously in 2002, Fry at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, and Crow at Arizona State.

    In a statement, Temple said it was “carefully reviewing” the letter from McMahon.

    “Upon initial review, much of what is outlined in the letter is consistent with core tenets of what we do as a university,” the school said. “Our approach will continue to be guided by our mission and our strategic plan.”

    Martin, of Washington University, told Bloomberg that he planned to respond to the McMahon letter.

    “My expectation is this letter will have some things in it not everybody will agree with, but that universities will consider it,” he told Bloomberg. “Certainly compared to the compact, I think this is a step in the right direction.”

  • After allegations of a ‘toxic climate’ at Frankford High, the school will have a new principal for the first time in a decade

    After allegations of a ‘toxic climate’ at Frankford High, the school will have a new principal for the first time in a decade

    For the first time in more than a decade, Frankford High is getting a new principal.

    Michael Calderone, who has served as Frankford’s principal since 2015, told the staff on Friday that he’s leaving to become the interim principal of Dobson Elementary in Manayunk.

    Calderone’s move comes after the district conducted an audit of what some staff said was a “toxic” climate at the school and serious allegations about Calderone, including that he struck a student and retaliated against teachers who spoke out against him.

    ‘Toxic’ climate at Frankford High prompts a Philadelphia School District probe

    District officials did not comment on the results of the climate audit, but typically do not discuss personnel matters.

    Calderone said, in a letter sent to Frankford staff and obtained by The Inquirer, that the move to Dobson “holds tremendous personal and professional significance for me” because he began his career there, as teacher and dean.

    “Returning to lead the school where I first developed my passion for educational leadership feels very much like a homecoming and has always been a dream of mine,” Calderone wrote.

    Noah Tennant, the interim associate superintendent for secondary schools, said in an email to Frankford staff that Calderone “is a school leader with a proven track record of improving student outcomes, leading school transformation, and building collaborative systems. His leadership and contributions to the Frankford High community will leave an indelible impact on all he served.”

    Mary Jackson, a retired Philadelphia principal who’s served as Frankford’s interim leader in the past, will be “guest principal” while the district searches for a replacement for Calderone, Tennant said in the letter.

    “In the coming months, the district will initiate a process to identify the next permanent principal who will continue the important work underway and ensure every student and staff member is supported,” Tennant wrote.

    A Frankford climate audit

    The first public hint of controversy happened in early 2026, when Frankford’s budget, like spending plans across the school system, was shrunk because of district-wide cuts. Calderone ordered a number of teachers’ jobs cut out of seniority order, a move that was protested by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, and ultimately overturned.

    The PFT and teachers say the targeted educators — whom Calderone said he moved to advance academic goals — were ones who had spoken out against him, they told The Inquirer.

    At the same time, a number of current and former Frankford staff raised allegations about significant culture issues at the school, and the district conducted the audit.

    Michael Calderone is shown in his office at Frankford High in this 2023 file photo.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    According statements from multiple staffers made to the district and PFT and obtained by The Inquirer, Calderone, who earned citywide recognition for his work at the comprehensive high school, was a volatile leader who forced out many capable staffers.

    Some staff said the principal screamed at adults and students on multiple occasions. They also said he made improper requests, including asking teachers to provide grades for students in classes they did not teach.

    Others said he spoke openly about intentions to get rid of staff members who were not allies, to force out staff who he believed were opposed to him.

    Two staffers also told the district that Calderone punched a student who had assaulted multiple Frankford staffers. The staff did not report the assault when it happened because they were afraid for their jobs, they said.

    Other Frankford staffers agreed that there was widespread discord at the school, but say those who opposed Calderone contributed to the toxicity.

    Arthur Steinberg, PFT president, who had previously said that he did not believe Calderone was fit to run Frankford “or any school at all,” in a statement Monday commended the Frankford staff who brought concerns to the administration.

    “Thanks to their bravery and persistence, Frankford will be a healthier, more positive place to learn and work for all,” Steinberg said. “It is our hope that whoever is assigned to replace Dr. Calderone is able to reset the working environment for staff, so that Frankford is once again the warm, welcoming school community it was before he arrived.”

    ‘Thank you for your trust’

    Calderone, in his letter to Frankford staff, said he was particularly grateful for the community’s resilience during a tough time — the hulking main Frankford building was shut for multiple years because of asbestos issues, with students scattered between multiple buildings. He said he was also proud of Frankford’s aviation and hospitality programs, launched during his tenure at the school.

    “Thank you for your trust, your partnership, and the memories we have shared,” Calderone wrote. “I have every confidence that Frankford High School will continue to thrive and achieve great things. I wish you all the absolute best. Frankford will always be the ‘Home of Champions’. But never forget: every champion was once just a contender who refused to give up. I ask you to carry that relentless, unbroken spirit with you into every new day. Thank you for letting me walk this path alongside you.”

    Calderone will be moving to a very different school than the one he’s led for 11 years.

    Frankford educates about 900 students in its massive Oxford Avenue building. Dobson, a K-8 on Umbria Street, educates about 250, though both have large populations of students with disabilities.

    Dobson’s former principal, Khloe Williams-Lawani, accepted another job in the school system.

  • Cheltenham High’s hazing scandal isn’t the outlier you think it is

    Cheltenham High’s hazing scandal isn’t the outlier you think it is

    Here we go again. Another high school football team. Another hazing assault. Another round of shock, outrage, and canceled games.

    That’s what I thought when I read about the charges that have been filed against six students and four coaches in connection with what the authorities said were a pair of hazing assaults on a Cheltenham High School football player. Of course, I was outraged that several teammates stomped on his groin and chest with their cleats and poked at his buttocks with a broomstick, according to Montgomery County prosecutors.

    But I wasn’t surprised. And you shouldn’t be, either.

    Put simply, hazing is as American as apple pie. When an incident like this happens, everybody expresses shock and dismay. Legal charges are filed, coaches are fired, and games are canceled. And then we go back to hazing again.

    Most Americans probably associate hazing with college and — especially — with fraternities. But in a 2009 survey of over 11,000 university students, 47% reported they had experienced hazing in high school. All told, an estimated 1.5 million high school students are hazed each year.

    That means it’s people you know, in the communities where you live.

    In 2004, a grand jury reported that three Long Island football players attending a summer camp in Wayne County, Pa., had inserted pine cones and golf balls into teammates’ anuses. The assaults were part of a long history of hazing at the camp, where coaches “displayed a lack of common sense and accountability,” the report said.

    At a July 29 news conference, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele announces multiple charges in connection with two assaults in the Cheltenham High School locker room that injured a 15-year-old football player.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    In 2014, Central Bucks West High School in Doylestown acknowledged that rookie football players had been forced to grab other players’ genitals. They were also led into the shower with towels over their heads, which the players called “waterboarding.”

    In 2015, seven football players at Sayreville High School in Middlesex County, N.J., were charged with grabbing teammates’ buttocks and digitally penetrating one of them.

    In 2016, prosecutors said football players at Conestoga High School in Berwyn had penetrated a freshman player with a broomstick as part of a hazing ritual called “No Gay Thursdays.” And in 2022, football players at Wall Township High School in Monmouth County, N.J., were caught on video holding a student’s legs apart and, yes, assaulting him with a broomstick.

    Are we seeing a pattern here? Most high school hazing involves verbal — not physical — abuse. But the most violent episodes happen on sports teams, which also have the highest rate of hazing.

    And they’re also the most likely to generate criminal charges. In Cheltenham, six players have been charged in connection with the assaults on their teammate. And four coaches face charges of endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy for allegedly trying to cover up the incident.

    That’s necessary and appropriate, but it’s not enough. Hazing is illegal in 44 states and the District of Columbia, and it happens anyway. Clearly, our laws aren’t deterring it.

    The football practice field and stadium at Cheltenham High School.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Ditto for our educational efforts. When reports of hazing surface, school officials pledge to conduct anti-hazing training for coaches and students. And they release statements declaring that hazing will not be tolerated, in any form.

    But their message is falling on deaf ears. So it’s time to change the messenger to someone whom kids will really hear: the hazers themselves. If you haze somebody, you should be required to speak to other students about it.

    It’s happened before. After a Virginia Commonwealth University student died of alcohol poisoning in a fraternity initiation in 2021, six students who pleaded guilty to hazing him agreed to travel to universities around the country to discuss the tragedy and the role they had played in it.

    We could — and should — demand the same thing from high school hazers. Plea agreements in hazing episodes often require guilty parties to perform community service. What could be a better service than speaking at student assemblies and other public events about the problem of hazing?

    In the Cheltenham incident, two 18-year-old football players were charged as adults — one with assault and conspiracy, the other with false swearing for being untruthful to police. The four other players were under 18 and were charged as juveniles.

    I don’t know what penalties they should receive. But here’s what I do know: The rest of the school would discover a lot more about hazing if the six students were required to speak about it. And maybe, just maybe, we could start to shift the culture around this destructive behavior.

    When hazing is reported at a high school, local officials condemn the incident and inevitably declare that “this is not who we are.” In fact, it’s exactly who we are. We haze. So let’s hear from the people who do it, about why they haze and what they have learned. We can all learn something from them.

    Jonathan Zimmerman teaches history and education at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of “Schooling Citizens: How Education Can Save Democracy,” which will be published next spring by the American Philosophical Society Press.

  • The Frank Rizzo statue is repaired, and the search for a new location is underway

    The Frank Rizzo statue is repaired, and the search for a new location is underway

    In the case of Frank Rizzo, out of sight does not always mean out of mind.

    The former mayor and police commissioner died 35 years ago. A 10-foot bronze statue reminded Philadelphians of his presence for decades, until civil rights protests in 2020 culminated in the monument’s removal from public display.

    It might have lost its prime spot outside the Municipal Services Building, across from City Hall. But, six years later, the statue remains a subject of interest, leaving reader JJ Cutuli to ask Curious Philly, The Inquirer’s forum for questions about the city: “Where is the Frank Rizzo statue, right now?”

    The short answer? Now that repairs have been made, the search for a new home is on. Here’s how we got here.

    » ASK US: Have something you’re wondering about the Philly region? Submit your Curious Philly question here.

    The last thing Cutuli heard on the Rizzo statue saga was that it was set to be returned to the Frank L. Rizzo Monument Committee, after a settlement was reached with the Philadelphia Art Commission last summer.

    “I am very much against the statue, against the man, against what it all represents,” Cutuli said. “But sweeping it under the rug or sending it to a scrap yard might take away the opportunity to deal with the issues that it represents.”

    Rizzo has long been a controversial figure. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was accused from different fronts in the city of having allowed police to function with little oversight, putting people of color in a vulnerable spot.

    Between 1970 and 1978, police shot civilians at a rate of one per week, according to an Inquirer investigation. That led critics to condemn Rizzo as a racist, and protesters even put a Ku Klux Klan hood on the statue’s head in 2016.

    “The statue is a deplorable monument to racism, bigotry, and police brutality for members of the Black community, the LGBTQ community, and many others. The treatment of these communities under Mr. Rizzo’s leadership was among the worst periods in Philadelphia’s history,” then-Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement in 2020, when the city removed the statue overnight.

    For supporters, however, the South Philly native was a beacon of Italian American pride whose tough approach on crime could have been misunderstood.

    “He was a brute in some respects. But it wasn’t racist,” George Bochetto, an attorney for the Frank L. Rizzo Monument Committee, told The Inquirer in 2016. “It was law and order, it was crime, and I think he got a bad rap, frankly.”

    The agreement left the committee with an $80,000 payment from the city for damages caused to the statue during its removal.

    “They put it on the back of a flatbed truck and a piece of the base broke off so they had to replace that base,” Bochetto said. “There were also a lot of scratches and gouges on the body of the statue, which had to be repaired too.”

    The bronze Rizzo has been at a foundry undergoing “expensive five-figure repairs,” Bochetto said.

    Restorations are now done, according to the lawyer. The next frontier is finding a new home for the Rizzo statue.

    As part of the 2025 agreement, the statue should be displayed on private property, and in a way that makes it “not visible from the public right of way,” the agreement states.

    An exception can happen if the committee gets approval from Mayor Cherelle L. Parker or the managing director. Bochetto said that’s something the committee is working on. Bochetto did not describe locations being considered for the statue.

    The city did not reply to a request for information. So, the status of the monument’s home remains uncertain.

    Controversy aside, Bochetto said, it’s important to recognize that the statue is part of Philadelphia’s history.

    “People say that symbols like this from the past are a part of our history and that is true,” Cutuli said. “But as part of history perhaps these things do have a place in museums or perhaps they don’t, perhaps the story and the facts can exist without the statue.”