Free Republic

The mayor of Ferguson, Missouri, says many of the people who smashed, looted, burned and destroyed in the aftermath of protests following a fatal police shooting of a teenager were out-of-towners. “Once the vigil dispersed, the people who showed up saw their numbers and got really brave, then people started driving in from other areas to steal stuff,” Mayor James Knowles told WND. “A lot of the people aren’t even from our town; but they came in and stole from our businesses and left our town in ruins, and made it look like there are racial tensions here that simply...

Looters: Venezuelan troops storm a local electronics retailer in the name of enforcing "fair prices," brazenly blaming the private sector for state policies. Sounds familiar — and not just because it's a communist takeover. With municipal elections just around the corner on Dec. 8, it's no surprise to see Venezuela's failing socialist government turning to pork-barrel handouts to lure voters — as it always has. Shovel the goodies to the red-shirted low-information voters and gain just enough votes in upcoming elections to claim a dictatorship is really a democracy. Not coincidentally, President Nicolas Maduro declared that Venezuela would celebrate the...

The Jindal administration announced late Wednesday that it is moving to strip food stamps from recipients who took advantage of a technical glitch last month to stock up on free groceries. The announcement came after U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., pressured state officials to take action by taking away food stamp benefits and forming a task force with local prosecutors to bring criminal charges. Retailers lost money when they allowed food stamp recipients to leave their stores with groceries even though they could not check spending limits. When the transactions were processed later, thousands bounced back because recipients exceeded their...

Kenya mall video of soldiers looting after shooting New security footage has emerged online after the Westgate mall attack in Kenya, the video shown below shows what looks like security soldiers taking goods from the mall and not paying for them. Last month the Kenya mall shooting left 67 dead after suspected al-Shabab militants stormed the Nairobi Westgate shopping centre on 21 September. The video below clearly shows Kenyan soldiers carrying white bags and taking goods from the store without consent, according to reports the Kenyan military are investigating the looting allegations. The mall sells food, mobile phones and televisions,...

Many Police Department is looking to press charges against anyone who left the Many Walmart during the EBT glitch with carts full of food without stopping at the checkout counter. “We had people actually walking out of the store, apparently, without even going through the checkout line,” explained Many Police Detective JoAnn Carter. ”That’s called shoplifting, isn’t it?” The Many Police Department is reviewing the surveillance video with Walmart to identify who will be facing charges of shoplifting. “Walmart actually has a person who sits and that’s what she does with the loss and prevention,” Carter explained to 710 KEEL....

The entitlement class is starting to get a little pushy and the cash cow they are leaching off of is starting to get ticked off. I'm sitting outside the Oakland international airport and a guy walks up asking for money. ( I don't give anything to people who ask, only those who don't) This isn't the first time somebody has asked me for a handout and probably won't be the last. I didn't have anything on me anyway. I replied to the guy that I didn't have any cash on me. Sorry I couldn't help him. He looks at me...

A free for all at a gas station on Detroit's east side has the store manager fed up. He asked not to be identified, fearing retaliation for coming forward, and Fox 2 is not revealing the location of the gas station. "The city ain't the same anymore," he says. "The young, ignorant generation is moving business owners and the good citizens of Detroit out of the city." It happened around 12:30am Sunday and it was all caught on camera. The owner says his clerk told a man to leave the store and that threw the customer into a rage. He...

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Trayvon Martin's parents are scheduled to hold a news conference in Miami Beach. Martin's parents, their attorney Benjamin Crump and members of the National Bar Association are set to meet with reporters Monday morning. They are expected to discuss their plans to address what they say are inequalities in the U.S. justice system.

Shoppers at a Wal-Mart on Crenshaw Boulevard described a scene of chaos and mayhem Monday night as unruly protesters stormed the store, tossing merchandise and trying to loot jewelry cases. . . . The women said they saw clothes on the floor and a little girl crying. “She must have been in the middle of it,” Erica Williams said. The two left the store and watched as the crowd continued to gather on Crenshaw Boulevard. When they decided to go shopping, they thought they were a safe distance from any potential problems.

DNC: Nearly $500,000 of equipment was lost or stolen in Charlotte To stage last year’s Democratic National Convention, the local host committee raised millions of dollars, much of it for computers, phones and other communication devices. Now it appears a sizable amount of that equipment was lost, stolen – or perhaps kept by the staffers it had been assigned to. The Democratic National Convention Committee said it recently sent the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department a spreadsheet detailing $496,000 worth of missing equipment. CMPD created an incident report in May. Among the missing items: MacBook Pro laptops, iPads, iPod Nanos, computer printers,...

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When black voters gave President Barack Obama 93 percent support on Election Day in defiance of predictions that they might sit it out this year, black leaders breathed a collective sigh of relief. That encouraged those leaders to try to leverage more attention from both Obama and Congress. Although they waver over how much to demand from the president —particularly in light of defeated GOP challenger Mitt Romney's assertion that Obama gave "gifts" to minorities in exchange for their votes — they are delivering postelection wish lists to the president anyway. "I think the president heard us loud and clear....

Ever since Sandy strafed the Queens peninsula and tore up the boardwalk, it’s become an often lawless place where cops are even scarcer than electrical power and food. Locals say they are arming themselves with guns, baseball bats, booby traps — even a bow and arrow — to defend against looters. Thugs have been masquerading as Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) workers, knocking on doors in the dead of night. But locals say the real workers have been nowhere in sight, causing at least one elected official — who fears a descent into anarchy if help doesn’t arrive soon —...

A wave a looters followed the Sandy storm surge in Coney Island, creating a double-whammy for business owners trying to pick up the obliterated pieces. The thieves started down Mermaid Avenue Tuesday morning as the chest-high water receded, turning the seaside community known for its hotdogs and tourist attractions into a lawless free-for-all. "People were running in and out of Rent-A-Center carrying these big flat screens. They were holding on tight," said witness Aisha John, 20. "I couldn't understand how someone could steal a big TV in broad daylight, but no one cared.” She said people were running out of...

The New York Daily News caught up with an alleged looter on Tuesday, who defended his actions, saying, "Look, they've been looting our wallets for too long,"as he took a TV from a Rent-A-Center in Coney Island. "It's about time we start taking this sh—back," he added. Witnesses of looting near Coney Island told The Wall Street Journal that it was occurring in plain sight, and that police officers did little to stop it. "When I came out at about 8:30 a.m. this morning, there were people coming out of all these stores, guys carrying Hefty bags," Roger McKinon, 40...

<p>Hurricane Sandy brought out the worst yesterday in some sleazy New Yorkers, who looted stores and homes across the city.</p> <p>Some posed as Con Ed workers to dupe their victims.</p> <p>Police arrested more than a dozen looters in the Rockaways and Coney Island, which had been evacuated, and stood guard outside ravaged stores at the South Street Seaport. “This morning when they told us the water receded, I walked back to the house to feed [my pets],” said Eric Martine, 33, a cabby who lives in Brooklyn’s Gerritsen Beach. “Guys were looting, pretending they were Con Ed and holding people up. It was sick.” Residents said police warned them to beware of crooks pretending to be utility workers...</p>

It's all anecdotal at this point, but if crime reports following hurricanes Katrina and Irene are any indication, the East Coast is in for a crime wave, post-Sandy. No reports of looting or Hurricane Sandy-related crimes have been reported yet but that doesn't mean we won't see some soon. Following Hurricane Katrina, the most devastating hurricane in modern memory, New Orleans was besieged with reports of looting, rape, and murder, causing delayed troop deployments, delayed medical evacuations, and police department mutiny, The New York Times reported in 2005....(excerpt)

[New Orleans].. They found guns, jewelry, various clothing items including caps, shorts, socks and pants, as well as tennis shoes. Sidney Brooks, 17, was arrested in connection with the incident. Police think there could be more suspects. . . at S. Robertson and Martin Luther King Jr. A couple were caught stealing alcohol and money from the bar, and both were booked. Also on Wednesday, five people were caught breaking into a corner store at Jackson and Magnolia. On Tuesday night, four men were caught by police breaking into a building at 7th and Danneel. On Thursday morning, NOPD Chief...

America is heading into a retirement crisis, an economist says. Most retirees haven't saved enough money to retire and Teresa Ghilarducci blames America's entire system for retiring. It’s been 30 years since the Individual Retirement Account model became the standard way for Americans to save for retirement. But many people who saved for three decades watched a lot of that money disappear during the financial crisis. And now, more than half of American workers have saved less than $25,000 for their golden years, and about 30 percent have saved less than a thousand dollars. Overall, the system is failing, says...

. . When store employees in the red shirts realize what’s happening, they block the doors to stop the young thieves from leaving. But the kids physically struggle to get out and even appear to hit the store manager who then swings back. After the brief altercation, many kids dash out the door. . . After reviewing the surveillance video, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s office opted not to pursue criminal charges in the case saying not every conflict warrants them. . . A bill to toughen the punishments for this kind of crime failed to pass in Maryland’s last...