On Monday, October 26th, the Philadelphia Police shot and killed Walter Wallace Jr., a twenty-seven-year-old Philadelphia resident whose life mattered. Regional Housing Legal Services (RHLS) and the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project (PULP) unequivocally acknowledge that the preventable death of Walter Wallace Jr., like those of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others are a direct result of the ongoing tolerance of institutional and systemic racism in our communities.
As a nonprofit law firm dedicated to serving communities across Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, RHLS acknowledges our role in needing to directly address racial injustice. Safe, affordable, and healthy housing cannot occur without public safety systems that uphold justice and protect those who need it most. The death of Walter Wallace Jr. is yet another example demonstrating the dire need for police reform and greater access to mental health services.
We recognize the tremendous loss to his friends and family and that their lives will never be the same. We mourn for Walter Wallace Jr. as a member of our wider community.