Ahead Of The 3rd Night Of Riots: Looting, Violent Protests Begin In Phildadelphia

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Ahead Of The 3rd Night Of Riots: Looting, Violent Protests Begin In Phildadelphia

Tyler Durden

Sun, 05/31/2020 – 16:30

As America braces for a third night of “protests”, governors and mayors across the country are calling in the national guard, imposing curfews and taking other more aggressive measures to stop a third night of chaos and destruction that’s virtually guaranteed to rattle investors in the US – and possibly around the world – when markets open in a few hours.

Already, crowds have returned to downtown Philadelphia where the situation was already starting to spin out of control on Sunday afternoon. The city experienced the same type of mass violence – looting, rioting, skirmishes between black-clad anarchists and the police, and, of course, molotov cocktails – last night as the violence spread from Minneapolis to more cities across the country.

Ahead of what’s shaping up to be a second night of violence in the city of brotherly love (soon to be renamed the city of brotherly muggings), police have released an update on the number of arrests made last night, as well as details of injuries sustained by police officers.

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Fifteen police officers were injured last night, with one officer admitted to the hospital with a broken arm broken ribs after he was struck by an SUV.

Only a few hours have passed since several “peaceful” protests commenced down town, and already looters are tearing up Kensington Avenue.

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And it’s only getting worse.

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Police have begun to respond to “select break in incidents” according to a reporter covering the unrest.

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In parts of the city, the looting hasn’t stopped, as looters returned in the morning and afternoon as battles with police escalated.

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As a peaceful demonstration moved toward city hall, a tense exchanged erupted as locals confronted two “professional” protesters who were urging the crowd to “take it further” – ie escalate violence against the police – in retribution for George Floyd.

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To be sure, not all of the demonstrations in the Greater Philly area were violent: Some marches on Sunday afternoon remained largely peaceful, like in Atlantic City…

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…where police shut down traffic, preventing outsiders, who reportedly cause most of the trouble, from entering.

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Protestors will gathered at 1 pm on Sunday in front of City Hall for a peace rally advocating for justice and a change to policies that provoke police brutality. A march from the Ben Franklin Bridge to the Liberty Bell at 5th and Markets Street also started around noon, according to local media reports.

But by mid-afternoon the situation had already turned violent. In response to the riots and violence, Mayor Kenney and Commissioner Outlaw addressed citizens Sunday afternoon, announcing a mandatory, city-wide curfew set to resume at 8pm Sunday, and last until 6am.

“The peaceful protests earlier were touching showings of our collective grief. The anger being displayed now cannot continue. Please have respect and dignity for each other and return home,” Kenney stated.

However, as the looting and violence intensified in the afternoon (in Philadelphia at least, it never really stopped) the city moved the curfew up to 6pm.

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In addition, all retail stores have been ordered to close immediately. Many that haven’t even reopened from COVID yet started to board up windows “as a precaution”.

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As the violence begins not just in Philly but in Pittsburg and in other cities around PA and the rest of the country, the state police said they were calling troopers from the surrounding area to converge on the cities.

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PA Gov. Tom Wolf signed a disaster emergency declaration Saturday authorizing the adjutant general of the state National Guard and the Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner to activate personnel to help cities.

Philly police have already released their first arrest update.

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During Sunday’s briefing, Kenney and other city officials praised the volunteers who came out Sunday morning to help clean up the damage. “I hope that the story of May 30-31 isn’t about what happened last night but about what happened this morning,” Managing Director Brian Abernathy said.

To try and prevent a repeat of Saturday’s violence, Outlaw said much of Center City “from South (street) to Vine (street), from river to river’ — from the Schuylkill River to the Delaware River, and including the Ben Franklin Bridge — would be blocked off, affecting roads, bridges and expressway entrances and exits as well as the city’s transit agency, according to the AP.

While local officials in the US have blamed foreign influence for instigating the violence, it looks like the protests are spreading around the world, to the US embassies in London and Berlin, and beyond.

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In Chicago, national Guard troops have been deployed to help the police try and restore order to the chaotic scene, as the city’s progressive mayor Lori Lightfoot pleaded with “protesters” for calm.

Though many of the rioters, looters and protesters have worn masks, as the country braces for another night of chaos, it should be interesting to see how the infection/hospitalization numbers out of some states change in the coming days and weeks, especially considering that LA County reported some record numbers on Sunday.

 


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