That's an actual headline we wrote, and not something from The Babylon Bee or The Onion. On Tuesday, Philadelphia was the epicenter of a wave of looting. Lululemon, multiple liquor stores, and other businesses were ransacked and looted in the wake of charges being dismissed against former police officer Mark Dial, related to the shooting death of Eddie Irizarry.
The looting wasn't exactly a spur-of-the-moment thing, either. It was openly discussed on social media, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer:
As word spread that a Philadelphia judge had dismissed all criminal charges against the former police officer who shot and killed Eddie Irizarry last month, people took to Instagram to share their anger and plan a response.
“WHAT TIME WE GOING “SHOPPING”???” one person asked.
“We looting or not??!!” wrote another.
“I know they say tearing up our stuff ain’t right,” someone said, “but that’s the only way they hear us.”
Before the night was over, police said, groups had broken into businesses across Philadelphia, stealing, ransacking and leaving destruction in their wake. Dozens of people — including what police described as a caravan of “criminal opportunists” — broke into stores along popular shopping corridors from Center City to the Northeast to West Philadelphia, authorities said. They broke through metal door protectors and spliced locks with bolt cutters, then looted the stores and fled with electronics, shoes, clothes, liquor, pharmaceuticals, and other goods.
After the BLM riots of 2020, that cost over $1 billion in damages nationwide, and very few arrests (and, indeed, a Vice President endorsed bail fund to get the rioters out of jail), we were skeptical that anyone would face consequences for the looting. Philly did shutter liquor stores in response to the rioting, but the business owners are innocent bystanders in a city gone wild.
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But here's a glimmer of hope. One 'influencer' in Philly who live streamed the mayhem and criminality was arrested and charged with six felonies.
Teary-eyed influencer ‘Meatball’ who livestreamed Philadelphia looting mayhem charged with 6 felonies https://t.co/TWBUOywPjk pic.twitter.com/1CpyzP4JK3
— New York Post (@nypost) September 28, 2023
The New York Post reports:
The Philadelphia social media influencer arrested while she livestreamed Tuesday night’s looting mayhem fought back tears as she was charged with six felonies.
Dayjia Blackwell, better known as “Meatball,” shared her firsthand view of the chaos, in which looters targeted several businesses including Apple, Foot Locker and Lululemon, before being caught.
In the videos posted to her Instagram Stories, Blackwell can be heard laughing and cheering on the other looters as she stood by and watched the chaos unfold.
At one point during her stream, Blackwell turned to face her camera and challenged the cops to arrest her.
“Tell the police they’re either gonna lock me up tonight, or it’s gonna get lit, it’s gonna be a movie,” she said at one point.
“This is what happens when we don’t get justice in this city,” she screamed as she joined a crowd of youngsters in the street.
Blackwell’s video showed hordes of looters rushing into the Apple store and running away with iPhones and tablets.
“Free iPhones! Free iPhones,” Blackwell yelled.
Looks like the police called her bluff and did arrest her.
Sympathy on Twitter/X is limited.
— The Right To Bear Memes (@grandoldmemes) September 28, 2023
The memes, as always, deliver.
Is crime illegal again in philly?
— William Wheelwright (@ploughmansfolly) September 28, 2023
We certainly hope so. This is long overdue.
Documenting your criminal activity. What could go wrong https://t.co/iiql9nSsqV
— Problematic Pleb (@ProblematicPleb) September 28, 2023
You could be arrested and charged with six felonies.
always good to be reminded that you should never livestream your crimes https://t.co/AJDe1ZRm0c
— Laura (@laurakbarr) September 28, 2023
This writer isn't a lawyer, but this seems like solid advice.
Criminals are so bold as to live stream themselves committing crimes thinking a Soros DA and judges will do nothing about it: https://t.co/xu292oKxqy
— Shannon-Its a clown world (@Shannon72908718) September 28, 2023
We've seen this before, in other cities and circumstances. People boldly commit crimes and don't seem to care about the consequences. This is a bad, bad thing for society at large.
Ya’ll gotta stop recording crimes. https://t.co/fKoexJOlbJ
— Playlist Papi (@DapperDomo) September 28, 2023
Or, stop committing them.
But don't get your hopes up too much. 'Meatball' is already out of jail:
Meatball, the rioter who live-streamed as she looted in Philly, is already out of jail pic.twitter.com/REOZYpcJ4M
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) September 28, 2023
She did, according to the New York Post, make bail:
Yeah, but that wasn't the case for her, it appears. $25,000, and probably only needed 10% down, but $2,500 is still a lot of money for an unemployed looter/rioter.https://t.co/Dw3t6jpcFM pic.twitter.com/p9R3Wv1vp6
— Jenny (@Jenny_IDLYITW) September 28, 2023
It's a really good question about who bailed her out.
The New York Post also reports others were arrested:
In total, at least 52 people have been arrested over the past two days for their involvement in the looting.
Interim Chief of Police John Stanford told the outlet the lootings were executed by “opportunists” who took advantage of the anger over the decision in the Eddie Irizarry case.
Thousands of people took to the streets Tuesday afternoon to protest Municipal Judge Wendy Pew’s decision to dismiss all charges, including murder and manslaughter, against police officer Mark Dial, who fatally shot Irizarry through a car window during an August traffic stop.
Now, we'll see how the DA and the courts handle this.
She will still have to deal with court later.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 28, 2023
The article did not mention a court date.
Unless the DA steps in, which definitely is an possibility. He’s Soros-funded.
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) September 28, 2023
Soros did put a lot of money into electing the Philly DA. We'll keep an eye on what he does to these looters, and if they face any real consequences for their actions.
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