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2600 N 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

Police killed 1,352 victims the U.S. 2023 (mappingpoliceviolence.org).

On August 14, 2023 Police officer, Mark Dial shot and killed Eddie Irizarry. Philadelphia police told the media that the incident began when officers pulled over a car that was “driving erratically” and that “officers approached” the car, that Irizarry “stepped out” of the car “with a knife” and that the “officers gave multiple commands for him to drop the knife, and that Irizarry “lunged at the officers”, prompting the shooting. On August 15th, Philadelphia police changed their story, stating that Irizarry was actually in the car when he was shot six times. Retracting the cover up, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw stated that officers’ body-worn camera footage “made it very clear that what we initially reported was not actually what happened.” Martín Espada recently wrote a poem to elegize the innocent young man whose alleged murder this past August is an outrage.

This initiative is co-sponsored by Casa de Duende as well as Taller Puertorriqueño and Moonstone. On the anniversary of Eddie Irizarry’s death, the anthology will commemorate the book’s publication.