White House Press Secy blames Trump & COVID for organized looting incidents in US

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday blamed the COVID-19 pandemic as the "root cause" behind organised looting incidents across the United States. Speaking at the daily press briefing, Psaki's remarks came after Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked her about the response of the Biden administration regarding the "smash-and-grab" robberies and lawlessness that big cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago are currently dealing with. In response, at first, the Press Secretary accused former US President Donald Trump of lack of fund allotment to the local police later pinning the blame on COVID for the widespread retail store violence and looting across the country, New York Post reported.

When asked if the US President also feels that the surging crime count is owing to the pandemic, Psaki said “I think many people have conveyed that and also one of the root causes of crime in communities is guns and gun violence. And we’ve seen that statistically around the country." Doocy further pressed Psaki by asking if she thinks a gang of criminals looting store shelves clean at Home Depot or CVS is "because of the pandemic." Psaki answered, saying “I think a root cause in a lot of communities is the pandemic, yes."

Talking about the measures undertaken by the Biden administration, Psaki also highlighted, "President proposed additional funding in his budget over the funding that had been proposed by the prior president to increase in support local police departments, make sure we keep cops on the beat." Emphasising that the administration has worked with a range of communities across the country on strike forces, she also added: "we ensure that local communities are working in partnership to crack down on crime and any dangers they see in their community.  So, that’s one of the steps."

Looting cases across the US

Doocy's questions referred to the spike in incidents of groups converging on shops to conduct organised theft or robbery, something strikingly similar to the incidents that took place after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. However, unlike last year, this year's looting instances are not linked to civil protests indicating that the goal was just theft and damage, as per NY Post. Earlier in November, at least 80 people raided a San Francisco-area Nordstrom department store and fled in two dozen cars robbing goods worth $200,000.

Similar incidents were reported from the Los Angeles Nordstrom store on November 22, when a gang of 20 entered and wiped off racks worth $5,000 in goods. In a different store in LA, 5 people stole handbags worth $25,000 on November 24. On the same day, a group of 4 ramped an Apple store in Santa Rosa stealing electronics worth $20,000 in broad daylight. Identical instances were reports from the Chicago Louis Vuitton luxury store and LA Home Depot on November 17 and 26, respectively.

(Image: AP/Shutterstock)