Violence toward - and between - city officials throughout Philly history

The knife attack Wednesday night on Philadelphia City Councilman David Oh proves that violence in the city is not limited to the governed.

The random and anonymous nature of Oh's attack appears to be unprecedented in city history. But Philly's history does contain several instances of political, accidental, or personal destructiveness against city officials.

Here are a few examples from the Inquirer and Daily News archives of other public officials involved in acts of violence:

On July 5, 1895, 49-year-old Common Councilman Charles Kinsler of the 2nd Ward was accidentally shot and killed during a flag-raising ceremony at the former Williard Social Club in South Philadelphia.

City Councilman Al Pearlman, who was suffering from cancer, shot himself in his room at Pennsylvania Hospital in June 1984. He was 54.

In February 1979, a crowd of demonstrators disputing the use of federal funds disrupted a City Council meeting, inciting a near-riot that culminated in the arrests of 13 people (including then-State Rep. Milton Street and his brother John), and a fight between two councilmen. As police were escorting protestors out of the room, Councilman Franny Rafferty — partially blaming fellow Councilman Lucien Blackwell for the mayhem — yelled: "You get people hurt" and then called him a "Racist." Blackwell retorted: "You make me that way." The two then started scuffling, and Rafferty punched Blackwell in the face. After the scuffle subsided, Blackwell told reporters that Rafferty "punches like a sissy."

On the afternoon of Sept. 9, 1981, 63-year-old ex-City Councilman Gaetano Giordano was stabbed in the hand when he attempted to stop a fight over a fruit selection between a customer and an employee of his Italian Market store, Giordano's Market, at Ninth Street and Washington Avenue.