Philadelphia stores reeling from second night of looting, unrest
Officials say at least a thousand looters took to the streets of Philadelphia for the second night of unrest following the police death of Walter Wallace Jr.
A New York Times reporter was roasted on social media Wednesday for claiming that conservatives are eager to “amplify” and “elevate” widespread looting and unrest in Philadelphia.
Nearly a dozen people – including a 15-year-old – were shot overnight after looting and rioting erupted for a second straight night despite pleas for peace from the family of a Black man whose police-related death sparked the unrest. But the Gray Lady scribe complained that conservatives are eager to draw attention to violence.
LIVE UPDATES: PHILADELPHIA BUSINESSES TARGETED BY 1,000 LOOTERS DURING SECOND NIGHT OF PROTESTS
“Watching my Twitter feed since last night very notable the intensity of tweets from conservative voices looking to amplify/draw attention to looting in Phila. Yes it happened. NYT covered it as well. Just remarkable how conservatives want to elevate it,” Times reporter Eric Lipton tweeted.
The Times reporter was responding to a Daily Caller report by Jordan Lancaster headlined, “Mass Rioting And Looting In Philadelphia Following Police Shooting.”
Lancaster responded to Lipton, condemning the Times reporter for his tweet.
“I’m not going to apologize for writing an article covering what happened in Philadelphia last night while our reporters put their lives on the line to film it - no matter how much it pisses off the New York Times,” she wrote.
It’s unclear why Lipton claimed conservatives want to bring attention to the situation that has even been denounced by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and even the liberal Washington Post covered it.
About 1,000 people took the streets of the city of Brotherly Love late Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning purportedly to demand justice for the death of Walter Wallace Jr., who was fatally shot by police on Monday.
Instead, the protests quickly devolved into violent riots and looting of stores across the city. Crowds of dozens were seen ransacking local and big-name stores, including a Walmart and a Foot Locker.
“I cannot believe I am seeing an investigative reporter from the paper of record lamenting that journalists are putting their lives on the line to cover widespread violence in a major American city,” journalist Bethany Mandel responded.
The Times reporter was roasted on social media for his take:
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Fox News’ Stephanie Pagones contributed to this report.
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