It was another crazy night in Chicago. Late Sunday Aug.10 to Monday morning, hundreds of people smashed windows and looted stores in Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, according to videos and reports from the scene.
At least 100 people participated in destroying Chicago’s downtown shopping area, according to police. Many of them were also looting stores. At least one person was shot by police, The Washington Post reported. While the media tagged the looting as Black protesting, many of the photos and videos show white people looting.
There was no clear motive for the violence, but things have been tense between police and Black residents after police shot and wounded a man in the city’s South Side. The incident set off a violent standoff between dozens of officers and angry neighbors.
“Right now, it’s still an ongoing situation. It’s still an ongoing scene,” Officer Hector Alfaro told The Washington Post.
Looters were seen on video bashing into high-end stores including Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom Rack and a Tesla dealership.
Police closed off highway ramps and bus and train service was halted downtown at the “request of public safety officials,” the city’s transit agency tweeted.
Earlier on Sunday, police shot an African-American man after responding to a call about a man with a gun. Officers chased a suspect on foot. The suspect turned and shot at police, according to Chicago Police Department Deputy Chief Yolanda Talley. Police returned fire and hit a man who hasn’t been identified. The suspect, who Talley said was in his late teens or 20s, was taken to a hospital in “unknown” condition, WGN reported.
“Emotions were running high. They were responding to misinformation,” Talley told reporters. “It happened while we were processing the crime scene. We were holding the line and if there had not been a crime scene there, we would have not been there.”
The shooting was not captured on police body cameras, Talley added. The city’s police oversight agency is investigating the incident, WMAQ reported.
The officers involved in the shooting will be placed on administrative duties for 30 days, per protocol, Newsweek reported.
While the protests in Chicago seemed to involve Black residents, a lot of the destruction that occurred during the George Floyd protests was the work of white rioters. Many protesters have found have questioned the motives of the white rioters and looters. Is it their goal to make the legitimate protesters look bad and distract from the Black Lives Matter movement?
“Looting by Black people, whether during the protests of police brutality or in an effort to obtain food and supplies during natural disasters, has long been a popular media narrative— further perpetuating the stereotype of Black people in America as inherently lawless,” Revolt reported. “Because of this, it is significant that we’re now seeing widespread recognition that looting and unnecessary destruction of property happening at Black Lives Matter and other anti-police brutality protests are not solely, or even predominantly, being carried out by Black protestors. In fact, thanks to camera phones, we have a plethora of video evidence to the contrary.”
One viral video shows Tay Anderson, a Denver school board director and activist, confronting a white man spray painting an acronym for “all cops are bastards” on public property, to which the man replied that he wasn’t Anderson’s ally.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 73: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin makes the case for why this is a multi-factor rebellion vs. just protests about George Floyd. He discusses the Democratic Party’s sneaky relationship with the police in cities and states under Dem control, and why Joe Biden is a cop and the Steve Jobs of mass incarceration.
This is just one example of a white “protester” causing destruction to property, leaving the blame on Black protesters.
“As much as we can’t afford to let bad actors hijack our efforts to bring about justice and police accountability, we must also make sure not to let attention be diverted away from our message under the guise of condemning white instigators,” Revolt reported.
