Following a string of mass-looting and organized retail theft that broke out across Philadelphia last week, the District Attorney has announced that he will seek to determine whether or not the rioters are “fundamentally law-abiding people” before prosecuting their crimes.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told reporters that he plans to prosecute looters in an “even-handed way.”
“We’re going to prosecute people in an even-handed way. We’re not going to let any judge – who thinks there is a caste system, and some people get better treatment than others – we’re not going to let any judge disturb the peace of this city,” he told FOX 29, which said that his approach would be to take each prosecution on a “case-by-case” basis.
“We’ll look carefully to see whether this is a one-off situation and they’re fundamentally law-abiding people, hold them accountable one way; or whether they are criminals, and they’re all about taking advantage of some sort of unrest for their own benefit, and they will be prosecuted another way,” the DA added. Krasner has been criticized by opponents in the past for taking a “soft on crime” approach to prosecutions and giving leniency to criminals in the name of social justice.
Last week, following the city’s release of a former police officer responsible for the deadly shooting of a 27-year-old in self defense, “Black Lives Matter (BLM) rioters were videoed ransacking high-end retail stores in Philadelphia on Tuesday night in what police called a ‘coordinated attack,’ leading to the arrests of 15-20 individuals,” TPUSA reported.
Rioters ransacked high-end retail stores like Lululemon, the Apple Store, and Footlocker, in addition to a Rite Aid and a Dunkin’. 18 liquor stores were also looted on Wednesday, Sept. 27, prompting the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to close 49 retail wine and liquor stores.
CNN reported on the closures, and maintained that the protests in Philadelphia were “peaceful.”
“All liquor stores in Philadelphia were closed Wednesday after several locations were looted shortly after the conclusion of peaceful protests against a judge’s decision to dismiss all charges against a former Philadelphia police officer in a fatal traffic stop shooting,” the outlet wrote.
Philadelphia’s Interim Police Commissioner, John Stanford, told reporters that he believes looters were “opportunists,” not connected to the protesters. “This had nothing to do with the protests. What we had tonight was a bunch of criminal opportunists take advantage of a situation,” he explained at a press conference.
Law enforcement officers arrested 52 people, including three juveniles, in connection to the destruction of several retail stores across the city and the loss of thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise.
This piece first appeared at TPUSA.
