A woman apparently taking a video of herself looting a high-end store in Chicago at one point yelled, “I can’t breathe” — the phrase George Floyd uttered before his death that has become a slogan for the Black Lives Matter movement.
In the video, posted on social media, the woman is seen walking through a luxury department store saying she is searching for a tool to remove security tags.
Looter shouts “I can’t breathe” as she runs through store looking for something to remove security tags. #Chicago pic.twitter.com/uElON1OYmf
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) August 10, 2020
“I don’t know where the f***ing keys at!” she yells as she searches drawers attempting to remove what she calls “Canada gooses,” a type of security tag.
“Let me see, does that say Valentino, does that say Dolce and Gabbana?” she says, then begins running through the store before yelling, “I can’t breathe!”
Rioters and looters rampaged through Chicago’s Magnificent Mile shopping district early Monday, sparked by a shooting by a police officer hours earlier that left a young man wounded.
Social media exploded with videos showing hundreds of people looting stores such as Apple, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Best Buy, Coach, Gucci and Louis Vuitton. In some videos, gunfire can be heard.
How dumb do you have to be to live stream yourself looting. #Chicago https://t.co/uQ1gOWlxyK
— Matrix Forest (@MatrixForest) August 10, 2020
“Absolute chaos in downtown Chicago with more overnight looting and vandalism in the Loop,” tweeted Ryan Baker, an anchor for WBBM-TV. “Appears to be coordinated effort with minimal police presence.”
Mass chaos in downtown Chicago. Hundred of people looting stores. Looters broke into a bank and ripped out the atm. They are trying to break into it. This is at State and Lake. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/oKGrMHGADP
— Vi Nguyen (@ViNguyen) August 10, 2020
Said Baker: “Even if this chaos and looting started as ‘retaliation’ for Sunday’s officer involved shooting in Englewood, the discouraging, disrespectful, and disgusting end result is widespread, opportunistic crime.”
CBS-Chicago said the mayhem was “coordinated.”
“In what appears to be a widespread, coordinated attack, dozens of stores, banks and other businesses were broken into across downtown Chicago overnight. The looting spread from the Loop, up to the Near North Side,” the station reported.
The rioting and looting began Sunday afternoon after police chased an allegedly armed man who “turned and fired shots” at officers, Deputy Chief Delonda Tally told Fox 32 Chicago. Police then fired, injuring the man, she said. A crowd at the scene then clashed with police, throwing objects at officers. Authorities said someone spread a false rumor that police had shot and wounded a child.
The situation quickly escalated and got out of hand. “The looting began shortly after midnight as people darted through broken store windows and doors along Michigan Avenue carrying shopping bags full of merchandise. Cars dropped off more people as the crowd grew. At least one U-Haul van was seen pulling up,” The Chicago Tribune reported.
People were seen running out of a PNC Bank, its windows smashed, at Huron and State streets. Down the block, other stores, including a Sally Beauty Supply, had been cleaned out by vandals. Other parts of downtown, including around Grand and Wabash avenues, were littered with trash.
Crowds repeatedly tried to bash in the windows of the Omega watch store at Delaware Place and Michigan Avenue. “The watch store,” one officer said. “They’re gonna get it eventually.”
