Black Grandmom Handcuffed For Hour After Noting Upper Darby Councilmembers Aren’t Paying Taxes

Black Grandmom Handcuffed For Hour After Noting Upper Darby Councilmembers Aren’t Paying Taxes — A rarely used law was levied against an Upper Darby grandmother who dared speak against township’s council plan to raise sewer fees despite two members being in arrears of those fees.

Olivia Taylor of Kent Road in the 6th District was hauled in handcuffs from the council meeting room, Jan. 17.

Four police officers guarding the council room were joined by two others outside to escort the 5-1, 103 pound woman to a police car. She was taken to the station and placed in a locked “cubical.” There were no chairs. She stood for an hour on a bad leg — still in handcuffs — before Sgt. Louis Garay returned to process her.

Two female officers stripped searched her. They removed her jewelry, shirt and bra. She refused to remove her pants, though, and Garay told the female officers to let her be when he was informed.

“I’m in shock at this point,” she said. “I was in a council meeting for God’s sake. I didn’t think I was going to be arrested.”

She was fingerprinted and mug shot.

Ms. Taylor is charged with “disrupting meetings and processions” a state law from 1972. It had been written to protect churches and funerals. It’s a third degree misdemeanor.

The Pennsylvania Superior Court found but two citations of its use in 2013 when it upheld the conviction of a woman who disrupted a procession for a fallen police officer.

Ms. Taylor has been calling attention to the dark side of Upper Darby politics since since she learned that former 6th District Councilman Sheikh Siddique owed $80,000 in back taxes on 40 dilapidated homes that he rented to desperate single moms.

“I’m on every (township council) video since 2017,” she said.

Her targets when arrested were 6th District Councilman David Bantoe, who she says owes $14,000 in back taxes and $3,000 in sewer fees; and 2nd District Councilwoman Jess Branas, who she said had owed $1,187 in sewer fees.

Ms. Taylor got the information via right-to-know requests.

She also says that Council President Hafiz Tunis of the 7th District has 27 outstanding traffic tickets and that his car has been booted six times.

Ms. Taylor says the January police platoon was for her fellow activist Rich Blye. She said police were ordered to arrest him on sight.

Ms. Taylor will have a preliminary hearing, Aug. 25, before District Magistrate Benjamin Johns. She is pleading not guilty.

Upper Darby’s actions are the actions of wannabe tyrants. It would have been no problem for council to have had her removed and sent home. What it did was intimidation. A moral government does not make grandmothers stand in handcuffs for an hour and strip search them because of a shouting match.

Of course, when a chunk of council is already flagrantly violating its own laws, “moral government” can only be sarcasm.

Oh, to really twist in the knife, these bozos identified Ms. Taylor, a proud Black woman, as white on her court docket.