Cherelle Parker’s inauguration included an awkward shout-out and high-profile scuffle; Joe Biden comes to town

Philadelphia had a shared experience Tuesday — difficulty getting into Mayor Cherelle Parker’s inauguration at The Met on North Broad Street, where the line to enter stretched around the block as the curtain was set to go up.

Clout has two tales about that:

One person who had no trouble getting into Parker’s inauguration Tuesday was New York Mayor Eric Adams.

That’s because he wasn’t there.

Parker wasn’t so sure.

Her prepared speech, which ran to more than 2,300 words, included a short shout-out to Adams near the top.

In her actual speech, which included a series of off-script remarks and ran just over an hour, Parker said this:

“I’m not sure if it’s true, but someone told me that we have Mayor Eric Adams from New York here. Wherever you are, hello Mr. Mayor.”

Heads craned in the crowd as the packed audience scanned for the mayor who was not there.

Adams was, at that moment, 80 miles away in New York’s City Hall delivering his first public comments of the new year.

Clout hears Adams was not scheduled to be there but that Parker and her staff heard at the last minute that he was in the audience. So they added his name to her speech before it was clear he wasn’t really there.

Former Mayor John Street was seated Tuesday on stage as Mayor Cherelle Parker was inaugurated as Philadelphia’s 100th mayor.

But first he faced a scuffle at the back door of the venue, where his grandson, the son of Pennsylvania Democratic Party chair Sharif Street, was arrested for allegedly punching a security guard in the face.

As you might expect, there are competing versions of what actually prompted the fracas.

The Philadelphia Police Department said the 80-year-old former mayor and his grandson, Sharif Street Jr., 24, were turned away from the backdoor around 10:10 a.m. at The Met, the grand old North Philadelphia theater where Parker was sworn into office.

The former mayor was scheduled to be on stage for the ceremony, which was set to begin at 10 a.m. The line to get in the front entrance stretched around the block more than an hour before the curtain went up.

Street’s grandson told Clout the guard grabbed the former mayor, who identified himself and explained why he was trying to enter.

“I saw my grandfather get grabbed and I just sort of blacked out,” he said.

Police said Street’s grandson, who was charged with simple assault and disorderly conduct, punched the guard in the face and then struggled with officers who arrested him.

His father, a Democratic state senator whose district includes the North Broad Street theater, told Clout in a statement that his son was “protecting his grandfather when the security guard initiated the altercation.”

Sen. Street added: “I do not condone violence of any kind, but I am certain that any hired personnel need to be firmly trained when handling people of all ages looking to enjoy an event.”

The guard, police said, was treated at the scene for injuries to his face.

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, chair of the Democratic City Committee, said he did not see the altercation but spoke to the former mayor and the state senator about it later.

“They were pushing his grandfather around,” said Brady. “How can you not recognize John Street? The guy got physical with him. He was the mayor.”

Parker gave the former mayor a warm shout-out during her hour-long speech, calling his signature Neighborhood Transformation Initiative program to address blight “a thing people will never forget.”

Court records show Sharif Street Jr., who was arrested for disorderly conduct in September for an unrelated incident, was approved on Dec. 11 for a court diversion program that required him to do five hours of community service.

Parker spokesperson Joe Grace referred Clout to the Police Department when asked for comment. Met spokesperson Ike Richman also referred Clout to the Police Department.

President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak in Blue Bell Friday about the three-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection. He’ll use that to cast the man he defeated in 2020 and is likely to face again this year — Donald Trump — as a threat to democracy.

Expect to hear about Jan. 6 from candidates up and down the ballot this year.

State Rep. Ryan Bizzarro of Erie County, who was endorsed for state treasurer by the Democratic Party three weeks ago, will use an event on the steps of the state capitol in Harrisburg on Friday to connect incumbent Treasurer Stacy Garrity to the insurrection.

Garrity, a Bradford County Republican, spoke at a Jan. 5, 2021 rally in Harrisburg where state legislators were urged to reject Pennsylvania’s votes in the 2020 election.

U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, the York County Republican Trump ally who worked to overturn the 2020 election, faces a new lawsuit seeking to remove him from the ballot as he runs for a seventh term.

Activist Gene Stilp argues that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution bars from office people who engaged in insurrection.

And State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Franklin County Republican who pushed to overturn the 2020 election and attended the Jan. 6 rally before the riot, now faces an ethics complaint for those efforts.

State Sen. Art Haywood, a Democrat who represents parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County, said his complaint is a push to maintain integrity in the Senate.

The lawsuit and ethics complaint don’t need to succeed to reintroduce the remnants of the Jan. 6 chaos into the 2024 conversation.

Staff Writer Anna Orso contributed to this column.

Clout provides often irreverent news and analysis about people, power, and politics.