Most of the protests in New York today were peaceful marches — but as night fell, there were also increasing instances of property destruction and looting.
The looting appeared remarkably organized at times, said CNN Correspondent Shimon Prokupecz at the scene.
“They would go to stores. They would break the windows. You know, they would use hammers. They would run off. And then, others would come. And then, repeatedly come back,” Prokupecz said.
The looting and destruction would serve as a second blow to many of the businesses already suffering from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, he added. Many of the stores vandalized had already been closed for months, and had been losing money.
“And now, (the stores are) being looted.” Prokupecz said. “Everything taken out and now they have to repair the stores, fix the glass.”
The citywide curfew: The city’s curfew, which went into effect at 11 p.m. tonight, will be extended through tomorrow evening — but tomorrow night it will be enacted earlier, at 8 p.m. instead.
“The curfew, in the end, is probably too late,” Prokupecz said. “They brought in more officers. They doubled the number of officers that were going to be dealing with this today. And that didn’t even seem to help.”
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