BLM organizer calls looting ‘reparation’ [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• A Black Lives Matter organizer “[doesn’t] care if somebody decides to loot a Gucci’s or a Macy’s” because “that’s a reparation.”
• That’s what Ariel Atkins told the looters on Monday at a recent rally in Chicago just outside the South Loop police station.
• Chicago saw 100 arrests and 13 police officers injured in clashes with looters over a violent weekend.

A Black Lives Matter organizer claimed the widespread weekend looting in the heart of Chicago is “reparation,” local news outlets reported.

Speaking at a rally outside the South Loop police station on Monday, Ariel Atkins said: “I don’t care if somebody decides to loot a Gucci’s or a Macy’s or a Nike because that makes sure that that person eats. That makes sure that that person has clothes,”

“That’s a reparation,” Atkins added. “Anything they want to take, take it because these businesses have insurance.”

The organizer also slammed the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who denounced the “pillaging, robbing & looting” as “humiliating, embarrassing & morally wrong” in a Twitter post earlier Monday.

But Atkins shot back at the Baptist minister.

“Jesse Jackson has nothing to do with Black Lives Matter,” she said “Jesse Jackson was not there for the creation of Black Lives Matter. Jesse Jackson can keep his opinions to himself.”

Monday night’s rally was held to support those arrested over a violent weekend. The Windy City saw 100 arrests and 13 police officers injured in clashes with looters.

On Sunday, 20-year-old Latrell Allen was shot and wounded by the police. Allen was hit in the shoulder after opening fire on cops, according to authorities. He was taken to the University of Chicago Hospital and is expected to survive. Allen will have to face attempted- murder charges.

Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said more than 400 officers were deployed to stop the looting after Allen was shot.

The police are asking the community for any eyewitnesses or video footage of the shooting because the officers involved did not have body cameras on.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot took to Twitter late Monday and posted a video, calling the looting “shocking, disheartening, and quite frankly enraging.”

“To those that engaged in this criminal activity, it was wrong and outrageous,” Lightfoot said. “I pray that you recognize the pain that you have caused. But I also promise you that we will find you and bring you to justice.”

The city deployed “multilayered” security measures after the rioting. As of Monday, the area is blanketed with cops who restrict access to downtown Chicago from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The measures also call for bus service to be suspended, highway ramps to be closed, and all but seven of the 18 Loop drawbridges in the city to remain up — with police checkpoints, according to reports.

Source: New York Post