Looters Hit Manhattan Stores For 3rd Night, But Cause Less Damage

NEW YORK, NY — Groups of looters broke into Manhattan businesses for the third straight night on Tuesday amid largely peaceful protests over police brutality after the killing of Minneapolis man George Floyd, but an early curfew and more proactive response from the NYPD appears to have lessened the damage.

Looters split off from peaceful protesters in Lower Manhattan, Midtown and retail-heavy neighborhoods such as SoHo for the third straight night to tear down plywood barriers, break windows and grab merchandise from stores, according to reports.

When looters broke into a Zara on Broadway and Fulton Street near the World Trade Center, peaceful protests took it upon themselves to police the situation before the NYPD arrived. A video from outside the store shows a protester grab a looter and throw them to the ground while shouting "you f-----, you f-----, you're not a black ally!" Moment later, police showed up on the scene and made arrests, PBS' Simon Ostrovsky reported.

Smashed windows and looting were also reported at a Nordstrom Rack on Sixth Avenue and West 31st Street, The Gap, a Starbucks in Astor Place and a Verizon Store on Broadway and Canal, according to reporters covering the looting and protesters posting on social media.

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SoHo, an area that saw heavy looting on Sunday and Monday nights, was guarded closely by police on Tuesday. Streets leading to the neighborhood's luxury boutiques were taped off and actively guarded by NYPD officers, according to NBCNew York reporter Myles Miller. Three looters were arrested after trying to break into a Louis Vuitton store with a hammer, according to the reports.

"The earlier curfew really helped out. Cops take out of the neighborhood people that didn't belong there. 8:00 helped a lot. A lot of peaceful protesters. Protesters that were still protesting past 8:00 peacefully, we allowed to continue, but when a group of people who were looking to cause mayhem broke off, we were able to take care of them very quickly," Monahan said on the news program.

Banning cars below 96th Street in Manhattan also helped deter looters, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer told Patch on Wednesday.

"Last night was very different. There were still a couple of incidents, but still dramatically less than the night before," Brewer said. "Cars were a big problem. The ones who were looting were covering over license plates or found a way to make them impossible to read."

Protests against police brutality and structural racism continued for the sixth consecutive day across New York City's five borough's on Tuesday night following the police killing of Minneapolis man George Floyd. Thousands of largely peaceful protesters were overshadowed by much smaller groups of rampant looters on Sunday and Monday nights. Protesters were allowed to continue demonstrating past the 8 p.m. curfew in parts of the city, with police cracking down on some groups of peaceful protesters as marches continued into the night.

Patch's Anna Quinn contributed to this report.