A Philadelphia police union offered free ice cream on Friday outside the office of District Attorney Larry Krasner to protest “soft on crime” policies.
The Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 will pay for a Mr. Softee’s ice cream truck to give out free ice cream outside of Krasner’s office every Friday until the May 18 Democratic primary for District Attorney, Fox 29 Philadelphia reported.
FOP has endorsed Krasner’s challenger, Carlos Vega.
“We figured we would go out and bring an ice cream truck—a Mister Softee truck out—because we have Mr. Softee in the DA’s office. Soft on crime, soft on sentencing. Too many shootings. We got six people a day average being shot in Philadelphia. That’s ridiculous,” FOP Lodge 5 President John McNesby told Fox 29.
“Larry Krasner has a broad coalition of support from over 60 endorsers who represent constituencies from all over this city. They speak for the community, not the powerful and we’re proud that today they are out working to better Philadelphia rather than serving ice cream and spending money on publicity stunts,” Krasner’s campaign responded.
Krasner has repeatedly clashed with the Philadelphia police union. A former public defender, he was elected in 2018 after promising to stop seeking the death penalty, end stop-and-frisk, and limit drug prosecutions. (RELATED: George Soros Still Quietly Buying District Attorneys’ Seats)
Philadelphia has struggled to attract new police officers amid a spike in murders. McNesby blamed a decrease in applicants on the coronavirus pandemic as well as new department regulations.
The same day as a mass shooting outside of a North Philadelphia train station, Krasner reportedly downplayed the issue of violent crime at a campaign event.
“Screams, ranting and raving, ‘There will be a crime wave; there will be werewolves running up and down the street; they’re gonna grab you people out of your house and take them out of the back!'” Krasner reportedly said. “Except no, that’s not what happened.”
“He doesn’t care about anybody but himself. He’s a condescending person, he’s arrogant,” McNesby responded at the time.