The looting that went on in New York City at the height of the BLM riots was a regular feature in the local news, though far less frequently mentioned on CNN, MSNBC or in the major national newspapers. Now the frequency and size of the protests and the associated rioting have diminished somewhat as the colder weather arrives. But one thing hasn’t changed. The looting in some of Gotham’s most expensive retail districts is still going on every week. Though you rarely hear about it on the news, retailers in Manhattan’s upscale SoHo district are being targeted constantly. And the vast majority of the thieves manage to get away because they threaten the stores with accusations of racism if they try to stop them. (NY Post)

Bands of shoplifters are terrorizing Soho’s high-end boutiques, lifting hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of designer merchandise, and in some cases, threatening security guards to keep quiet — or be labeled racist, The Post has learned…

“This is happening every week. Walk around Soho on Wooster Street and Greene Street, Mercer Street. … You have huge bouncers out there trying to deter hit-and-run activity,” the source, a restaurateur, said.

But in some cases, the thieves are given carte blanche to steal.

“If they [store personnel] stop them and say anything in the store before they’ve left the building then it often gets turned into a racial accusation,” the source said.

The weekly robberies have been taking place in outlets including Adidas, Fendi and Burberry. The very upscale store Moncler on Prince Street was recently hit twice in the same day. Moncler sells down jackets that go for as much as $2,000. (Who spends that much on a down jacket is a mystery for another day.) The robberies took place in broad daylight and more than $50,000 in merchandise was carried out of the store and driven away. The suspects were unmolested in their efforts and no arrests have been made.

The details of these crimes are daunting but a few patterns seem clear. The criminals, almost entirely younger Black and Hispanic males, realize that the NYPD is overextended and they can’t be everywhere at once. They go into some of the priciest stores with the most expensive merchandise, cause a disturbance, and then grab as much loot as they can carry. If anyone tries to stop them, they begin screaming about racism. It’s gotten to the point where store managers are telling their security people to just let them go rather than be branded on social media as “not supporting Black Lives Matter.”

But these aren’t protesters for the most part, if at all. The retailers aren’t seeing a lot of BLM shirts or people carrying signs. These are just opportunistic thieves and gang bangers who have been blending in with the rest of the rioters and cashing in while the opportunities are plentiful. And they’re clearly very media savvy. They know that the stores are frightened of being seen as insufficiently woke and all they need to do is get a cellphone video of a minority youth being restrained or ejected from the store. Then the deceptive video will be posted online, a petition will be started and the store will be canceled and besieged by outraged activists.

This is how the “movement” is working today in New York City. I’m sure those who have been subjected to actual racial violence and oppression must be so proud right about now.