ABC 7 Chicago reports that overnight large, organized gangs have wrought a swathe of destruction and looting across the poshest shopping districts in Chicago:
CHICAGO (WLS) — Looting and property damage has been reported throughout downtown Chicago overnight.
Videos posted to social media showed large crowds breaking windows and entering stores along the Magnificent Mile.
The looting continued into early Monday morning and police could not provide details about specific incidents or numbers of arrests.
Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown and Mayor Lori Lightfoot are scheduled to hold a press conference Monday at 8:00 a.m. to discuss the overnight violence.
Witnesses said the looting appeared to be a coordinated effort with multiple cars dropping off groups of people, who then smash-and-grab merchandise in the store, and take off running in opposite directions before police can respond to each incident.
Chicago police confirmed an officer did exchange gunfire with a suspect Monday near Michigan Avenue and Lake Street.
According to police, officers were attempting to arrest a looting suspect when a car pulled up
CPD spokesperson Tom Ahern said in a tweet that someone fired shots at responding officers and police returned fire.
Well, that should be a confidence builder.
I only see a limited number of possible outcomes. Either the authorities get control of this situation very quickly or individuals and businesses will start exiting downtown Chicago en masse, in numbers that will be shocking.
This is the fruit of years of incompetent mayoral, police, and state’s attorney’s office leadership. Add to that the ease of organizing such gangs via social media and the frustration of the lockdowns and other restrictions and you see the outcome.
Update
In case there is any doubt it, what happened in Chicago last night has no political basis at all. It was not Antifa. It was not BLM. It was not the KKK or white supremacists. It was organized crime. I’m hearing some “community organizers” trying to blur the lines. No demonstrations or protests were going on. This is crime. Period.
Society’s racially marginalized are justified in spontaneous outbursts of violence. That’s the prevailing wisdom. Speak against it at your peril.
I’d suggest tastefully designed impenetrable barriers such as have reduced violence in Israel.
Chicago, the gated city with your safety in mind.
That idea is certainly being spread around. The mayor is belatedly pushing back against it. She should have started that a month ago.
Are you sure about this? I’ve reviewed some of the local media coverage. They say its “mostly peaceful.”
There must be some misunderstanding.
As I’ve pointed out before World Wars I and II were “mostly peaceful”.
As was the period between the two World Wars. The Russia Civil War, the Holodomor, the conquest of Ethiopia, the invasion of China, the Great Terror of Russia, etc. etc. – all these inconsequential hiccups in a very very peaceful era.
Orwellian language, forsooth. Cognitive dissonance is spreading faster than COVID-19, and people are proud of it.
What you allow you encourage. Such is the state of letting people run wild without constraints. As long as one only sees unchecked violence on the news, someplace else other than their own community or neighborhood, it’s all good. However, when it seeps into their own personal sphere, then all changes.