Patterico's Pontifications

8/10/2020

The Looting Will Continue Until Morale Improves

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 8:29 am



It’s not over:

Hundreds of people swept through the Magnificent Mile and other parts of downtown Chicago early Monday, smashing windows, looting stores, confronting police and at one point exchanging gunfire with officers, authorities said.

More than 100 people were arrested as of 9 a.m., according to Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown. Thirteen officers were injured during the unrest, including a sergeant who was hit by a bottle. A civilian and private security guard were shot and wounded.

My theory is that the pandemic has turned more people to social media more of the time, and social media makes people crazy, therefore many more people are far more crazy than usual.

Tell me how I’m wrong. Oh wait, let’s let the article I linked prove I’m right instead:

City officials said the seeds for the violent crime spree were sown on social media Sunday afternoon following an officer involved shooting in the Englewood neighborhood. Officers shot and wounded a 20-year-old man Sunday after he fired shots at them while being chased, authorities said.

You’re not allowed to shoot back, officers, or the literal social media mob will come after you. Now in meatspace!

At least five guns were recovered during the peaceful protest.

Happy Monday!

53 Responses to “The Looting Will Continue Until Morale Improves”

  1. Patterico,
    Why are you calling this a protest? I hope CPD catches everyone that was there. It doesn’t sound like a protest that went wrong. It sounds like wide spread crime.

    In the article you linked the Chicago Chief of police described it this way

    “This was not an organized protest,” Brown said. “Rather this was an incident of pure criminality.

    The looting and vandalism began shortly after, with people streaming in and out of high-end stores. Some could be seen throwing merchandise into rental trucks and other large vehicles before driving away.

    Here’s how the Mayor of Chicago described it

    “I don’t care, I do not care, whatever justification was given for this,” Lightfoot said. “There is no justification for criminal behavior, ever. You have no right to take and destroy the property of others. Our residents deserve to be safe. Our businesses deserve to understand and enjoy safety and security of their property and their employees. Our police officers deserve to be able to do their job without having to worry about shots being fired, projectiles being thrown, and being maced. This is not anywhere near acceptable.”

    If someone can show that this started as any sort of planned protest I’ll be happy to retract my statement.

    Time123 (52fb0e)

  2. Does anyone fear that more looting and violent riotings occurs, the more likely an extreme government response would occur?

    Are we anywhere close to the violence in the 60’s??

    whembly (c30c83)

  3. You can call the rioters the Trump re-election committee.

    Bored Lawyer (56c962)

  4. @2

    1. I do worry about that.
    2. Good question that i can’t answer.

    Time123 (52fb0e)

  5. Capitalism is progressive historical stage, comrades.

    Is eventually will collapse under internal contradictions, creating objective conditions for socialism.

    Dave (1bb933)

  6. @5. Shorter: Reaganomics. 😉

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  7. Chi-towner nk might have a more concise history at hand but if memory serves, the shoot-em-ups were pretty regular around Chicago back in the day until the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre piqued public outrage and motivated the clean-up to come.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  8. There are people of every color raised to be law-abiding and people of every color raised to not care about laws. In addition, there are some places where a law-abiding culture is common and other places where it is not. This looks like a place where too many people don’t see the value of laws. We have those people and places here in Texas, too.

    DRJ (aede82)

  9. Patterico,
    Why are you calling this a protest?

    I’m guessing Patterico’s statement is laced with a lot of sarcasm.

    Paul Montagu (335319)

  10. This must’ve been provoked by Trump sending federal stormtroopers in, amirite?

    beer ‘n pretzels (a021ae)

  11. The shooting no more caused the looting of the Magnificent Mile than the electricty blackout caused the looting in New York in 1977.

    It just was a signal.

    Here the protests were a signal that the police would not interfere with the looting.

    Of course, criminals these days probably use Facebook and the like to organize.

    Sammy Finkelman (083d4c)

  12. 2. 1.Not very much.

    2. And no.

    It’s not even like 1967.

    Sammy Finkelman (083d4c)

  13. Trump surged federal assistance to Chicago but, unlike Portland, the federal resources worked with local law enforcement and the US Attorney.

    DRJ (aede82)

  14. “I don’t care, I do not care, whatever justification was given for this,” Lightfoot said. “There is no justification for criminal behavior, ever. You have no right to take and destroy the property of others. Our residents deserve to be safe. Our businesses deserve to understand and enjoy safety and security of their property and their employees. Our police officers deserve to be able to do their job without having to worry about shots being fired, projectiles being thrown, and being maced. This is not anywhere near acceptable.”

    This won’t be effective until she names names.

    Sammy Finkelman (083d4c)

  15. Patterico,
    Why are you calling this a protest?

    Time123, he said “peaceful protest” and was being super-sarcastic obviously.

    Trump surged federal assistance to Chicago but, unlike Portland, the federal resources worked with local law enforcement and the US Attorney.

    DRJ (aede82) — 8/10/2020 @ 9:37 am

    Good on the Trump administration and the local government.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  16. 13. Unlike Portand, the assistance was long term. In Portland it worked because, to get the Feds out of there, after talking to Mike Pence, with whom shes had lots of conversations in connection with the coronavirus, the Governor of Oregon got the state involved and put an end to it.

    Sammy Finkelman (083d4c)

  17. Mayor Lightfoot’s obsrevations about last night’s rioting were correct. But why doesn’t she feel the same way about the poorer neighborhoods where similar rioting and looting has taken place? It looks like she is blatantly giving priority to an exclusively wealthy and predominantly white enclave. Now, why would she do that???

    From the Mayor:

    “I don’t care, I do not care, whatever justification was given for this,” Lightfoot said. “There is no justification for criminal behavior, ever. You have no right to take and destroy the property of others. Our residents deserve to be safe. Our businesses deserve to understand and enjoy safety and security of their property and their employees. Our police officers deserve to be able to do their job without having to worry about shots being fired, projectiles being thrown, and being maced. This is not anywhere near acceptable.”

    Dana (292df6)

  18. But why doesn’t she feel the same way about the poorer neighborhoods where similar rioting and looting has taken place? It looks like she is blatantly giving priority to an exclusively wealthy and predominantly white enclave. Now, why would she do that???

    Can’t because she is racist, right?

    Bored Lawyer (56c962)

  19. Time123, he said “peaceful protest” and was being super-sarcastic obviously.

    If he sarcastically meant that this wasn’t protesting and should be called something else that’s fine. I’m honestly not sure what he meant. But I think there are a lot of people who will conflate this rampant criminality with lawful protests. Some intentionally and some unknowingly.

    Time123 (52fb0e)

  20. Trump-Judas Cradle 2020

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  21. Mayor Lightfoot’s obsrevations about last night’s rioting were correct. But why doesn’t she feel the same way about the poorer neighborhoods where similar rioting and looting has taken place? It looks like she is blatantly giving priority to an exclusively wealthy and predominantly white enclave. Now, why would she do that???

    From the Mayor:
    “I don’t care, I do not care, whatever justification was given for this,” Lightfoot said. “There is no justification for criminal behavior, ever. You have no right to take and destroy the property of others. Our residents deserve to be safe. Our businesses deserve to understand and enjoy safety and security of their property and their employees. Our police officers deserve to be able to do their job without having to worry about shots being fired, projectiles being thrown, and being maced. This is not anywhere near acceptable.”
    Dana (292df6) — 8/10/2020 @ 9:44 am

    I’ve never lived in large city with diverse neighborhoods. The closest I’ve come have been metro areas with a lot of suburbs. The more affluent people live in more expensive suburban cities that can afford nicer amenities and better services.

    How does it work in a NYC or Chicago where one municipal government has a wide range of incomes that are clustered by neighborhood? Does everyone get similar service? Do the the services in richer neighborhoods have better facilities and staffing?

    Genuinely curious.

    Time123 (52fb0e)

  22. If he sarcastically meant that this wasn’t protesting and should be called something else that’s fine. I’m honestly not sure what he meant

    Well you can trust me on this. He was mocking the peaceful protest framing. He’s been doing stuff like that for a really long time relating to media bias.

    I think there are a lot of people who will conflate this rampant criminality with lawful protests.

    Yeah. If I were one of these folks in a poor part of town hoping for an improved police department I would not appreciate the people co-opting the issue.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  23. Well you can trust me on this. He was mocking the peaceful protest framing. He’s been doing stuff like that for a really long time relating to media bias.

    But the media story he linked made no claims that this was a peaceful protest. The liberal leaders of Chicago made clear it wasn’t any sort of protest at all.

    I know there are people on the left conflating criminal acts of violence and vandalism with legitimate protests.

    This doesn’t appear to be that.

    Time123 (80b471)

  24. At least five guns were recovered during the peaceful protest.

    Time123, this was a joke. Come on.

    The liberal leaders of Chicago made clear it wasn’t any sort of protest at all.

    To find who is being mocked you can just google “peaceful protest”. Memes and narratives can be larger in scope than the nearest hyperlink.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  25. No, this was probably planned weeks in advance and needed a sympathetic trigger. More in line with what happens to freight trains and trucks with attractive cargo if stalled in an Englewood intermodal yard. The wash rinse repeat cycle will probably result in the bungalow belt and hispanic neighborhood storefronts and near-suburban malls getting some action today.

    urbanleftbehind (c55144)

  26. At least five guns were recovered during the peaceful protest.

    Time123, this was a joke. Come on.

    The liberal leaders of Chicago made clear it wasn’t any sort of protest at all.

    To find who is being mocked you can just google “peaceful protest”. Memes and narratives can be larger in scope than the nearest hyperlink.

    Dustin (4237e0) — 8/10/2020 @ 10:13 am

    OK, I missed the joke.

    Time123 (52fb0e)

  27. DRJ: unlike Portland, the federal resources worked with local law enforcement and the US Attorney.

    This comment ignores the fact that local law enforcement refused to work with the feds, stretching back years.

    Just more revisionist history.

    beer ‘n pretzels (4eafe8)

  28. DRJ: unlike Portland, the federal resources worked with local law enforcement and the US Attorney.

    This comment ignores the fact that local law enforcement refused to work with the feds, stretching back years.

    Just more revisionist history.

    beer ‘n pretzels (4eafe8) — 8/10/2020 @ 10:20 am

    Do you have any background on the Feds trying to coordinate with Portland and being rebuffed? Because “Portland wouldn’t work with them, so they had to do it the way they did” is a take I haven’t seen before.

    Time123 (80b471)

  29. OK, I missed the joke.

    Time123 (52fb0e) — 8/10/2020 @ 10:18 am

    Well you’re still making a good point. The conflation of violence with the co-opted protests is a bigger problem for poor communities than even something like George Floyd’s murder. If the radicals get half of what they want, it will cost lives in the poor part of town.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  30. @28: Time123, better yet, do you have evidence that Portland is cooperating even now? The agreement was reached with State law enforcement and the governor, not directly with Portland and POS Wheeler.

    beer ‘n pretzels (afb340)

  31. Because “Portland wouldn’t work with them, so they had to do it the way they did” is a take I haven’t seen before.

    You’re joking.

    Plenty of recent examples, but let’s go back two years.

    https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2018/07/30/ice-agents-say-portland-mayor-violated-the-u-s-constitution-by-barring-police-from-responding-to-the-feds-calls-for-help/

    beer ‘n pretzels (afb340)

  32. Beer ‘n Pretzels, Thank you for the link. I appreciate you taking the time to post it. This isn’t an area I’ve got a lot of background on. This part seems unconscionable.

    A local ICE officer, who spoke to WW only on the condition of anonymity, says two agency employees called Portland police June 19, when they were blocked from leaving the building in their vehicles. One of those employees told Portland police that protesters followed his truck as he went to pick up his daughter from summer camp and harassed him in the parking lot.

    He also says protesters showed up at his Portland apartment building a few hours later. Again, he called police, but says no officer responded.

    Do you have anything about the lead up to the federal response to the recent protests? Based on this I’m thinking the relationship between city and fed is toxic, but I’d love to know more about if the Feds attempted a professional interaction. Based on public statements by Trump & Bar it didn’t look like. But again I’d love to know more.

    Time123 (52fb0e)

  33. Some folks feel they must provide cover to protestors, whose “mostly peaceful” protests often turn violent. almost as if someone has thrown a switch.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  34. Meanwhile, CA is releasing convicted murderers due to Covid.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  35. 35… provide masks to the prisoners and move on… but no… makes too much sense.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  36. Time, some of your answers may be found here:

    https://www.dhs.gov/news/2020/08/04/submitted-written-testimony-senior-official-performing-duties-deputy-secretary-ken

    During that same hearing he had to explain to the Dems several times that Federal property always has a Federal law enforcement presence. The Dems acted like the buildings were mostly unguarded as a course of business and then, out of the blue, Trump dropped stormtroopers into the middle of a happy sing along.

    More Federal agents were called in because Portland refused to help.

    Also, at a later point in the hearing he produced a map that outlined the area the Feds protected. It put a giant hole in the idea that the Feds had gone beyond their jurisdiction. Dems did not refute it. I will see if I can find a clip or the whole hearing.

    BuDuh (dff849)

  37. I could not find excerpts of the hearing so here is the whole thing:

    https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/the-right-of-the-people-peaceably-to-assemble-protecting-speech-by-stopping-anarchist-violence

    I am biased so I sided with the people that seemed less nuts during the hearing. If you catch the part with the map I think the whole issue will make more sense.

    BuDuh (dff849)

  38. Do you have anything about the lead up to the federal response to the recent protests?

    You are aware there were attempts to set the federal courthouse on fire, among many other violent acts on a daily basis, starting in May, and the Feds didn’t go in until July. Or, are you?

    beer ‘n pretzels (368b0a)

  39. Meanwhile, CA is releasing convicted murderers due to Covid.

    It sounds a bit more complicated.

    One woman who has served 19 years was released due to what is described as a serious medical condition, and the application for release was first made in 2018. She earned a college degree and was lauded for “exceptional conduct” while incarcerated.

    Another (not a murderer) is 65 years old, disabled and would have been eligible for parole in 2021.

    A third woman, incarcerated since 1979 for murder and also a model inmate during that time, is being considered for release.

    It hardly sounds like they are opening the prison gates and letting murderers out en masse.

    Dave (1bb933)

  40. Certain to cause riots in Ann Arbor and East Lansing-

    Sources: Big Ten expected to cancel football season; no games for Michigan, Michigan State in 2020

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  41. Beer N Pretzels, Thank you again for the additional information. I haven’t had a chance to look at it, and won’t for a while. But I wanted to let you know I saw it and I’d review before I open my yap on the subject. 😀

    You are aware there were attempts to set the federal courthouse on fire, among many other violent acts on a daily basis, starting in May, and the Feds didn’t go in until July. Or, are you?

    beer ‘n pretzels (368b0a) — 8/10/2020 @ 11:34 am

    I was aware that protests had been going on for 50+ days.

    What I had seen and read seemed consistent with the Federal response being excessive. I also saw statements that it wasn’t properly coordinated with local officials and therefore represented an over reach of federal power. Given Trump’s public statements I assumed that this was somewhat true since it was in line with his general governing philosophy.

    The info you’ve provided shows a different take and I’m interested in reading it.

    Again, I appreciate you taking the time to make it easy for me.

    Time123 (52fb0e)

  42. BuDuh gets credit for providing the helpful links.

    beer ‘n pretzels (368b0a)

  43. I should read more closely. thank you BuDuh. Appreciate the help.

    Time123 (52fb0e)

  44. Certain to cause riots in Ann Arbor and East Lansing

    The chances of Michigan ever beating The again in my lifetime just got even smaller…

    Dave (1bb933)

  45. Six years ago yesterday, a looting/rioting spree was started on one big fat lie: “Hands up, don’t shoot!”
    My, times have changed.

    Paul Montagu (335319)

  46. @46. Seventy-five years ago yesterday, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Japan by the United States, at Nagasaki, resulting finally in Japan’s unconditional surrender.

    My, times have changed.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  47. 45… The chances of Michigan ever beating The again in my lifetime just got even smaller…

    The what… oh, if Michigan, it would be The meat.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  48. Any results coronello.

    Narciso (7404b5)

  49. What they should have done had they had foresight and what owners of stores that haven’t been looted should do, is get plywood and put it over thw windows.

    Better to it before the glass is smashed than to do it after the glass is smashed.

    They might also cause the looters to pass over their stores, provided it doesn’t look suspicious.

    Sammy Finkelman (083d4c)

  50. Zaid Jilani
    @ZaidJilani
    ·
    Seattle’s first black police chief is resigning after the city council quite randomly cut her pay and then let anarchists repeatedly surround her house

    _

    harkin (5af287)

  51. Seattle’s first black police chief is resigning after the city council quite randomly cut her pay and then let anarchists repeatedly surround her house

    Clearly the City Council hates black women, especially successful ones who have risen to the top of a male-dominated profession.

    Bored Lawyer (56c962)

  52. The liquor stores in town just kept the plywood up after reopening.

    urbanleftbehind (ee4687)


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