House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is decrying a spree of so-called smash-and-grab robberies that have taken place in several U.S. cities as “outrageous.”
During a press conference on Wednesday, Fox News’ Chad Pergram asked the California Democrat about a series of smash-and-grab robberies in her home state.
“It is absolutely out of the question that people should be able to think that they can just steal things, profit from them, and not have any accountability on it,” Pelosi responded as she pointed to a bill that would require people seeking to sell products online to prove the provenance of the products.
When asked specifically about retail theft in San Francisco, Pelosi said, “It’s absolutely outrageous. Obviously, it cannot continue. But the fact is that there is an attitude of lawlessness in our country that springs from I don’t know where, maybe you do, and we cannot have that lawlessness become the norm.”
“And these people coordinate with each other and they plan traffic patterns and the rest so that they can reach their goal and depart very quickly…None of it is acceptable and again it has to be stopped,” she added.
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As the Associated Press notes, “San Franciscans take pride in their liberal political bent and generously approve tax measures for schools and the homeless. They accept that trashy streets, tent encampments, and petty crime are the price to pay to live in an urban wonderland.”
However, it added, “A series of headline-grabbing crime stories — mobs of people smashing windows and grabbing luxury purses in the downtown Union Square shopping district and daytime shootings in the touristy Haight-Ashbury — has only exacerbated a general feeling of vulnerability. Residents wake up to news of attacks on Asian American seniors, burglarized restaurants, and boarded-up storefronts in the city’s once-vibrant downtown.”
San Francisco is not alone in experiencing a wave of smash-and-grab robberies where mobs of people show up to stores, smash windows, and steal products. The robberies have also taken place in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City.
On Tuesday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a new program to crack down on the crime surge.
“It’s time the reign of criminals who are destroying our city, it is time for it come to an end,” she said at a press conference. “And it comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement. More aggressive with the changes in our policies and less tolerate of all the bullsh*t that has destroyed our city.”
She added, “We are a city that prides ourselves on second chances and rehabilitation. But we’re not a city where anything goes. Our compassion should not be mistaken for weakness or indifference.”
