Philadelphia is on high alert Wednesday evening after dozens of juvenile looters left a trail of shattered glass, cleaned out stores and broken mannequins, all depicted in shocking video footage being viewed worldwide. As the troubled city’s downtown careens out of control, all its liquor stores have been ordered to close indefinitely, according to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. Eighteen state-operated Fine Wine and Good Spirits locations were among the looted businesses. Though “no employees were hurt,” some were “shaken,” a state Liquor Control Board representative, Shawn Kelly, tells The New York Sun. The liquor stores “are closed in the interest of employee safety and while we assess the damage and loss that occurred,” Mr. Kelly says. “We will reopen stores when it is safe to do so and when the damage is repaired. It is too early to tell how much was damaged or destroyed.” Retail theft and mass shoplifting has become a focus in the city, as some businesses have had to close or even hire private armed security, as the Sun has reported. Retailers in Pennsylvania have lost about $2.6 billion due to theft in the last year, recent Capital One statistics show. The City of Brotherly Love is viewed by the public as more dangerous than its troubled West Coast counterparts: fifty two percent of Americans view San Francisco as a safe place to visit, while only 47 percent perceive Philadelphia as safe, a recent Gallup survey found. “It is really scary. We say a Hail Mary every day and get through everyday with a prayer,” one franchise owner, Vincent Emmanuel, who runs a 7-Eleven store in South Philadelphia, tells the Sun. “I’m glad that one day’s over, tomorrow, okay, say another Hail Mary to take care of my employees, take care of my customers, and I hope nothing happens to my store and that’s how we continue to operate.”In more than 40 years of doing business, Mr. Emmanuel has never seen it so bad, he says. “Now we’ve become a city under siege and everybody feels that ‘it’s okay, you know what, it’s there, what’s the big deal?’”Recent retail theft is more serious than petty shoplifting, Mr. Emmanuel adds. “We’re talking about professional shoplifters who steal 50 cans of Redbull and 20 cans of Monster and that stuff with some value and they’re going around the corner and selling it,” he says. “We cannot even keep detergent — we cannot keep anything valuable — on the shelf. It’s a disgrace that this is how we have to do business.” Police have arrested dozens of the juveniles who ransacked retailers including a pricey Lululemon and an Apple store last night. The looting was on the same day a Philadelphia judge dismissed charges against a police officer who fatally shot a Black resident, Eddie Irizarry, followed by peaceful protests, but the interim police commissioner, John Stanford, said the events were unrelated. “This was a sickening display of opportunistic criminal activity, and we will not stand for it,” Mayor Jim Kenney wrote on Wednesday. Mr. Kenney did not respond to request for comment by the Sun. Mr. Kenney, whose term is ending, will soon be replaced as mayor by Democratic candidate Cherelle Parker or Republican candidate David Oh. The mayoral race so far has seen an emphasis on the escalating crime in the city. “Last night’s events were very unfortunate, very destructive. And unfortunately, it was predictable,” Mr. Oh tells the Sun. Although people have a constitutional right to peacefully protest, Mr. Oh says “we already know from history that there is a group of people that will take the opportunity to begin damaging property, breaking windows, and stealing” in a “very reckless” way that is a “criminal violation.” The city has to stop encouraging lawlessness, he adds. “We have a problem in Philadelphia of stores closing — we had a lot of businesses, especially small businesses that were damaged, looted, set on fire, and they have not come back,” Mr. Oh says. “Part of the problem has been the message that is sent to people in our city by allowing people to go in and steal from stores. They’re not arrested if it’s less than $500.” Mr. Oh’s opponent in the mayoral race, Ms. Parker, did not respond to a request for comment from the Sun.
