Group of migrants busted for looting Tennessee homes devastated by hurricane: Sheriff



Tennessee authorities recently arrested eight migrant workers after they were allegedly caught looting homes in Washington County that were devastated by Hurricane Helene.

According to the Washington County Sheriff's Office, five of the men — Albin Nahun Vega-Rapalo, 24; David Bairon Rapalo-Rapalo, 37; Kevin Noe Martinez-Lopez, 25; Marvin Hernandez-Martinez, 43; and Dayln Gabriel Guillen Guillen, 37 — were charged with aggravated burglary for allegedly breaking into occupied structures.

'We have been through way too much for this kind of behavior.'

Three of the men — Jesus Leodan Garcia-Peneda, 51, Josue Berardo Ortis-Valdez, 30, and Ersy Leonel Ortis-Valdez, 33 — were slapped with burglary charges, the sheriff's office reported.

Sheriff Keith Sexton stated that the men were arrested on Saturday and remain at the Washington County Detention Center on $20,000 bonds. They were slated to make their first court appearance on Monday.

"Washington County Sheriff's Deputies continue to patrol our region during the catastrophic flooding, especially along the flood zone," the department said in a post on Facebook.

A spokesperson for the sheriff's office told Fox News Digital that the men are migrant workers who are legally in the United States on work visas.

However, the spokesperson told the news outlet, "That will change as a result of the charges."

"We have been through way too much for this kind of behavior," the spokesperson added.

The sheriff's office told Fox News Digital that the three men charged with burglary were caught looting unoccupied homes and structures "that were barely still standing."

Anything else?

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition stated, "TIRRC staff members who deployed to the area witnessed community members struggling to access interpretation services from local and state government agencies, as well as requests by agencies for identification and documentation from immigrant community families that hindered their ability to identify missing loved ones."

According to recent reports, Hurricane Helene's devastation has resulted in the death of more than 160 people in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee — making it the second deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. in the last 55 years. Hundreds of individuals are still missing, and the storm's death toll is expected to increase as first responders continue to search the debris. More than a million individuals remain without power.

Over 100 people needed to be rescued in the northeastern part of Tennessee. While others remain missing, nine individuals have been confirmed dead in the state.

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Video shows 70 flash mob looters ransack Oakland gas station, took police 9 hours to respond: 'Things have to be fixed somehow'



A flash mob of roughly 70 looters ransacked a California gas station convenience store, which cost approximately $100,000 in losses. The owner said it took Oakland police about nine hours to respond to the looting.

Around 4:30 a.m. on Friday, a flash mob looted the 76 Gas Station & Mini Market near the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.

The owner, Sam Mardaie, said there were two employees working at the time and the looting lasted around 40 minutes. The business was only offering window service at the time of the pillaging. However, the looters broke into the market through the front door.

“Shelves were ripped apart, all the grocery items were torn or stepped on or vandalized,” Mardaie told KTVU.

The owner released video of the flash mob ransacking his gas station convenience store. Surveillance video shows the looters going behind the counter and stealing food and products.

None of the employees were harmed in the flash mob looting.

The looters snatched approximately $25,000 in cash from the store’s register and ATM. The owner said the criminals were not able to steal the safe.

Mardaie and his family took over the business in August 2023.

“This is the hardest thing you could ever go through…especially if you’ve been put in sweat and tears day in and day out,” Mardaie said. “Building yourself for the last ten months and then you’re back to square one.”

"Things have to be fixed somehow," Mardaie said. "The citizens of Oakland have to have some sort of security."

The owner said he knew the area was known for crime, but added: "I did not know it is this terrible."

The 76 gas station is located in the same area of Oakland where an In-N-Out fast food restaurant closed in March because of out-of-control crime. The location was the Southern California-based burger chain's only restaurant in Oakland.

The Oakland Police Department told KTVU that officers were responding to a sideshow near the airport that had more than 100 vehicles at the scene. The department said officers responded to the gas station robbery about 90 minutes after receiving a call. However, there were no suspects at the 76 gas station. Police marked the crime as a Priority 2, which means that the incident can be reported online. However, police upgraded the robbery to a Priority 1 crime after seeing the surveillance video.

No arrests were made in relation to the flash mob looting.

District 7 City Councilmember Treva Reid, who represents the area where the crime occurred, said she continues to "advocate and work to secure increased public safety resources and response." Reid urged Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao to prioritize her district's demands.

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Scores of looters swarm gas stations and wreak havoc in America's most violent city



Scores of thugs swarmed two Memphis gas stations over the weekend, stealing thousands of dollars of merchandise and destroying property. Looters also hit a 53-foot FedEx semi-trailer, stealing multiple packages.

While last year, former District Attorney Amy Weirich indicated that Memphis would trend in this direction if soft-on-crime Democratic professor Steve Mulroy was elected chief prosecutor, the exasperated mayor of America's most dangerous city indicated this week the courts were to blame for failing to ensure that criminals are locked up.

Criminals on tour

WMC-TV reported that multiple businesses were robbed and vandalized Saturday night.

"Some people referred to it almost as a purge, it was ridiculous," said James Davis, owner of L.R. Clothier. "I saw some videos on social media."

Davis' business was broken into early Sunday morning, according to police.

"What this says to me is that people don't fear any repercussions of their actions," added the store owner.

Roughly $2,000 of items were stolen from the Exxon at 3483 Airways Boulevard. Over $15,000 of merchandise was taken from the Fill-N-Go gas station at 3084 South Third Street just hours later, where a clerk reported having a rifle pointed at him by a suspect. The mob is estimated to have inflicted $9,000 in damage at the second location.

Footage of one of the incidents shows a mob of looters, some masked and others bare-faced, ransacking a gas station and absconding with everything from candy to an electric sign. One hooded figure taking his time deciding which chocolate bars to load into his sagging pants can be seen carrying around a rifle. Another masked figure grabbing a handful of loot appears to be an adolescent girl.

Clerks and paying customers look on in disbelief as the looters pilfer without any fear of consequence.

— (@)

The looters' targets were not all stationary.

In what appears to have been a coordinated effort, drivers blocked a FedEx truck in the middle of Riverport Road and Mallory Avenue around 8:30 p.m., affording masked men an opportunity to break into the trailer and steal multiple packages.

WHBQ-TV reported that Memphis Police arrived in time only to see various vehicles speeding and driving recklessly away from the gutted FedEx truck.

Officers later received a call from security at Breezy Point Apartments indicating that guards had detained three men suspected of breaking into the FedEx truck, all reportedly reeking of marijuana.

Inside the suspect's white Chevrolet, police reportedly found four Kicker Speakers 6x9, a vehicle headlight, one 14-piece set of pots and pans, a cardboard box of air lines, and three DirectTV cable boxes.

The trio were taken into custody.

— (@)

Par for the course

Following the recent lootings, Mayor Jim Strickland said, "I mean it's similar to videos I've seen across the country. Those convenience store owners are small business people. I've met with them. They have to work there, themselves a lot, just to earn a living," reported WREG-TV.

"The court system needs fundamental change to adjust to what's going on out in the community. The police are arresting them. The courts won't keep them," said Strickland.

While the mayor figures the courts are to blame for his city's failure to keep criminals in check, former Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich told "The Todd Starnes Show" last year that her Democratic opponent, now District Attorney Steve Mulroy, would be unwilling and unable "to stand up and fight for the victims of crime and ... enforce the law."

Weirich added that Mulroy's election would leave Memphis looking like San Francisco, although by the numbers that would amount to an improvement.

Memphis scores a 0 on Neighborhood Scout's crime index, where 100 is safest. The likelihood of becoming a victim of a violent crime is 1 in 40. The chance of falling victim to a property crime is 1 in 18.

According to the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission, a non-profit focused on public safety, major violent crime is up 5.4% this year in Shelby County. The major property crime rate has skyrocketed 42.1%.

Murders are up 77% this year and on track to set an all-time city record. The previous record for deadliest year was set in 2021, where Memphis saw 346 homicides and 304 murders.

The city, which had a population of 621,056 last year, reportedly has a poverty rate of 24.2%, an unemployment rate of 9.3%, and a median household income of $43,981, well below the national average. Its demographic makeup is 64% black and 27% white.

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Target to partner with Homeland Security to battle organized retail theft — company expects to lose over $1 billion due to crime



Target announced a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security as a result of a losing battle with organized retail crime that has caused the corporation to expect over $1 billion in losses in the last fiscal year.

The company notified customers of the new DHS partnership after announcing that nine stores would be closed because of substantial losses due to theft, as well as safety concerns, TimCast reported.

The company announced the closure of nine stores across four states: one in New York City's East Harlem neighborhood; three in the San Francisco Bay Area; three in Portland, Oregon; and two in Seattle, Washington.

"We cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests and contributing to unsustainable business performance," the company said in a statement. "We know that our stores serve an important role in their communities, but we can only be successful if the working and shopping environment is safe for all."

Since this video is blowing up I'd just like to say that the #phillyPd did an amazing job last night and definitely saved this #Target from #Utterdestruction. Here's some #BONUSFootage from the #Looting last night in #Philadelphia #philly showing the #PhillyPd Saving #Target pic.twitter.com/mSXERpyjqe
— ✬ꀭꍏꌩꀘꀤ꒒꒒ꊼꋪꉣ✬ (@JaykillXRP) September 27, 2023


Target said that it will make “significant investments in cyber defense” while partnering with the Homeland Security Investigations team, a department that often deals with federal crimes, specifically organized crime like fraud or trafficking.

“Organized retail crime is leading to more brazen, more violent attacks in retail stores throughout the country, and many of the criminal rings orchestrating these thefts are also involved in other serious criminal activity,” said HSI acting executive associate director Steve Francis. “Tackling this growing threat is important to the safety of store employees, customers, and communities across the country.”

ABC News estimated that Target will lose approximately $1.2 billion in the current fiscal year from retail theft. The National Retail Federation, the largest trade group for the retail industry, said internal and external theft and fraud cost retailers $112.1 billion in losses in 2022. Up from $93.9 billion in 2021.

Much of the retail merchandise that gets stolen ends up being sold on various online outlets for profits, which will be a sector targeted by the DHS.

Target will also reportedly host different store walks with federal, state, and local law enforcement to develop an array of strategies to prevent retail crime.

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Carjackings, Looting, And Murder: ‘Equity’ In Action!

More theft and violence are the natural result of the Democrats' push for 'diversity, equity and inclusion.' Law enforcement can't coexist.

Donald Trump Says Looters ‘Should Expect To Be Shot’ If He Retakes White House In 2024

'They will knock the hell out of you'

Top CNN analyst says the quiet part out loud about far-left criminal justice reform after mass riots in Philly



The top law enforcement analyst at CNN admitted Wednesday that progressive criminal justice reform is wreaking havoc on cities and driving up crime.

Philadelphia police arrested dozens of people late Tuesday into early Wednesday after large, organized groups of rioters — whom interim police Commissioner John Stanford called "criminal opportunists" — terrorized the city's downtown area. A second night of mass looting erupted on Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

According to CNN chief law enforcement analyst John Miller, the situation in Philadelphia is endemic of a larger problem striking Democrat-controlled cities.

That problem, Miller said, is that looters exploit protests using "sophisticated communications networks" to organize mass crime sprees. They are emboldened by progressive criminal justice reform that seeks to decrease the penalty for property crimes, he explained, suggesting that "the litmus test" for such reform is to see where organized property crime is occurring.

"You are seeing this kind of looting happening — I mean shoplifting and organized retail theft happen — in places like New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia," he observed.

"If you look at where Target closed nine stores yesterday — four stores in San Francisco, stores in Seattle, stores in Portland, stores in New York — these are places where bail reform laws, criminal justice reforms have taken the inside of a jail cell out of the equation," Miller explained. "So shoplifting is a crime where a judge can't set bail."


To prove his point, Miller cited data from New York City.

"Think about this: In New York City there are just over 300 people who have between them 4,000 arrests; 70% of them are not in jail, and they account for 30% of all shoplifting in New York. This is actually their job. They go out to steal every day," he said.

"And that has gone up significantly because they know getting put in jail is not in the equation any longer because of the laws that say 'it's a no-bail offense' and DA's policies are they don't want people in custody for what they call nonviolent crimes," he explained.

The end result of such criminal justice reform policies, Miller said, is that criminals realize it "is just like shopping without money."

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Target to shutter 9 stores in Democrat-run cities on account of unrelenting crime



Target is pulling up stakes on select stores in crime-ridden, Democratic cities, joining the host of other retailers looking for greener pastures.Evidently the company's efforts to lock aisles of products behind security glass wasn't a winning solution.

The company is shuttering nine stores across four states: one in New York City's East Harlem neighborhood; three in the San Francisco Bay Area; three in Oregon's increasingly anarchical city of Portland; and two in Seattle, Washington.

A combined 150 stores will remain in the geographies affected by the Oct. 21 closures, reported ABC News.

According to Neighborhood Scout, the chances of becoming a victim of a property crime in these areas is: 1 in 51 in New York City; 1 in 20 in San Francisco and 1 in 17 in Oakland, CA; 1 in 17 in Portland; and 1 in 18 in Seattle.

The company made clear that the reason behind the closure was crime, reported CNN.

"We cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance," the company said in a statement. "We know that our stores serve an important role in their communities, but we can only be successful if the working and shopping environment is safe for all."

In May, the woke company's CEO Brian Cornell said he expected theft "will reduce our profitability by more than $500 million compared with last year."

ABC News indicated losses for the company could top $1.2 billion this fiscal year.

The National Retail Federation, the largest trade group for the retail industry, said Tuesday that shrink — a catch-all term for internal and external theft and fraud — cost retailers $112.1 billion in losses last year. In 2021, the cost of shrink was $93.9 billion.

This appears to be an aggressively worsening trend.

"Retailers are seeing unprecedented levels of theft coupled with rampant crime in their stores, and the situation is only becoming more dire," said NRF vice president of asset protection and retail operations David Johnston. "Far beyond the financial impact of these crimes, the violence and concerns over safety continue to be the priority for all retailers, regardless of size or category."

Ever-worsening crime has similarly chased other stores and companies out of Democrat-run cities.

For instance, AT&T announced in June that it would be closing its flagship store in San Francisco — where police have indicated there have been 24,018 reports of larceny theft, 2,039 robberies, 4,186 burglaries, 1,789 assaults, and 40 murders so far this year — citing changing "shopping habits."

TheBlaze previously noted that consumer shopping habits in San Francisco have changed drastically since leftists successfully passed proposition 47 in 2014 — a leftist California ballot initiative that effectively decriminalized thefts under $950.

Cinemark Holdings, Inc. similarly revealed this summer that it too was ditching the crime-ridden and excrement-littered city, shuttering its theater in the downtown Westfield San Francisco Centre mall.

Nordstrom's chief store officer indicated in May it was closing its anchor location in the Westfield mall, citing dramatic changes in the "dynamics of the downtown San Francisco market." Whole Foods also cut and ran.

Crime statistics in neighboring Oakland, which has also done a great job repelling business, paint just as bleak a picture. As of Aug. 27, violent crime was up 19% this year over last year. Robberies are up 30%; rapes, 6%; burglaries, 44%; and motor vehicle thefts, 52%.

Portland too has seen an exodus of business in recent months.

In March, Walmart announced it was closing its last two remaining stores, not long after CEO Doug McMillon warned the company had seen a significant spike in thefts, reported the New York Post.

McMillon told CNBC, "Theft is an issue. It's higher than what it has historically been."

According to the Portland Police Bureau, there were 5,998 burglary, 24,675 larceny offenses, 1,407 robberies, 340 arson, 10,026 assault offenses, and 104 murder reports between August 2022 and August 2023.

Hundreds of businesses, including Starbucks and Nike, have fled Democrat-run Seattle in recent years, again owing to unchecked crime and violence.

So far this year, Seattle had over 25,000 property crimes and 3,470 violent crimes, including 42 murders and 205 rapes, according to the Seattle Police Department crime dashboard.

Police reckon Democratic policies barring judges from jailing or requiring bail for thieves, regardless of how many times the crooks have committed the act, have largely contributed to this problem, reported CNN.

The vast majority of respondents to the NRF's 2023 National Retail Security Survey appeared to agree with this assessment by police, with 72% claiming that they had seen an increase in the average value per incident in localities that raised minimum felony thresholds and another 67% reporting an increase in repeat offenders in geographies where cash bail was reduced or eliminated.

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Editor Daily Rundown: The Left Is Coming For Trump’s Wealth

Calling all Patriots!

'You loot, we shoot': DeSantis issues stern warning to anyone trying to exploit damage from Hurricane Idalia



Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) issued a stern warning to anyone who exploits Hurricane Idalia to loot destroyed homes and businesses.

At a press conference after the hurricane made landfall in the Sunshine State's Big Bend region, DeSantis said he had already heard reports of looting near the area where the hurricane made landfall and promised that authorities will not "tolerate" it.

"I've told all of our personnel at the state level, you know, you protect people's property, and we are not gonna tolerate any looting in the aftermath of a natural disaster," he said. "It's just ridiculous that you would try to do something like that on the heels of an almost Category 4 hurricane hitting this community."

And according to DeSantis, law enforcement officers are not the only people whom looters should worry about.

"I'd also just remind potential looters that people, you never know what you’re walking into. People have a right to defend their property," he explained.

"This part of Florida, you got a lot of advocates and some proponents of the Second Amendment," he warned, "and I've seen signs in different people's yards in the past after these disasters, and I would say it's probably here: 'You loot, we shoot.' You never know what's behind that door if you go break into somebody's house and you're trying to loot. These are people that are going to be able to defend themselves and their families, so I would not do it."

— (@)

This is the second time that DeSantis has issued a strong warning in the aftermath of a hurricane.

Speaking after Hurricane Ian ravaged Fort Myers last year, DeSantis recounted the warning that he saw plastered on boarded-up businesses: "You loot, we shoot."

"At the end of the day, we are not going to allow lawlessness to take advantage of this situation," DeSantis said at the time. "We are a law-and-order state, and this is a law-and-order community, so do not think that you’re going to go take advantage of people who’ve suffered misfortune."

DeSantis has temporarily paused his presidential campaign as he leads Florida through this latest natural disaster.

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