Ex-Philadelphia police inspector found not guilty of assaulting protester during 2020 racial justice demonstrations

Joseph Bologna, the former Philadelphia police inspector accused of assaulting a Temple University student with a baton during the 2020 protests over the killing of George Floyd, was not guilty of assault, a jury determined Wednesday.

The Philadelphia jury found Bologna, 57, not guilty of simple assault and possessing an instrument of crime, reaching the decision in about 30 minutes.

Bologna’s defense lawyer Fortunato N. Perri Jr. told the jury during closing arguments that his client’s life had been a “nightmare” during the 3½ years since he was arrested for his actions, which took place during the June 1 melee on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Center City.

The Philadelphia Police Department faced heavy scrutiny over its use of force during that summer’s protests over racial injustice and police brutality. That includes Bologna, who was accused by multiple people of using excessive force during demonstrations.

Bologna shook hands with fellow police after the jury announced its verdict. He did not take questions from reporters.

“Finally, somebody took a long, hard, look at the law in this case, and found that Joe Bologna did nothing other than his job that day,” Perri said outside of the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice after the verdict. “He appreciates all the support he has received.”

Much of Perri’s defense rested on a section of the Philadelphia police code that says use of force is justified when a subject — in this case, then-21-year-old Evan Gorski — resists arrest or appears to threaten bodily harm.

District Attorney Larry Krasner, when asked about Bologna’s acquittal during an unrelated news conference, said that he had no criticism of the jury’s decision, but that his office was “obviously hoping for a different verdict.”

“I know that the culture in the system, the culture in society, tends to give every benefit of the doubt to law enforcement who are charged with crimes,” Krasner said. “We accept this outcome. I am proud of the fact that our investigations unit worked so hard to try to get justice in ways that my predecessors never even tried.”

Bologna’s trial ended after a little over a day. Ending his closing argument with a multipronged pitch, Perri said that Bologna’s choice to strike Gorski with his metal baton — as Gorski attempted to intervene in another arrest — was a “quick decision” made in a “rapidly evolving” situation, and that the former inspector had ultimately been acting to quell further protesting.

The defense lawyer reiterated that a Philadelphia Police Internal Affairs report had found no evidence of departmental violations on Bologna’s part, and told the jury that, ultimately, a medical examination found that Gorski was never struck directly on the head with Bologna’s baton.

Before Wednesday’s deliberations began, Bologna’s defense team and prosecutors reached a rare agreement — that if the city’s former medical examiner had testified, he would have presented a report that found Gorski was struck in the upper left area of his back, and that Gorski’s bloody laceration came from Bologna’s bike helmet.

After the trial, Gorski said that although he understood the jury’s decision based off of admissible evidence, he was “ultimately disappointed” with the outcome.

Gorski said he would still like an apology from Bologna, but his expectations are low after he didn’t receive one during his civil lawsuit against the city that settled for $175,000 in 2022.

“I appreciate the DA for at least dropping the charges against me and doing this,” Gorski said, referencing the initial police accusation that it was he who had assaulted Bologna. Krasner’s office eventually dropped that charge after viewing the widely shared video of Bologna striking the student.

“Ten years ago, this would have been very different,” Gorski added, noting the impact of the recording.

Meanwhile, the verdict was met with enthusiasm from the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5.

“A jury of Joe Bologna’s peers listened intently to the evidence presented at trial and rendered a fair and just verdict,” Roosevelt Poplar, the police union’s president, said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

Asked whether Bologna would try to get back his job with the Philadelphia Police Department, Perri said his client would “look at all his options.” Later in the day, the FOP confirmed that it would begin the process of getting Bologna reinstated.

“Hopefully, he gets back to work,” Perri said.