Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

Homeless man says he attacked Nutter's security guard because he wanted to yell at the mayor

A homeless man who tussled with Mayor Nutter and a security officer says he fears Nutter will boot him from rain-shielded sleeping spot during pope visit.

George Creamer, the homeless man who tussled with Mayor Nutter, says he’s upset about security plans for papal visit. (WENDY RUDERMAN / DAILY NEWS STAFF)
George Creamer, the homeless man who tussled with Mayor Nutter, says he’s upset about security plans for papal visit. (WENDY RUDERMAN / DAILY NEWS STAFF)Read more

THE MULTITIERED granite steps from the concourse of the Municipal Services Building provide more than just an egress from SEPTA's underground rail line to the Center City streets above.

The steps, or rather the cavernous space beneath them, offer refuge from the rain for Philadelphia's homeless.

"This is the only dry place we can go in Center City," George Creamer said yesterday after yet another soaker left puddles near his cardboard sleeping mat. "Trust me, I'd rather sleep out underneath the stars, but on nights like tonight, when it's going to rain, there is going to be 20 people down here."

Creamer was vexed when he learned recently from police officers who patrol the area that the city will restrict access to the area as part of a security plan for Pope Francis' visit. So when Creamer spotted Mayor Nutter on Monday afternoon, the 56-year-old homeless man said he got "mad."

At the time, Nutter, along with unidentified officials, was exploring the MSB concourse, where homeless people often congregate.

"I wasn't trying to talk to [Nutter]. I was trying to yell at him," Creamer recounted.

That's how Creamer ended up in a tussle with an officer on Nutter's security detail, prompting Nutter to intervene.

An eyewitness with a cellphone captured the altercation on video. Television stations CBS and ABC aired footage of the incident.

In the video, an agitated Creamer struts back and forth near the mayor. As the officer guarding Nutter tells him to step back, Creamer grabs the guard and yanks him to the ground. The guard then rolls on top of Creamer and holds him down by the throat. Nutter jumps in to defuse the situation.

"My main role here was to really try to just calm him down and have him understand that no one's here to do anything to you," Nutter said Tuesday night, adding that nothing like this has ever happened during his eight years as mayor.

Nutter spokesman Mark McDonald said there were no injuries or arrests. He said he was "not at liberty" to discuss the nature of Nutter's concourse visit.

"It was a private meeting and they were having a discussion and I'm not authorized to say what they were talking about," McDonald said yesterday.

McDonald declined to say whether the discussion pertained to security surrounding the World Meeting of Families being held here in September. The U.S. Secret Service is in charge of security for the event, he pointed out.

Creamer said he did not mean for things to get out of hand.

"Supposedly, they are going to block all this off when the pope comes and I was mad about that," he said. He said he suffered a minor cut just above his left eyebrow during the struggle, which he brushed off.