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Philadelphia mayor: Don’t ‘act like idiots and a**holes’

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
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Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter didn’t mince words after four kids were shot and three killed in Philadelphia Tuesday night.

“The first way to stop this kind of stuff is for young people to be home when they’re supposed to be home, and for adults not to act like idiots and assholes out in the streets of our city shooting at kids in a car,” Nutter told FOX 29.

The shooting occurred after four young adults in a car arrived at the home of three brothers, whom they reportedly intended to attack. When they arrived, a man later identified as the stepfather of the brothers “fired from 10 to 12 shots into the car at point-blank range,” according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Two of the boys were pronounced dead within the hour, another died Wednesday night. The fourth, the driver, is in stable condition.

A spokesperson for the mayor told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Nutter stood by his statement.

“He said what he said. He was clear about it, and he meant it. He said what everybody else was thinking,” said spokesman Mark McDonald.

Nutter has a history of making colorful remarks when he is upset, such as, “We got the motherfucker!” when someone suspected to be a serial strangler was arrested.  He once warned city residents, “You can be joyous, you cannot be a jackass,” after the Phillies won the World Series in 2008.

“On rare occasions the mayor will assume a somewhat earthy tone,” McDonald acknowledged. “It is never an accident. He knows what he’s saying and why.”

See the video of Mayor Nutter’s remarks here:

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