Suspect Charged Over Philadelphia Cop Shooting

He is also charged with several other crimes and is being held on remand. Archer was treated and released into police custody.

After apprehending Archer, a 30-year-old from Yeadon, Pa., police say that he told them he had carried out the attack in the name of Islam. A Muslim couple inspired by the militant group killed 14 people on December 2 in San Bernardino, California, just weeks after gunmen linked to the group killed 130 people in Paris.

Later in the same broadcast, Megyn Kelly drew a sharp distinction between how the “straight shooting” police chief described the attack and what the politically correct mayor had to say in the same press conference.

Officials said that while the video left little question about what happened, there was some doubt as to why. And when you look at the Internet activity coming out of Raqqa, Syria, into the United States every day-200,000 tweets per day-the message is clear: Kill military, attack military installations, and kill police officers.

Video of the attack shows a man in a long robe similar to the traditional dishdasha, or thobe, often worn by Muslim men in parts of the Middle East, as he opened fire on the police auto. Any reasonable thinking person understands there’s a difference between these radicals who do do this in the name of their version of Islam and the peace-loving Muslims who populate the earth.

Officer Jesse Hartnett was slowly patrolling his usual West Philadelphia beat just before midnight when a man appeared out of the darkness, firing a hail of bullets at close range as he charged toward the policeman’s vehicle. As he stood near the entrance doors with his back turned, the same man he gave the money to tried to grab the officer’s handgun from his holster, police said.

“In no way shape or form does anyone in this room believe that what was done represents Islam”, Kenney said.

Archer was arraigned on Saturday on charges including attempted murder and making terrorist threats.

Philadelphia’s police commissioner told reporters the confessed shooter’s gun belonged to a police officer and was reported stolen in 2013. “He’s a tough guy”, he said.Hartnett served in the Coast Guard and has been on the Philadelphia force for four years.

Madam Natalie King, 68, who lives across the street from Archer, said that based on what she had seen of him, she considered mental illness a more likely explanation than religious extremism. After a struggle, the officer was able to subdue the man with help from the Penn Security team and other officers.

Rep. Patrick Meehan (D., Pa.) praised Hartnett’s “tremendous heroism” and said he found Archer’s statements about the Islamic State “troubling”, and called for federal investigators to investigate any possible ties to “overseas radical groups”.