Pillage of Philadelphia: Voices Behind the Scenes
By: Nymir Williams-Watkins
November 20,2023
On Tuesday, September 26th, 2023, over 50 people were arrested after mobs ransacked Philadelphia stores.
The Municipal Judge, Wendy Pew, decided to dismiss murder and other charges against the Philadelphia police officer, Mark Dial, who shot and killed the driver, Eddie Irizarry, through a rolled-up window on August 14th.
“I know that somebody—I'm pretty sure it was a Hispanic male—was killed by a police officer but didn't get the ‘justice’ that he deserved,” said Dwayne Figueroa, a 12th-grade student at George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science.
Officer Dial was charged with murder, voluntary manslaughter, and five other counts stemming from the shooting. Since these charges have been dropped, a peaceful protest began, but soon after, a flash mob broke out.
Groups of teenagers swarmed into stores in Philadelphia’s Center City, northeastern, and western areas, causing chaos and havoc. However, many recognize that this reaction was not a helpful one.
“I believe it wasn't the correct way to address the community's discomfort upon the situation,” Dwayne said. “I don't believe that people should have been rioting and breaking down companies in a sense, going into stores and stealing, robbing, or just tearing stuff down. Because that's not going to change much about the case."
The Foot Locker, Lululemon, and Apple stores off of 15th and Walnut Street, and multiple liquor stores, including a plethora of others, were taken by storm that night.
JD Sport in Roosevelt Mall in Northeast Philadelphia was among the stores ransacked throughout the city that night.
“There was shoes, clothes, and glass everywhere; Mannequins stripped all over. I'm pretty sure she said that they stole the whole mannequin,” said an anonymous employee at JD Sports who spoke on behalf of her sister (another employee) who witnessed the calamity.
“It's actually really crazy because our store is pretty new; this is the first time this has ever happened here.”
Many of the stores closed down in the interest of employee safety, taking the time to assess the damage and loss that occurred. They planned on reopening when it was safe to do so and when the damage was repaired.
“If I did have, like, a standing business, I would probably be scared and upset. Upset because it's like my business, especially as a black person. I did not harm or commit the crime. So it's like, why am I paying for it? By you stealing for me?” said Angie Swift, a 12th-grade student at George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science and owner of a small baking business “Just go to Angie.”
When contacting the Lulumelon on Walnut Street, the response stated that they were unfortunately unable to discuss the matter publicly or privately.
Since this is such a dreadful matter, many stores were wrongfully and unjustly blitzed for a crime that no one associated with it committed.
“I felt like people loot because they just want an excuse, just to rob and like get stuff that they thought that they want but that they wouldn't normally pay for. They just use injustice. Things happening as an excuse for it,” said Angie. “I feel like if people were really upset at what happened, they would have gone to that man's house or something, not rob stores. It’s not going to do anything."