Overview
- Tony Phillips pleaded not guilty, and Judge Sylvia Husing ordered his release on his own recognizance after privately reviewing footage she said showed he was violently shoved.
- District Attorney Brooke Jenkins had sought to keep Phillips in jail, pointing to repeated violations of a stay-away order and failures to appear, as the judge replaced a vague loitering directive with a clear stay-away order for Cedar and Larkin.
- Prosecutors charged Phillips with felony resisting an executive officer, assault on a peace officer, causing great bodily injury, and contempt of a court order, while Abraham Simon was charged with resisting or obstructing and is due in court April 6.
- Videos from surveillance and social media depict the officer shoving Phillips, after which Phillips lifted and slammed the officer, and prosecutors say the officer suffered a large laceration and a concussion.
- The city’s Department of Police Accountability has opened an investigation into the officer’s conduct, and Mayor Daniel Lurie has defended his on-street engagement approach while thanking the DA for filing charges.