>>20330920Bethlehem, PA’s $8 MILLION “Hirko Tax” is named after John Hirko, a man who police officer Joseph Riedy shot 11 times during a house raid in which SWAT officers also burned the house down using two flash grenades, burning Hirko’s body beyond recognition. The city enacted the tax to pay off a bond used to fund a settlement to Hirko’s family, referring to it in budget documents as the “Hirko settlement debt”. The following year, Riedy was named “Officer of the Year”.32 The fact that this tax is referred to popularly as the “Hirko Tax”, while the officer who is actually responsible for the conduct that led to the settlement is celebrated as a local hero, is an egregious example of victim blaming.
yeah honestly I was just trying to bait people out of the woodwork earlier this story is more representative of my real opinion of the police
