Philadelphia Looting Videos Show Multiple Stores Being Ransacked

Videos circulating on social media show large groups of people looting stores in Philadelphia's Center City on Tuesday night.

Police officers arrested between 15 and 20 people, many of them juveniles, Acting Police Commissioner John Stanford told reporters during a news conference. Two firearms were also recovered.

The first 911 calls reporting break-ins came at around 8 p.m., he said, shortly after protesters dispersed following a peaceful protest outside City Hall.

Protesters gathered there after a judge on Tuesday dismissed murder and other charges against the Philadelphia police offer who shot and killed a driver, Eddie Irizarry, through a rolled-up window, prompting an outcry in the community.

But Stanford made clear that Irizarry's supporters had nothing to do with the looting.

The protest had ended peacefully at around 7.30 p.m., Stanford said, and the young people who looted stores were "criminal opportunists" not connected to the earlier gathering.

"This had nothing to do with the protests," Stanford said. "What we had tonight was a bunch of criminal opportunists take advantage of a situation and make an attempt to destroy our city."

Stanford said numerous 911 calls had reported that as many as 100 young people were moving through Center City.

Videos posted on social media showed groups breaking into an Apple store, Foot Locker and Lululemon.

Officers arrived at the Foot Locker in the 1500 block of Chestnut Street at 7:58 p.m. and discovered the store "had been ransacked in a co-ordinated attack," Philadelphia police said in a statement provided to Newsweek on Wednesday.

Police said a number of juveniles fled the scene, but at least one adult was arrested.

A security guard was assaulted at the Foot Locker, CBS Philadelphia reported.

Officers responded to a call of looting at the Lululemon store in the 1700 block of Walnut Street and apprehended multiple people involved, police said.

Video posted on X, formerly Twitter, showed people wearing masks and hoodies running out of Lululemon and police officers grabbing several and tackling them to the sidewalk.

Minutes later, officers responded to a call reporting looting at the Apple store on Walnut Street.

"The store sustained losses in terms of phones and tablets, although numerous stolen items have since been recovered," police said.

Tumar Alexander, the city's managing director, called the unrest "disrespectful to the Irizarry family."

"They've certainly communicated on all of their social media and media appearances about… wanting answers, wanting justice but also wanting it to be peaceful," Alexander said. "And these criminal opportunists just took advantage of this tonight."

By late Tuesday, Stanford said the unrest had been contained "for the most part."

He said: "It's not going to be tolerated. We made arrests and we will continue to make arrests until we have all the individuals or a number of the individuals that have been responsible for what we've seen tonight in custody."

He urged anyone who knows anyone who was engaged in the looting or are trying to sell stolen goods to report them to police.

"Give us that information so that we can make those apprehensions and get those people in custody," he said. "Our city can't afford this type of nonsense."

Update 9/27/23, 4 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

Update 9/27/23, 10:05 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information from the Philadelphia Police Department.