Stores ransacked, reporter attacked as 2nd day of protests turns violent after killing of black man
Oct 28, 2020
Philadelphia [US], October 28 : The second day of protests in Philadelphia turned violent on Tuesday as protesters clashed with the police, ransacked stores and attacked a reporter covering the unrest, following the killing of a black man on Monday.
Journalists covering some of the lootings have described chaotic scenes they said appeared to be void of any police coverage, reported Fox News.
The police took to Twitter late Tuesday to announce there were about 1,000 looters in the area of Castor and Aramingo streets alone.
According to Fox News, videos showed stores with items strewn in aisles and looters carrying out kitchen appliances and other items. Many stores were boarded up, but crowds still managed to break through windows.
Furthermore, Elijah Schaffer, a reporter, who was covering the looting at a store called Five Below, was reportedly seen on video getting pummeled inside a store by a group of protesters.
"I'm going to go to the hospital, I think, to get stitches because it is just absolutely painful. But this is what's happening in the current state over the killing of Walter Wallace," he said in a video posted on Twitter.
The Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management asked residents from certain neighbourhoods to remain indoors due to the "widespread demonstrations that have turned violent with looting."
The city has been gripped with gripped by violence after police officers shot and killed a 27-year-old Black man a day earlier who they said refused to drop his knife as he "advanced towards" them.
The man was identified as Walter Wallace Jr. A part of the incident was caught on video.
According to Fox News, the police and city officials issued swift statements following the incident and promised an investigation, but their assurances did little to assuage many in the city who see the shooting as another example of a Black man being killed by police when they say the situation could have been diffused.
The United States has seen widespread protests against killings of black people this year.
The 'Black Lives Matter' movement had gained momentum after the death of an African-American man named George Floyd in May this year, following a police officer, later identified as Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on Floyd's neck as suggested by the viral videos.
