Philadelphia officials continue to thrust their city into the spotlight regarding the Trump administration’s illegal immigration efforts, including actions taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Much of it seems to center on two well-known left-wing ideological figures in Philadelphia: the city’s district attorney, Larry Krasner, and now, Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal.
Bilal came under scrutiny due to recent comments she made at a press conference in which she disparaged ICE officers and criticized them over the controversy involving the death of Renee Good. Bilal described ICE as “fake, wannabe law enforcement.” Shortly after, Bilal added to the controversy by calling a black Republican congressman a racial slur.
In a social media video post last week, Bilal called Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) a “handkerchief head negro.” Bilal’s comments came, once again, regarding the Good incident and were in response to Hunt calling for respecting law enforcement. She also seems to have an odd obsession with President Donald Trump and took time to bash him while speaking about Hunt.
“See, he don’t even know what he’s talking about,” Bilal said in the video. “But, if you bucking for a job, and you keep being a “handkerchief head negro,” exactly what you doing, then go ahead and do that. Go over there and get a job over there. Because you black, he ain’t going to give you one either. So, you might as well stay where you are, and just get out of the way with the nonsense.”
Like much of what Bilal says, and has said, her comments made little, if any, sense. They were just the hateful, bigoted, mindless rants of an agenda-driven and incompetent city bureaucrat in Philadelphia. And this description is in addition to her earlier pointless comments regarding the death of Good, who was killed while impeding ICE officers in a city over 1,000 miles away from Philadelphia. Adding in her bigotry, prejudice, and radically toxic political agenda, Bilal represents the worst of every bureaucrat in the City of Brotherly Love. Hunt did issue a reply in kind on X, highlighting Philadelphia’s poor record on crime during Bilal’s time as sheriff.
Moreover, Bilal would be wise to follow the adage, “those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” For as Bilal rambled on about “made-up law enforcement” and called Trump a criminal and a black Republican congressman a racial slur, she has a history of being the very thing she claimed to object to, dismiss, and oppose. Her background is rife with lawsuits, controversies, incompetence, and questionable ethics.
“In a city where incompetence and corruption are taken for granted, Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal’s tenure stands out as particularly inept,” said Sonny Mazzone, a Republican political strategist in Philadelphia. “Under her leadership, the Sheriff’s Office lost nearly 200 firearms, mismanaged funds, including spending over $9,000 on a mascot costume, ignored reports of sexual harassment, and saw a deputy fired and charged with selling guns and drugs.”
One of the strangest things about all of this is that Good’s death had absolutely nothing to do with the city of Philadelphia, or its cadre of Democrat bureaucrats. There were no connections between Philadelphia and Good. There have been no ICE incidents in Philadelphia for Bilal to use as an example to comment on. Her words arguably reeked of someone desperately trying to plead for attention on the national level. While she was incoherently uttering about ICE being fake law enforcement, it was almost as if, instead, she was saying, “Please pay attention to me.”
Her criticisms of ICE and comments about Good were irresponsible. Mazzone agreed. He added that her rhetoric is damaging and endangers not only law enforcement but also innocent civilians.
“Despite such an abysmal record, Bilal’s endorsement of Renee Good fleeing from ICE agents, an action that led to Good’s death, is the most irresponsible act of her tenure,” Mazzone said. “Her actions do not only endorse illegality but encourage behavior that puts law enforcement and civilians at risk.”
Moreover, the fact that Bilal holds such a position of power speaks volumes about the shortcomings of Philadelphia, and arguably its voters. Her words were so toxic that, while the left-wing propaganda network promoted Bilal’s speech, long and far, the city’s police commissioner rebuked her comments, having to “clear up some confusion about law enforcement authority in the City of Philadelphia,” in a statement of his own.
PHILADELPHIA SHERIFF THREATENS AND DEGRADES ICE AS ‘FAKE, WANNABE LAW ENFORCEMENT’
“Philadelphia Police Department offices have been inundated with calls and emails from across the country and around the world, which makes it necessary to clear up some confusion about law enforcement authority in the City of Philadelphia,” Bethel stated.
“Let me be clear: the City of Philadelphia is policed by the Philadelphia Police Department, not the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office,” he said.
Furthermore, in an embarrassing rebuke of Bilal’s incompetence, Bethel asserted that the Philadelphia Police Department would continue to work with all law enforcement “partners.” Bethel’s response was yet another example of the needlessness of Bilal’s commentary. She was only looking out for Bilal and any attention she would garner from her useless, agenda-driven comments about ICE.
“Although Bilal is not particularly competent or intelligent, her rise through the viper pit that is the Philadelphia Democrat machine requires a level of political cunning and guile,” Mazzone said. “To distract from her dismal record, Bilal has chosen to play politics at the expense of the safety of the officers she serves with and the public she has sworn to serve.”