It’s not the summer of 2020 but looting is making a comeback in the news, with at least 18 Philadelphia Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores broken into on Tuesday night in a spate of robberies and lootings, leading the city to crack down on Wednesday night by closing all of the stores, as well as another one in Cheltenham Township, a neighboring community.
The situation began on Tuesday night, when a crowd of 100 or more youths looted retail shops in the city. The aforementioned city liquor stores were targeted by the looters, as were Lululemon, Apple, and Foot Locker retail locations.
According to Police Commissioner John Stanford, the looting began at about 10 pm EST, leading to police officers being deployed to the area en masse. Santford, speaking to reporters, said, “What we had tonight was a bunch of criminal opportunists take advantage of a situation and make an attempt to destroy our city. It’s not going to be tolerated.”
Stanford added that the looting was looting, not a protest, saying, “This had nothing to do with the protests. What we had tonight was a bunch of criminal opportunists take advantage of a situation to make an attempt to destroy our city.”
Despite that tough messaging, the looting was substantial enough to lead to the liquor store closures, as many of those were targeted while open, with employees inside them, putting the employees at serious risk. Shawn Kelly, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, said, “Fortunately, no employees were hurt, although some were understandably shaken.”
Kelly added that the stores will reopen “when it is safe to do so and when the damage is repaired.” Kelly then added, “We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience, and we appreciate their patience and understanding.”
One of the looters involved was a live streamer and criminal known as “Meatball,” as Antifa journalist Andy Ngo pointed out on Twitter, saying, “Dayjia Blackwell, aka known as “Meatball,” posted livestream videos inciting #BLM rioting and looting in Philadelphia. She was one of the approximately 20 who was arrested following mass looting targeting a liquor store, Lululemon, Footlocker, Apple and others.“
The Wall Street Silver Twitter account, drawing attention to what looting of this magnitude represents, said, “Every single retail store in these cities is going to have to close eventually. There is just no way to make a profit with this type of stuff constantly happening. There are surely no new stores popping up. So it is just a decline as they each give up and move their operations purely online. This is a win for Amazon and online retailers.”
Elon Musk drew further attention to the matter by commenting on the Wall Street Silver tweet about the issue, writing, “America is going full Joker,” in reference to the “Joker” movie about anarchy striking Gotham. “Escape from New York” might, at this point, be the more accurate cinema reference.
Watch the looting here:
🚨#BREAKING: All philly liquor stores have been closed today after at least 18 were broken after last night’s mass looting in Philadelphia pic.twitter.com/0Btz2jASv2
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) September 27, 2023
Here’s another video:
Looters target Foot Locker, Apple, Lululemon, and Fine Wine & Good Spirits, leading to intense police confrontations and a state of anarchy in Philadelphia's Center City.
Apple Store: 02:48
Lululemon: 05:00
Fine Wine & Good Spirits: 09:22 pic.twitter.com/EAQ81grl0k— BoreCure (@CureBore) September 27, 2023
Dayjia Blackwell, aka known as "Meatball," posted livestream videos inciting #BLM rioting and looting in Philadelphia. She was one of the approximately 20 who was arrested following mass looting targeting a liquor store, Lululemon, Footlocker, Apple and others. https://t.co/Avrtbe5Rnx pic.twitter.com/C68OpSThKt
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) September 27, 2023
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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