Philadelphia: Teens Ransack Stores in 'Flash Mob' Robberies

0:00

/0:00

1×

Facts

• More than 20 people were arrested Tuesday after groups of teenagers broke into several stores in downtown Philadelphia, stealing merchandise and vandalizing property.¹
• The flash mob-style activity began shortly after the conclusion of a peaceful protest that was held in response to a judge’s decision to dismiss charges against a police officer who shot and killed Eddie Irizarry through a rolled-up car window.²
• John Stanford, Philadelphia’s acting police commissioner, stressed that the looting was not related to the protest, calling the rioters “criminal opportunists.”³
• Police appeared to have contained the criminal activity by midnight Tuesday.⁴
• Irizarry’s shooting attracted national attention because body-cam footage of the incident contradicted prior police accounts.³

Sources: ¹Inquirer, ²Associated Press, ³USA Today and ⁴Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by Breitbart. Big, Democrat-run cities like Philadelphia bring this activity on themselves with their decriminalization policies that have empowered people to commit crimes without fear of punishment. Types of activity like coordinated 'flash mob' robberies are a feature, not a bug, for Democrats who think that their reckless policies will help them at the polls.

Predictions