Philadelphia police allegedly harassed men because they said “hi” to a stranger

PHILADELPHIA — Imagine walking down the street, saying hello to someone and heading to work, only to find yourself confronted by police officers threatening to physically assault you.

That is what a disturbing cellphone video captured during a September 2013 encounter involving two Philadelphia police officers and two men.

The 16-minute recording shows officers stopping, questioning and verbally berating the men during an aggressive stop-and-frisk encounter in North Philadelphia.

The incident sparked public outrage and renewed criticism of Philadelphia’s controversial stop-and-frisk practices.

Philadelphia Officers Question Men for Greeting a Stranger

The September 27, 2013, encounter began when two men reportedly greeted another man sitting on a neighborhood sidewalk.

However, their seemingly ordinary interaction attracted the attention of two officers from Philadelphia’s 25th Police District.

According to reporting by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Officer Philip Nace and his partner approached the men and questioned them about speaking to the stranger.

One officer challenged the men for acknowledging someone they did not know.

“You don’t say ‘Hi’ to strangers,” Nace reportedly said.

His partner added, “Not in this neighborhood.”

The men questioned why a simple greeting warranted police attention.

Meanwhile, the officers appeared to suspect that the men had interacted with someone involved in drug activity. However, the recording does not establish that either man participated in a drug transaction.

One man repeatedly explained that he had been walking and had done nothing wrong.

Philadelphia Officer Rwportedly Threatens to “Split Your Wig Open”

The confrontation quickly escalated as the officers directed profanity and threats toward the men.

At one point, Nace threatened one of the pedestrians.

“You’re gonna be in violation if you keep running your mouth when I split your wig open,” the officer said, according to 6ABC’s report.

The officers also ordered the men against their police cruiser.

One man attempted to question the officers’ authority to stop and frisk him. Meanwhile, the other continued recording the encounter on his cellphone.

The recording captured another disturbing exchange.

“Don’t come to f***ing Philadelphia. Stay in Jersey,” one officer told a man who identified himself as being from Camden, New Jersey.

The man explained that he had family in Philadelphia.

Nevertheless, the officer continued making disparaging remarks.

“We don’t want you here, anyway. All you do is weaken the f***ing country,” Nace said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The man responded that he was working.

Instead of acknowledging his explanation, the officer accused him of freeloading.

The exchange further intensified criticism of the officers’ conduct.

Philadelphia Police Launch Internal Affairs Investigation

The cellphone recording quickly circulated online, drawing national attention to the encounter and Philadelphia’s stop-and-frisk practices.

The Philadelphia Police Department confirmed that its Internal Affairs Division would investigate the officers’ conduct.

Police spokesman Lt. John Stanford told The Philadelphia Inquirer that investigators would determine whether the officers acted appropriately.

He also emphasized that the department trained officers to conduct lawful stops.

However, the video raised questions about the officers’ treatment of pedestrians and their justification for the encounter.

According to subsequent reporting by The Philadelphia Inquirer, neither man faced criminal charges. Police released both men after the confrontation.

Officer Removed From Street Duty After Video Surfaces

The controversy continued after authorities identified Nace as the officer featured prominently in the recording.

The department subsequently removed him from street duty while Internal Affairs investigated.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Nace was assigned to the Differential Police Response Unit, where officers under investigation were sometimes placed.

The controversy also drew attention to another video involving Nace. That recording appeared to show him knocking over a neighborhood basketball hoop.

Together, the videos intensified scrutiny of his conduct and raised additional questions about police accountability.

The incident became another flashpoint in the national debate over stop-and-frisk policing, racial profiling and the treatment of Black pedestrians.

For the two men involved, a walk through Philadelphia turned into a confrontation they never anticipated.

And without a cellphone recording, the public might never have heard the officers’ threats for itself.