Free Republic

First they came for Christmas…Christmas tree at Fox News HQ, torched by somebody last night, engulfed in flamesWhere’s Mayor Giuliani’s broken window approach to crime when you need it?The theory quite simply is that going after the small offenses leads to reductions in serious crimes. Some Democrats don’t approve of the ‘Broken Windows’ policy however because it’s…racist, or something. A House resolution, put forth by the Squad in 2020 spells it out:“The system of policing in America, and its systemic targeting of and use of deadly and brutal force against people of color, particularly Black people, stems from the long...

Democratic California political leaders have remained silent on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s comment appearing to doubt the existence of smash-and-grab robberies. "We have to talk about specifics because, for example, we’re actually seeing a lot of these allegations of organized retail theft are not actually panning out," Ocasio-Cortez told The Washington Times in an interview last week. "I believe it’s a Walgreens in California cited it, but the data didn’t back it up." Fox News reached out to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press team, Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s communication’s director, Sen. Alex Padilla’s press secretary, as well as Mayor London Breed’s and Mayor...

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was slammed by Republicans and business leaders following an interview where she cast doubt on whether rampant smash-and-grabs are actually occurring. "A lot of these allegations of organized retail theft are not actually panning out," Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview with The Washington Times last week. "I believe it’s a Walgreens in California cited it, but the data didn’t back it up," she added.... ...The comments sparked pushback from retail leaders and Republican lawmakers, including from Walgreens. ... ...Indiana Republican Rep. Jim Banks said Ocasio-Cortez’s comments were "tone-deaf and offensive" to the family of Oakland...

AOC told the Washington Times that “a lot of these allegations of organized retail theft are not actually panning out.” “I believe it’s a Walgreens in California cited it, but the data didn’t back it up,” she said. Now, she says this in the face of numerous videos and reports of smash and grabs in Democratic cities across the country, in particular a spurt of such criminal actions in California. So, it’s fantasy to deny them. Republican lawmakers and retailers blasted AOC for denying the obvious.

San Francisco’s Union Square, the high-end shopping district at the center of the city, is boarding up for the Christmas shopping season after a string of “mass looting” events that began on the weekend before Thanksgiving. Normally, Union Square is festive and bright in December. Its giant Christmas tree and menorah attract visitors from across the region, as does its outdoor ice skating rink. Situated alongside the city’s famous cable car, it is an oasis of prosperity in a gritty downtown. However, this year is different, as the San Francisco Chronicle reports: As San Francisco approached the critical December shopping...

Former President Donald Trump called for states to deploy the National Guard to help deal with rampant retail looting, or "smash-and-grab" incidents, in a Tuesday statement. Trump said that if the Democratic politicians in charge of cities where the mass lootings are taking place don't take action, the National Guard "must be called out." “If Democrats don’t immediately stop smash-and-grab robberies, which are taking place in their cities, the National Guard must be called out. There has never been such a thing that has happened in our Country," Trump said in the statement. "Large numbers of stores are leaving San...

A group of four young men are wanted for robbing $20,000 worth of merchandise from an Apple Store, all caught on security cameras in broad daylight - the latest in a series of lootings across California.

We tend to think of Black Friday as the day that we can pick up some good deals at the stores.But instead, we’ve been seeing people thinking they could get more than a good deal — a five-finger discount, in fact. It’s happening at expensive stores in Democratic cities, particularly in California when they know that because of leftist prosecutors there, they will likely not suffer any real consequences even if they are caught in the act. This is all courtesy of the Democratic policy of being lenient on crime.When even CNN is recognizing this as a problem in cities...

California smash-and-grab thieves were back at it on Friday — with one crew hitting up a Home Depot to steal sledgehammers, crowbars and other tools, authorities said. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the Lakewood store’s entire hammer section had been cleared out by the mob of eight during the robbery, which took place at around 7:45 p.m. local time, Fox 11 reported.

A Northern California Apple store was targeted by thieves Wednesday in the latest smash-and-grab theft as mobs continue to commit brazen burglaries on retail shops in several U.S. cities. Four suspects walked into the Apple store just after 11:30 a.m. in Santa Rosa, 55 miles north of San Francisco, and stole more than $20,000 worth of merchandise in broad daylight in front of customers and staff, authorities said.

A flash mob of 20 to 30 suspected looters struck a Best Buy electronics store in Minnesota on Black Friday and managed to get away before police arrived, according to a report. The incident happened around 8 p.m. at a Best Buy location near the Burnsville Center shopping mall in Burnsville, a suburb south of Minneapolis....

A large group of teenagers raided a Home Depot in Lakewood Friday night, according to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. At approximately 7:55 p.m., a group of about 18 teenagers were approached by Home Depot employees at the tool section of the store located on 5000 Hardwick St. They were all escorted to the front door, when they took all types of merchandise, police said. The thieves fled in about 10 vehicles and drove away in different directions....

For a former police commissioner, Charles Ramsay isn't much of a detective. On CNN's New Day this morning, former Philly police commissioner and senior CNN law enforcement analyst Ramsay twice confessed to being stumped for the reasons behind the current wave of smash and grab robberies. Said Ramsay: "Many of the young people we arrested had no previous criminal records. And why they were getting involved in something like this I have no idea . . . So I don’t know what’s driving this."But all the while, the answer was staring Ramsay in the face. In fact, he actually supplied...

Cars will be restricted in San Francisco's Union Square after a shocking incident of retail theft on Friday night. The San Francisco Police Department said in a statement it responded to reports of possible looting and vandalism at several retail establishments, including the Louis Vuitton store, at 8:10 p.m. Additional officers were called to the scene to address reports of crime. The alleged thieves smashed windows, leaving piles of shattered glass across the sidewalk of the store that's adjacent to the Macy's department store. Burberry, Bloomingdale's and Yves Saint Laurent, among other retailers, were also targeted, police said. Saturday afternoon,...

Approximately 80 looters in ski masks reportedly robbed a Nordstrom near San Francisco while wielding crowbars on Saturday night. A local restaurant owner recounted the shocking scene that occurred in Walnut Creek around 9 p.m., explaining that 50-80 people were involved with the brazen robbery. “I probably saw 50-80 people in like ski masks with crowbars, a bunch of weapons,” said local PF Chang's manager Brett Barrette, CBS San Francisco Bay Area reported . “They were looting the Nordstrom.”...

Late night stores are scarce and the nearest large town is Helsingborg, 20 minutes drive away, a problem for Ilijason when one night he was in urgent need of food for his baby. The concept behind his unstaffed store is simple. An app, linked to a user’s bank ID, is used to unlock the door and then become a scanner to scan the groceries. An invoice follows at the end of the month. “So once you’ve opened the door, the app automatically turns into scan mode and you can buy whatever you want to buy,” Ilijason explained. For security reasons,...

DENVER (CBS4) – Six businesses in Denver were struck overnight, making it a total of 12 similar crimes this week. Police are investigating whether the same suspect is connected to all the smash-and-grab burglaries in the area. The series of smash-and-grabs started on Monday with three businesses hit, including a Taziki’s restaurant where the suspect took money from a cash register. Then early Wednesday morning another three businesses in the same area were targeted, this time thieves smashed through the doors of a Starbucks, The Papery and Happy Canyon Flower Shop.

TAMPA (FOX 13) - A Tampa man is under arrest after police say he and an accomplice crashed a stolen SUV through the front of a convenience store, and stole the ATM inside. Police are still looking for the other suspect. Thursday morning around 4 a.m., investigators say, Dwayne Chambers, 37, and another man slammed into the front of the Shubh Mini Market on Orient Road, driving a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee. The video shows the vehicle back through the front entrance, pull forward, then two suspects run into the store. One of them, identified as Chambers, yanked the ATM...

Here is security video of a "Smash and Grab" Robbery at an Apple Store in Marlton, New Jersey. The robbers smashed the front window and grabbed all they could. They were out in less than one minute. Police are looking for the thieves. (Watch Video)

Crime pays, four in 10 of British teenagers believe, according to a new survey. And the figure is even higher in inner cities with six out of 10 teens in socially deprived areas thinking they could benefit from crime. The survey is published as one young boy recovers in hospital after being stabbed for his mobile phone, and a young mother was stabbed seven times in broad daylight on a busy commuter bus after a confrontation with a bag snatcher. Prison is by far the biggest deterrent against committing a crime but only 5% think community service orders work and...