‘Coordinated’ looters use U-Hauls to rob stores

CBS News also expressed concerns about the looting being planned rather than random. "In what appears to be a widespread, coordinated attack, dozens of stores, banks and other businesses were broken into across downtown Chicago overnight. The looting spread from the Loop, up to the Near North Side," said CBS in their report on the issue.

It's unclear whether the current looting may possibly may have to do with an incident yesterday afternoon, in which an armed man was being chased by the police. He turned and fired at the officers, who then returned fire, injuring the man. This occurred in the neighborhood of Englewood at approximately 2:30pm.

The looting, which began shortly after midnight saw the sun rise on over 100 arrests and 13 injured officers. At least one exchange of gunfire was reported between Chicago police and looters. CBS went on to mention that at least on one occasion, looters are seen opening boxes of rocks and bricks which were then used to break store windows.

There has been a never-ending stream of videos all over social media since very early this morning showing hundreds upon hundreds of people sacking stores in the downtown Chicago area, specifically in the Magnificent Mile area, which is packed with high-end stores such as Apple, Gucci and Luis Vuitton, among many others.

The videos clearly show a lot of suspicious coordinated activity, including the U-Hauls and boxes of rocks and bricks mentioned above. One even shows a caravan of cars heading to the area to loot stores.

The city of Chicago has responded by closing ramps to some downtown exits, temporarily raising bridges across the Chicago River, and suspending public transportation in and near the affected areas, as well as increasing police presence in the areas.

Lori Lightfoot, Chicago’s mayor is strangely silent on the issue of the looting, although she did just tweet an aggressive tweet attacking sunbathers for being in a public park, some of them without masks on.