Looting Continues in Philadelphia

UPDATE Sep 28, 2023 3:06 PM CDT

The looting in Philadelphia continues. At least eight businesses were burglarized overnight, resulting in six more arrests, say police, per NBC News. That brings to nearly 60 the number of arrests when combined with Tuesday night. The businesses raided Wednesday night included a Walmart, a Family Dollar, and an Auto Zone. Police also said a state-run liquor store was burglarized Thursday, even thought it and all other such stores had been closed because of the earlier looting. The unrest follows the dismissal of charges against police officer Mark Dial in the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry.

Sep 27, 2023 8:42 AM CDT

A peaceful protest followed word Tuesday that former Philadelphia police officer Mark Dial would escape charges after fatally shooting a motorist last month. Then came mass looting. "Large groups of young people broke into numerous stores across Philadelphia Tuesday night, stealing merchandise and vandalizing property," reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. The first reports of break-ins came around 8pm, about half an hour after the protest at City Hall broke up, per CNN. But Acting Police Commissioner John Stanford said protesters who demanded justice in the death of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry did not participate in the unrest. "What we had tonight was a bunch of criminal opportunists take advantage of a situation and try to destroy our city," he said. "It's disgusting."

Stanford said young people had formed groups on social media to organize the unrest. "We're investigating that there was possibly a caravan of a number of different vehicles that were going from location to location," he said. Video footage showed people breaking into an Apple Store, a Foot Locker, a Lululemon, and a Fine Wine & Good Spirits store, smashing windows and tossing around merchandise. One video showed officers tackling some individuals, per the Inquirer. Police had arrested 20 people, many of them juveniles, by midnight, the outlet reports, adding that at least two guns were recovered. The city of Philadelphia's managing director, Tumar Alexander, said the situation was "disrespectful to the Irizarry family," which has repeatedly called for peaceful action. (More Philadelphia stories.)