The looting and destruction continued during overnight riots in New York City for a third night in a row, even as Mayor Bill de Blasio reported “limited protest activity” in Manhattan.
Fox News crews on the scene in SoHo reported hundreds of people stealing from luxury stores – including Chanel and Dior – for hours on Sunday night going into the early hours of Monday morning. The looters were seen piling shoplifted merchandise into vehicles while others rode off with the merchandise in black garbage bags balanced on CitiBikes.
Eyewitnesses told Fox News the looting started before 11 p.m. Sunday, following a day of protests demanding justice for the death of George Floyd while in police custody. The daytime demonstrations had been largely peaceful, according to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea.
“Most of the day we had large crowds throughout the city in multiple boroughs [on Sunday]. But when it got dark, things changed and it changed rapidly,” Shea said on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” on Monday morning. “We anticipated it, but you saw large groups of people had no inclination to all this protest once it got dark, particularly in the area of SoHo between Canal and West Broadway. We had a number of stores broken into.”
Fox News reported nearly two dozen stores destroyed, defaced or broken into, and looters emptying the shops while throwing debris at news crews and littering the streets with discarded shoeboxes and miscellaneous clothing items.
Meanwhile, de Blasio took to Twitter before midnight on Sunday to say he had been at Union Square and Barclays Center but saw little protest activity. Looters were seen on the scene past 3 a.m.
Rolex store in NYC’s SoHopic.twitter.com/1P8kF9RlG9
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 1, 2020
The NYPD avoided scrimmages with thieves and instead focused on clearing the streets, which saw thousands of demonstrators throughout the weekend.
A spokesperson for the NYPD told Fox News over 250 arrests were made on Sunday and seven officers were injured in the process. Additionally, 11 police vehicles were vandalized, the NYPD said.
Shea described looters as “people taking an opportunity at the worst time” and urged the community to “come together.”
I honestly never thought I would see a robbery in progress but tonight I did. Dozens of robberies in SoHo tonight from small stores to big name brands. Words can’t describe it. @News12BK @News12BX #GeorgeFloyd #NYCPROTEST #GeorgeFloydProtests #protests #newyorkprotest #looting pic.twitter.com/92aG2RuFqf
— Justine Miller (@JustineIMiller) June 1, 2020
Earlier in the day, Mayor de Blasio had rejected the idea of a curfew, like those adopted in other major U.S. cities.
The Democrat credited police for “tremendous restraint,” but appointed two city officials to review incidents caught on video, including an officer ripping a man’s mask off to spray his face with a chemical and two police cruisers lurching into a crowd of demonstrators in Brooklyn.
“We all better get back to the humanity here,” de Blasio said. “The protesters are human beings. They need to be treated with tremendous respect. The police officers are human beings. They need to be treated with tremendous respect.”
Since the protests began days ago, at least 790 people have been arrested, 33 officers have been injured and 27 police vehicles have been damaged or destroyed, police said. There were no major injuries reported.
WHICH IS WHY WE WILL ALL VOTE FOR TRUMP COME NOVEMBER TO END THE ARNACHY!
TO PARAPHRASE SLEEPY JOE BIDEN.
IF YOU DONT VOTE TRUMP YOUR NOT JEWISH!
This is happening while trump is in office… we may be Jews and he has helped us but as the president of the United States he is not helping the general America…vote him out of office
These poor people have suffered 400 years in a system that casts them as the underdog. We can blame only ourselves for not being understanding enough.
Stealing TVs and other items from stores what does that have to do with a guy getting killed And you see them all smiling and laughing and having a great time I don’t see people who are suffering
None of these people are close to 400 years old they grew up with the same freedoms as we do, now we can’t blame ourselves for hating them- (these rioting thug’s) not because they’re black, rather because they are looting stores and burning things and nearly killing people, they don’t respect other people’s liberty so they don’t deserve any
If they want to show that black lives matter, this is not the way to do it. Acting like thugs will only cause more racism not less. Act like a human being and you’ll be treated as one. We’ve been prosecuted in every generation yet we never lowered ourselves to such a level. Black lives matter, but so do white lives. Every life is precious and no excuse in the world justifies the killing and no excuse justifies these riots either.
Or most likely, pro violence and theft.
U got this way wrong man, that’s just wrong. Looting, rioting, shooting tear gas, almost killing people who are trying to protect their stores, etc. etc. has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING/ZILTCH/SQUAT to do with slavery…IT WAS ALREADY 150 YEARS SINCE THEN!! THEY’RE ANIMALS, DUDE!! FREAKIN ANIMALS!! DON’T START COMING TO THEIR PITY PARTY AND EXPECT EVERYONE ELSE TO COME TOO!!
What does this have to do with their “cause” ????
THEIR ATTITUDE IS IF THE POLICE CAN COMMIT MURDER WHY CAN’T WE STEAL
The officer was condemned by everyone and will get prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
However you seem to identify with and will not condemn these anarchist.
My dog killed himself so I’m gonna copy him?
You don’t steal bc a murder happened. That’s not an answer
If one police did something wrong doesn’t justify thousands of people to steel and damage property.
I’m not understanding what did these stores do them? What’s their message? That they know how to act simply out of hand? What does this have to do with Gorge being killed?
It not just about George it’s about all the other African Americans that were killed in the hands of white cops. Call this the last straw on the camels back
Its just that these swindlers found a perfect time to steal, perfect opportunity amid crazy chaos.
If you walked by a store that had a broken window and you could go in and take what you want (seemingly) without consequence, would you? If before that happened, someone of the same skin color or religion (or however you identify yourself) who you don’t personally know, in another town, got murdered by an authority figure, would that change your perspective on whether to rob and vandalize and “vent”? And what if also, there were many others with whom you identify, already stealing and looting and vandalizing, would you join? Ultimately, these times identify who and what people are… Read more »
All of humanity agrees that what happened to George was beyond horrible and the policeman was cruel and murderous and should be treated as such.
But THIS – destroying property, stealing, and violent behavior has NOTHING to do with George’s death, they are just using it as an excuse.
Peaceful protests is one thing, fine.
This violence and looting is absolutely unacceptable.
The people that were looting they were not there to protest,they were there to loot, and there were thousands of people that were just protesting and the protesters were not happy that people came tolootl
This is horrific, Sadly the one thing that looks like all these Stores have in common is that None of these stores have any store gate when closed, just the glass, which with bricks and hard objects do break and give the criminals entry, We need to be prepared in case Chas Vishalom this escelates, All CH Stores that do Not have a gate (i would estimate about 60 percent have a gate, and about 40 percent either does not have a gate or does not have a gate covering over All the Windows/Doors giving a entry way if the… Read more »
Assuming that the “peaceful” protests were hijacked by some who were encouraging rioting, violence and stealing, it is reckless for the Mayor not to impose a curfew after the first night of rioting, and not to ask the Governor to bring in the National Guard as a back up. The Mayor is more worried about the progressive vote, which sympathizes with criminal behavior, rather than upholding the rule of law in a just society. Mayor and Governor discuss curfew. https://1010wins.radio.com/articles/de-blasio-to-discuss-curfew-with-gov-cuomo-after-protests
Jay dont Loot
#2 YOU ARE AS ANONYMOUS AS SLEEPY JOE BIDEN AND NANCY PSYCOSI.
THIS IS THE WORK OF THE DEMOCRATICS WHO HAVE UNDERMINED OUR PRESIDENT FROM DAY ONE.
Total incompetence from the Cuomo, DiBalzio and the NYPD, for shame !!!
NYC knows how to squeeze hard earned money from law abiding citizens but is TOTALLY IGNORANT in EVERYTHING ELSE. DiBalsio should be thrown in jail !!!
Let’s remember the blackouts…… the same looting…smashing storefronts, stealing whatever could be carried away…. what was the cause for anger then?? This is an area where change is needed, this is a culture in need of reform. Leaders need to take responsibility!! G-d Bless America!
The looters they knew what stores to hit the broke into Michael koors store onfifth ave,Bloomingdales, Kathy Spade, Gucci, and more, don’t know why a lot of these stores did not have gates up
These aren’t the majority of the protesters who are looting, these are groups of people who are taking advantage of this time to steal. Not related to George Floyd. The problem is, so many people have the mentality that these people are bad and violent and so many other wrong things, so when some people do things like this, they overgeneralize and group them all together. To say that this isn’t helping their name is wrong, since you’re the one who has created the name! “The name” only exist because you think like that, so when a few people do… Read more »