Last week, a story about a rape on an elevated SEPTA Market-Frankford train in Philadelphia went viral.
According to Upper Darby Police, a homeless man raped a barely conscious woman on board an El train – while riders pulled out their cell phones to callously record the scene.
“I can tell you that people were holding their phone up in the direction of this woman being attacked,” said SEPTA chief Thomas Nestel III at the time.
“We want everyone to be angry, disgusted, and to join us in being resolute in keeping our system safe. We need the public to notify us when they see something that seems to be unusual.”
Police arrested Fiston Ngoy, 35, who listed a homeless shelter in Philadelphia as his last address.
If you wondered why no video of the incident had surface online, you’re not alone. It turns out that no such videos exist.
In fact, according to Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, some SEPTA riders may not have even known what was going on.
“There is a narrative out there that people sat there on the El train and watched this transpire and took videos of it for their own gratification,” Stollsteimer said at a press conference on Thursday. “That is simply not true. It did not happen. We have security video from SEPTA that shows that is not the true narrative.”
A follow-up to the story about a subway car full of people in Philly who police said stood by and did not intervene as a woman was raped. Security camera footage has revealed that the police lied about the events. Someone did tip off SEPTA police.https://t.co/OdAuwq5wFe
— uché blackstock, md (@uche_blackstock) October 25, 2021
The police also said no one called them during the rape incident. That was also a lie. Someone on the train did call police, who arrived and pulled Ngoy off of the victim.
Anger and outrage exploded on Twitter.com on Monday.
Philly mag journalist Ernest Owens wrote: “And there you have it: The police lied big-fucking-time.”
