On a sunny October afternoon, two members of the Black Panther Party, dressed head to toe in black with assault-style guns slung over their shoulders, patrolled the streets of Chester, Pennsylvania.

Their names were Paul Birdsong and Tajh Carter. As they passed bustling storefronts, abandoned buildings, and graffiti-covered walls, residents stopped to greet them. Some thanked them for patrolling or shouted “Black Power.” Others expressed concern about people walking the streets carrying such large weapons.

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“We came out here because people kept asking us to come and patrol,” said Birdsong, the group’s 40-year-old chairman. He was holding an assault-style pistol and had an AK-style rifle dangling across his back.

It has been a tumultuous year for the group, inspired by the original Black Panther Party founded in 1960s California. Birdsong’s Panthers drew international headlines in January for railing against police and federal immigration agents while patrolling Philadelphia and handing out food. In a video that went viral, Birdsong can be seen holding an assault-style rifle while berating officers about his right to be armed. A later confrontation with police prompted the city to revoke Birdsong’s and several other Panthers’ licenses to carry firearms.

After their run-in with police in Philadelphia, the Panthers expanded their patrols to nearby Chester in February. The group says its mission is to protect people from gun violence, drug dealers, and heavy-handed law enforcement. In Chester, a predominantly Black city of 32,500, they have found a mixed reception. While city officials are divided over whether the patrols are needed, many residents have welcomed the group.

“I love what I see. Anybody that’s for the community and can protect the people in the community, I’m for it,” said Devon Walls, who owns a downtown Chester performing arts theater. Walls added that he feels more comfortable around the Panthers than police officers because of the history of strained relations between law enforcement and Black communities. “It’s a breath of fresh air to see people that’s for us.”

Mixed reactions

Chester, where Birdsong lives, is nestled on the western bank of the Delaware River 15 miles south of Philadelphia. The city has struggled with crime and economic hardship for decades. Once a hub for shipbuilding and automobile manufacturing, the city lost jobs and population as factories moved overseas in the 1960s. In 2022, the city filed for bankruptcy.

Even though Chester’s violent crime rate is higher than the state and national averages, the city has made progress in recent years. In 2025, murders, robberies, and nonfatal shootings and other aggravated assaults all fell to their lowest levels in at least a decade.

Some residents said they were proud of the city’s strides but believed the Panthers could still improve their neighborhoods. Even though Birdsong and Carter, 25, are the only Panthers in Chester, Birdsong said his goal is to set up a full-fledged chapter in the city. As they patrolled the downtown area on October 6, locals treated them like celebrities.

Vincent Oberton, a 38-year-old auto mechanic, spotted the Panthers while driving past and pulled over to shake their hands. “When these brothers are around, I feel safer,” Oberton said. “I don’t have to worry about anybody stopping me or doing anything to me.”

Some city officials are less enthusiastic. Mayor Stefan Roots declined to discuss the group with The Trace, but his spokesperson said he stood by his comments to the Delaware County Daily Times in September. “I wish they weren’t here,” Roots told the newspaper, referring to the Panthers. “I wish there were stronger gun laws that would allow us to tell them to put their stuff away.”

Police Commissioner Katrina Blackwell worried that the patrols could lead to confrontations between the Panthers and her officers. “I don’t think we need them,” she told The Trace.

Birdsong had a run-in with Chester Police after expanding his patrols into the city. In July, Blackwell’s officers arrested him for allegedly carrying a concealed gun without a license. Birdsong claims both of his guns were holstered in plain sight, making them legal, but officers alleged that one was hidden in his pocket. “They tried to set me up,” Birdsong told The Trace.

Birdsong’s attorney, Lyandra Retacco, declined to comment on the arrest except to say she has halted efforts to restore Birdsong’s Philadelphia license until the Chester case is resolved.

While Birdsong awaits trial for the gun arrest, he has also been grappling with pushback from the original Black Panther Party, which accused his group of stoking violence with its rhetoric. The backlash prompted Birdsong to rename his group the Black Lions, but he switched back to the Black Panthers several months ago.

Chester City Council members at first had reservations about the Black Panthers, but a closed-door meeting with the group in September eased their concerns.

“Initially, I had an issue with the guns. I’m still a bit uncomfortable,” said Councilperson and Deputy Mayor Portia West. “But I support them being here if they’re going to have a supportive role in the community, and there’s no violence.”

Councilperson Fred Green said, regardless of how people feel about the armed patrols, the law is on the Panthers’ side. “They are doing nothing illegal,” Green said, “and they have a right to be here.”

Antonio Hunter, an outreach specialist with the Chester Community Coalition, a group that supports victims of gun violence, wondered if the Panthers’ approach to crime fighting might have an unintended consequence.

“If an incident happens, maybe a week after the incident, someone they had the incident with may come to them and try to cause violence,” Hunter said. “So, I have concern for them and think they have to be careful.”

Still, Hunter said he didn’t think the patrols were necessarily a bad idea. “Pretty intimidating — very intimidating,” he said, looking at photos of the Panthers. “But if it gets the job done, so be it.”

Mensah Dean is a staff writer at The Trace. Previously he was a staff writer on the Justice & Injustice team at The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he focused on gun violence, corruption and wrongdoing in the public and private sectors for five years. Dean also covered criminal courts, public schools and city government for the Philadelphia Daily News, The Inquirer’s sister publication.

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