Philadelphia

Rizzo Statue Egg-Tosser Sentenced to Community Service

He is one of two men charged during tense August protests with alleged vandalism of the Frank Rizzo statue.

The penalty works out to an hour per egg.

Brandon Templin, the young man accused of hitting the Frank Rizzo statue with four eggs in August, accepted a judge's offer Tuesday to do four hours of community service in return for what Templin's lawyer called a conditional not guilty plea.

Templin, 26, whose address on court documents is listed as Maplewood, New Jersey, was one of two people charged during a couple weeks of intense protests at the statue in mid-August.

"He said, 'I can volunteer at a food kitchen for four hours and this will all be like it never happened? Great,'" one of his six pro bono attorneys, Michael Coard, said. 

He faced disorderly conduct and criminal mischief charges that will be dismissed if Templin completes the community service, Coard said.

Another man accused of vandalizing the Rizzo statue faces more serious charges for allegedly spraypainting the words "black power."

Wali Rahman, a former Philadelphia mayoral candidate who received about 3 percent of the vote in 2011, has a trial scheduled Nov. 29 on four charges stemming from the alleged incident.

They are criminal mischief, possession of an instrument of crime, institutional vandalism and intentional desecration of a public monument.

Others were arrested in the protests at the statue, including a Philadelphia school teacher charged with terroristic threats for allegedly threatening a police officer.

The debate over replacing the Rizzo statue is far from over, after thousands of proposals were submitted to the city at Mayor Jim Kenney's suggestion. The city will review all the proposals, and the Art Commission will eventually decide the statue's fate.

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