More information has come to light about Walter Wallace Jr, the man who approached Philadelphia police while brandishing a knife, and whose seemingly justified death at their hands has ostensibly sparked the latest round of rioting. As the local ABC affiliate in the city reports, Wallace was an “aspiring rapper” whose “central themes” in his music were guns and shooting people. We are also told that he rapped about social justice, though it is not clear how someone can be fascinated with shooting people while simultaneously concerned with social justice.
Wallace has a lengthy rap sheet. He had a prior arrest for assaulting a police officer, though it’s not known whether the officers responding to the 911 call shortly before his death knew about that incident. Perhaps more noteworthy is his 2017 conviction for robbery and assault. Reportedly, that crime involved “kicking down the door of another woman and putting a gun to her head.” If this sounds familiar, that’s because George Floyd was convicted of doing almost exactly the same thing, except in his case he forced his way into a woman’s home and put a gun to her stomach rather than her head. Wallace’s actions are also reminiscent of Jacob Blake, who allegedly broke into a woman’s house, raped her, and then stole her debit card and her vehicle.
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