In one video, looters slam iPhones onto the ground after they were disabled, which Musk posted, ‘So just plain destruction in the end’
Billionaire Elon Musk, who is also the owner of X, previously known as Twitter, referred to videos and images showing individuals, primarily teenagers, looting stores in Philadelphia as akin to a scene from the movie “Joker.”
This criminal activity occurred separately from a peaceful protest that arose in response to a judge’s dismissal of murder and other charges against a white Philadelphia police officer involved in the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry, a Black resident.
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Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Stanford clarified that those engaged in the looting were not associated with the protest, emphasizing that they were criminals rather than protesters. He expressed his strong condemnation, describing the acts as “disgusting” and insisting that they had no place in the city.
On Tuesday night, videos circulating on social media depicted individuals wearing masks and hoodies running through the streets and entering various stores to hastily grab merchandise before fleeing—a behavior often described as flash mob-style ransacking. By Wednesday afternoon, authorities had reported making at least 52 arrests in connection with these incidents, as per the Associated Press.
Several of these videos were shared on X and drew the attention of the social media platform’s highest-ranking executive.
In response to one video posted on X that showed scenes of chaos in the “City of Brotherly Love,” with police attempting to thwart looters leaving a store and a woman laughing uncontrollably, Elon Musk commented, “America is going full Joker.” He made this reference to the Joker, the iconic villain from Batman lore, specifically alluding to the portrayal of the character in the 2019 Todd Phillips film “Joker,” in which Joaquin Phoenix starred.
Every single retail store in these cities is going to have to close eventually. There is just no way to make a profit with this type of stuff constantly happening.
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) September 27, 2023
There are surely no new stores popping up. So it is just a decline as they each give up and move their operations… https://t.co/OTm3iNN1j1
In another video, an exuberant woman can be heard getting increasingly excited as a throng of individuals, predominantly Black, surged into an Apple store. The crowd entered after a security guard, who had been trying to prevent their entry, gave way. Subsequently, the looters ransacked the store, seizing iPhones, iPads, and other items, while the woman continued to shout in elation, repeating, “Got one! Got one! Got one! Got one…free iPhones! Free iPhones! Free iPhones.”
The woman then mentioned that security personnel were on the move, and a masked man came into view, displaying his haul of multiple electronic devices.
The camera then focused on an iPhone in the woman’s hand, and she exclaimed, “They’re tracking us. Burn your iPhones.”
Shortly thereafter, in the footage, individuals are observed discarding the “free iPhones,” tossing them to the ground and smashing them individually. Meanwhile, the alarms on the stolen merchandise continued to blare, although it appeared that the stolen devices had been rendered inoperable.
Elon Musk commented in the post’s comments section, remarking, “So just plain destruction in the end.”