On Monday, June 1, 2020, Philadelphia Police officers assaulted peaceful protestors who became trapped on a highway and were bathed in tear gas. They were surrounded on three sides by SWAT, with the only escape route from the gas being a steep hill leading to a five-foot fence mounted upon a five-foot wall.

Many people, including elderly and disabled activists, could do nothing but choke on gas, wait to be cuffed, and then booked. Many others were shot by rubber bullets, sustaining gruesome damage before collapsing on the ground.

An equally large group decided to take their chances of climbing the wall, and I was among the first of the people to surmount the fence. I immediately retreated upon tear gas deployment since I wear contact lenses, as gas exposure can melt them onto your eyes. I proceeded to summit the fence and did it just in time to shoot a video that revealed the Philly Police Department’s acts of terror.

People are trapped.

Police are the villains.

Whether you make it out depends on if you can climb a fence.

Good luck.

Story by Elias Sell.