(TheRedWire.com) – On Tuesday night, the Philadelphia Police Department responded to a number of looting incidents in multiple stores, including Foot Locker, Lululemon, and the Apple Store. The Police reported that the looting efforts appeared to have been coordinated.
Jim Kenney, the mayor of Philadelphia, called the incidents a “display of opportunistic criminal activity.” Throughout the night, as many as 100 culprits, many of whom were teenagers, had been involved in the efforts to steal merchandise.
John Stanford, the Interim Commissioner, noted that these people were waiting for an opportunity and would destroy the city. He also told reporters on Wednesday morning that they were “criminal opportunists.”
Many videos also emerged on social media showing masked people going into many different stores and taking as much merchandise as they could before fleeing. The incident was described as a flash mob-style ransacking, and the police managed to arrest as many as 20 suspects.
Later on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s office stated that at least 30 people would be facing charges connected to the ransacking, with most people being charged with theft and burglary, while one person is facing charges for illegal gun possession. The rise in criminal activity came after a judge dismissed the case against a white police officer in Philadelphia who had fatally shot Eddie Irizarry, a Black resident.
However, Stanford affirmed that the ransacking was not connected to protests about that case, nor were the suspects protesting.
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