“Philly Could Look Like L.A. in Two Weeks”

A Philadelphia protester firebombs a police vehicle in 2020, similar to some of the images we’re seeing unfold in Los Angeles right now (photo via FBI)

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“Philly Could Look Like L.A. in Two Weeks”

It was the last week of May 2020. Philly Mag dispatched me to Bellefonte, a charming town in Centre County, where my assignment was to report on the first “COVID openings” in Pennsylvania. The entire commonwealth had been on lockdown since mid-March. But Governor Wolf was lessening the restrictions in certain counties. And Centre County was the closest to Philly. So to Centre County I went. I ate indoors. I visited the happy hour at the Moose Lodge. The locals were anxious to talk to me about their return to “normalcy.”

My trip got cut short. Police murdered George Floyd on May 25th. And we all remember what came next.

I got in my rental car and headed back to Philadelphia, though I had some relatives urging me to stay in Centre County. It surely would have been a safer place during those turbulent days.

The three-and-a-half hour drive eventually brought me to 76 East. I got off at the City Avenue exit, heading south towards my home. And I’ll never forget it. The first thing I saw were a bunch of heavily armored National Guard troops on the Philadelphia side of the roadway. The city was literally burning. A woman had just set a police car on fire outside of City Hall.

Well, if you’re paying attention to the national news at all, you probably know that Donald Trump has deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles. He did so against the wishes of the governor, which is a very, very rare move. (Normally, it’s a governor who requests this action.) Trump did this amid mounting protests and rising tensions against ICE activities in Los Angeles. Protesters have been going toe-to-toe with ICE agents. They’ve set law enforcement vehicles ablaze.

A car burns in the middle of the intersection of Atlantic Ave. and E Alondra Blvd. during ICE protests on Saturday, June 7, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

There’s a loosely organized group of activists in Philly who were front and center in the various George Floyd protests in our streets and highways. This year, they started mobilizing once ICE made its presence known here, shortly after a March raid of a meat shop, wherein ICE agents detained four workers who weren’t murderers, rapists or gang members. Those workers were simply here illegally, according to ICE itself.

Tensions have only risen since then, as we see more and more ICE activities around the country and in Philadelphia. Clearly, some people in Los Angeles have had enough. And I wondered how close Philly might be to reaching its breaking point.

“Philly could look like L.A. in two weeks,” one prominent activist told me under the condition that I reveal no personal details about them. (I’m simply allowed to say that they live within city limits and are a self-described “Socialist with a license to carry.”)

The activist went on to say that local organizers have been monitoring ICE raids here and elsewhere, determining the best course of action to combat ICE. They say that protesters here are, in fact, ready and willing to combat ICE in the literal sense, as we’re seeing happen in Los Angeles. They’ve also been educating themselves on the laws and rules surrounding ICE activities, i.e. what can ICE do and what can’t ICE do?

I told them that the latter is all well and good but that it seemed to me that the Trump administration is pretty much doing whatever it wants across the board—defying court orders, ignoring rules, protocols and what most of us thought were laws until now.

“We’re certainly living through unprecedented times,” the activist told me. “But not unexpected. We all knew exactly what was going to happen once we learned about Trump’s win in November. We all knew that the country would move very quickly into an authoritarian state. And we knew that the things like we’re seeing happen in L.A. would be happening there and all over the place.”

The Mystery of the Burning SEPTA Buses Is a Mystery No More

Last week, we told you about a bunch of decommissioned old SEPTA buses that were on fire in a depot in Nicetown. No one was quite sure of what caused the fire. Well, SEPTA now says that a battery in one of the electric buses started the whole thing. How long will it take for the anti-EV contingent to use this as their primary talking point for why fossil fuels are just great?

AOC vs. Stephen Starr

In case you missed this zinger that came late last week: AOC and other top Democrats in Washington D.C. are none too happy with Philly restaurateur extraordinaire Stephen Starr, who owns some of D.C.’s most see-and-be-seen restaurants. There’s been an effort underway to unionize some of these Starr restaurants. And the union has accused Starr of union-busting activities, which he has denied.

AOC and Stephen Starr (photos via Getty)

AOC has joined other prominent Democrats boycotting Starr’s DC restaurants. Starr has called the boycott “baseless.” Meanwhile, John Fetterman has yet to sign. Not sure I can see Fetterman being a big fan of the $205 Petrossian Tsar Imperial Ossetra service at Starr’s The Occidental, but then, you never really know what dark secrets people are hiding. You can read about the big mess here.

By the Numbers

68: Age of a bicyclist struck by a police vehicle during a pursuit of a car in Northern Liberties on Sunday. The accident resulted in a “mangled, mess of metal” as 6ABC’s Katie Katro put it. Fortunately, the man survived and is currently listed in stable condition at Jefferson.

4: Ranking of Philadelphia squash player Olivia Weaver in the Professional Squash Association’s world rankings. Who knew? You might also be surprised to learn that Philly is pretty much the epicenter of the sport in America.

0: Additional days that Philly trans woman Emme Kennedy will be spending in Philadelphia. Or the United States for that matter. Last week, I wrote about her GoFundMe to raise money to help her escape the United States for Canada out of fear for her safety and her rights as a trans woman and, well, she just left on Sunday!

Reader Mail

Speaking of Emme Kennedy and her GoFundMe, I was expecting the normal transphobic backlash to the story from people who somehow think that trans people are a threat to society. But what I wasn’t necessarily anticipating was the amount of people who consider themselves allies of the trans community taking issue with Kennedy’s activities. Here are some sample objections:

• So, basically, I have to be a privileged white person to get you to write about my GoFundMe? No interest in Black trans people?
• Pieces like this are horrible optics for the community. It’s drenched in hyperbole and privilege. Ma’am, no one is going to arrest you for being trans. Move to Canada on your own dime if that’s truly what you want to do. Trying to co-opt the plight of undocumented persons is gross behavior.
• The idea that ICE is going to start rounding up trans people and deporting them to wherever is just ridiculous.

I dunno. I’m an open-minded person. But it’s clear that Trump and his MAGA movement hate trans people. It’s clear that Trump will do whatever the hell he wants to do. And given that a trans woman was just attacked with acid in West Philly and given the general sense of hatred and the violence directed at trans people during these times, do we really think it’s that far of a stretch for the administration to deport — or perhaps “just” imprison — trans people just for being trans?

Local Talent

Way back in 1956, James Baldwin released his groundbreaking and highly controversial novel Giovanni’s Room, a book about gay love and sexual desire. He almost didn’t get it published, because his regular publisher refused to put it on paper. But he eventually found a publisher up to the task. The novel has become a classic, an essential read on any LGBTQ book list. And there have been many attempts to bring the tale to the stage. But Philly’s own Quintessence Theatre Company has managed to snag the world premiere of the first authorized adaptation. It just opened and has already been extended through June 29th. Get tickets here.