Looters Raid Stores in Philadelphia Rampage

"Unlock the keys to your financial future and legacy –
Get it now -- https://shorturl.at/nvCU5 "

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Looters Raid Stores in Philadelphia Rampage.
Large groups of young people broke into numerous stores across Philadelphia Tuesday night, stealing merchandise and vandalizing property, Acting Police Commissioner John Stanford said.

By midnight, police had arrested upwards of 20 people, many of whom were juveniles, Stanford said, and at least two guns were recovered. The unrest stretched from Center City to Northeast and West Philadelphia, with business corridors along Aramingo Avenue and Walnut Street targeted through the night.

Initial reports of break-ins near Rittenhouse Square began just after 8 p.m., shortly after protesters had dispersed from a peaceful gathering at City Hall, where marchers called for justice for Eddie Irizarry, who was shot and killed by a Philadelphia Police officer last month. Earlier Tuesday, a judge dismissed all charges against the officer who killed him, setting off a wave of outrage in the community.

Stanford was quick to make clear that Irizarry’s supporters had nothing to do with Tuesday night’s unrest. He called the young people who looted “criminal opportunists” who were not affiliated with the earlier gathering.

“This had nothing to do with the protests,” Stanford said. “What we had tonight was a bunch of criminal opportunists take advantage of a situation and try to destroy our city.”

“It’s disgusting,” he said. “Our city can’t afford this nonsense.”

The young people involved, Stanford said, appeared to have organized their efforts on social media, and once one group started, others followed suit. He said police believe there was a caravan of cars moving between locations across the city and breaking into stores and pharmacies. A couple of the people involved in that group have been arrested, he said.

Stay out of center city: Kids looted Apple Store , Lululemon and Chestnut street I hear footlocker has been broken into. this is 17th and Walnut pic.twitter.com/RjcGxu6lES

Videos posted online showed groups of young people breaking into the Apple Store near 16th and Walnut Streets. As police pursued fleeing teens, officers recovered dropped iPhones and, in one location, a “pile of iPads.”

The groups moved down the block to Foot Locker and Lululemon, and videos showed numerous teens fleeing the store with clothing. Officers attempted to apprehend some of them, and tackled a few to the ground.

Police had cleared and secured the Rittenhouse area by 9:10 p.m., and locked down a four-block stretch.

Police later reported stores being vandalized along Aramingo Avenue in Port Richmond and other locations in North Philadelphia.

One woman livestreamed dozens of people breaking into a Fine Wine & Good Spirits store. Her video stream ended when, as she drove away, police appeared to pull