Authorities have charged a man for allegedly berating and hitting homeless people as they slept earlier this month in Center City.
The attacks on six unhoused individuals were filmed by the suspect’s friends and posted online. A video of the incident circulated around social media last week, going viral and drawing outrage. In the clip, a man throws and kicks homeless people, telling them to “get a job,” as his friends film the encounters.
District Attorney Larry Krasner, during a news conference Wednesday, connected the assaults to a 2023 homicide case and broader victimization of homeless individuals and other marginalized groups.
“There’s actually, sadly, nothing new about people who pick on the poor; people who pick on people who suffer from other disabilities; people who pick on people who are addicted; people who pick on people who are involved with sex work,” Krasner said.
The video came to the attention of police Saturday, July 19, said Captain Jason Smith, commander officer of the PPD’s Central Detective Division. They believe the assaults occurred between 2 and 3 a.m. July 4 outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center, near 12th and Arch streets.
Naeem Morgan, 27, of Strawberry Mansion, became a suspect when two officers from the 22nd Police District recognized him from a domestic disturbance call last month, investigators said. No charges were filed in that matter.
Smith said Morgan waived his Miranda rights and admitted to the attacks in an interview with officers. He told investigators he was drunk during the incident, according to prosecutors.
Krasner questioned whether Morgan actually has a job himself, given he was “sleeping on his mother’s couch” when arrested.
“We’re not putting up with this,” the DA told reporters. “For anyone who is thinking about engaging in similar behavior, we’re coming for you. For real, for real.”
Morgan has been charged with a slew of misdemeanor offenses, including four counts of possession of an instrument of crime and six counts each of simple assault, reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. His attorney could not be identified through court records Wednesday.
Victims of the July 4 assaults have not yet been identified, and authorities are asking them and any witnesses to come forward.
‘Budding serial killer’
A man described by Krasner as “a budding serial killer” was sentenced in May to 40 to 80 years in state prison for a pair of unprovoked 2023 stabbings of unhoused people.
Dshawn Crawford, 30, pleaded guilty to the attacks, which occurred within the span of a week in late February and early March near his Fairhill.
Graphic video played at Wednesday’s press briefing shows him stabbing a man nearly 20 times. The victim survived; however, Crawford killed his next target, 43-year-old Marcos Torres Rivera, who was sleeping on a park bench.
In both cases, Crawford dressed in all-black garb that included a long trench coat, top hat, boots and a bone necklace.
“If you’ve ever seen WWE, he looks like the Undertaker,” said Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Hojnowski.
Investigators searched Crawford’s house, finding a four-poster bed draped in black, many knives and Occult posters and books.
‘It’s relentless’
Krasner noted that serial killers have often sought out homeless people, sex workers or others as victims because they believe these groups will not report crimes to law enforcement or have their concerns taken seriously.
“We are going to protect the lives of unhoused people,” he added. “We are going to protect their safety. We are going to protect their rights. We are going to protect their dignity.”
The Rev. Robin Hynicka, pastor of Arch Street Methodist Church, which runs a robust homeless services program, pointed out the many forms of violence faced by the community, such as being harassed by police or ignored by the public.
“Let’s be clear, violence against unhoused persons is not new,” he said. “It’s daily. It’s systemic. It’s relentless.
“Until we stop treating homelessness as a crime and start addressing it as the solvable human rights issue it is, I am afraid we are all complicit in violence.”
