Philly Mayor Cherelle Parker: Police ‘will maintain public safety and order’ during anti-Trump protest

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker warned that at Saturday’s planned protest in Philadelphia against President Donald Trump’s policies, the “order of the day” for city police will be “keeping the peace.”

“Philadelphia is ready for this weekend,” Parker said Thursday at a City Hall news conference. “We respect everyone’s First Amendment rights to protest and free speech ... but we want to be equally clear: The Philadelphia Police Department will maintain public safety and order in our streets and our neighborhoods because that’s their mission.”

Parker is a moderate Democrat who ran on a tough-on-crime platform during the 2023 mayor’s race, and her comments indicated the city will take an assertive approach toward unlawful activity that occurs alongside peaceful protests on Saturday, when anti-Trump “No Kings” demonstrations are planned across the country to coincide with Trump’s birthday and a military parade he has planned in Washington.

The rally will come days after a physical confrontation during a Center City protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in which two Philly police officers suffered minor injuries and 15 demonstrators were arrested.

Ever since Trump deployed federalized California National Guard troops to confront anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles — a move local officials said escalated tensions — city and state officials across the country have braced to see whether protests in their jurisdictions will be the next flashpoint.

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During the 2020 protests following the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd, Philadelphia was criticized for being unprepared for the initial wave of protests, and then cracking down with unnecessary force in the days that followed.

In Philadelphia, those demonstrations saw tens of thousands of people gather peacefully to denounce police brutality, but they also saw protesters lighting cars on fire and opportunists looting stores in Center City, West Philadelphia, and Kensington. The mayor at the time, Jim Kenney, was a vocal Trump antagonist and more aligned with the city’s progressive movement than Parker.

It’s unlikely police will be caught flat-footed Saturday.

“We want people to come here safely and exercise their First Amendment rights,” Parker said, “but we want them, and we ask them, to do so responsibly.”

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Parker added that the city has worked with federal law enforcement as it prepares for Saturday.

“We are coordinating closely with our public safety and law enforcement partners at every level of government,” she said. “That is local, that is state and federal, and it’s what we did for the Eagles parade. It’s what we did when we had the Northeast [Philadelphia] plane crash. It’s a standard operating procedure.”

District Attorney Larry Krasner, who is close with the progressive movement, on Thursday said protesters who break the law will face consequences.

“If you’re just trying to take advantage of the situation, you’re going to get what you’re going to get,” he said.

But he also stressed that nonviolent protesters will be protected.

“If you are doing what Martin Luther King would have done, you will be fine,” he said. “That is the law, that is the Constitution, and those are the traditions of this country. You’re going to be fine. I’m going to make sure you’re going to be fine.”

Staff writer Ximena Conde contributed to this article.