Black Lives Matter rioters have been pillaging luxury goods stores in New York City’s SoHo District, but store managers aren’t going after the looters for fear of being labeled racist and ruining their brand. Interestingly, these are the same luxury brands that supported the BLM movement amid the George Floyd riots in May.
The New York Post reported that luxury shops along Wooster, Greene and Mercer Streets had merchandise worth “hundreds of thousands of dollars” stolen. Security officers assigned to the shops can only do so much: The looters have threatened them to keep quiet or be labeled racist.
A SoHo restaurant owner said shoplifting incidents in the area were “happening every week,” and bouncers were assigned there to discourage the thefts. The owner also noted instances wherein thieves grabbed whatever they liked, and when store personnel tried to accost them, it often is turned into a racial accusation. Store managers – especially those employed by national retailers – have kept mum for fear that their brand will garner negative publicity from accusations of racism.
“The brands … tell their employees to walk away. They don’t want to be the next Instagram video claiming they are a racist brand,” said a store manager interviewed by the New York Post.
Stores in SoHo first reported looting around the end of May, at the start of the George Floyd riots in the city. According to the New York Daily News, looters smashed the windows of French retailer Celine along Wooster Street before entering the store and pulling out various merchandise. At the time, the retailer reported losses worth $1.5 million from the looting. Other luxury shops, such as Prada and Moncler, were also robbed by rioters.
Luxury brands supported defunding of law enforcement
Police sources in the city have seconded the information about the SoHo robberies -- with one confirming that “dozens of larcenies have occurred in recent months in high-end establishments in the neighborhood.” The source also mentioned that looters targeted Adidas, Fendi and Burberry.
Speaking to the New York Post, Blue Lives Matter NYC founder Sgt. Joseph Imperatrice said investigators were aware that “mobs of young, transient groups bulldozed through aisles grabbing as much as their arms can hold.”
For their part, some shops that are fed up with the shoplifting incidents have given descriptions and provided surveillance footage to law enforcement.
Even if store managers coordinate with law enforcement, the looting and stealing will continue as long as these same luxury brands still support BLM. One of BLM’s main goals is to defund the police – which Democrats in power, such as NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and State Gov. Andrew Cuomo, are more than willing to do. In fact, de Blasio approved a plan to redirect $1 billion originally for the NYPD toward social services and even proposed to slash an extra $500 million to be used for public housing.
Reducing police budgets makes it more difficult for law enforcement to stop criminals. Troublemakers are also empowered to level up their crimes with the police force’s capability reduced, resulting in higher crime rates.
Just a few days after BLM protesters looted items from its SoHo location, Celine expressed its support of the movement through an Instagram post which read: “Celine stands against all forms of discrimination, oppression and racism. Tomorrow’s world will not exist without equality for all.”
Oddly enough, Celine’s continued support of BLM overlooks the movement’s oppression against law enforcement – the same people responsible for preventing thieves and shoplifters from stealing luxury merchandise in their stores.
Find out more about the crimes of BLM protesters such as shoplifting and more at AltLeft.news.
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