Buffalo Police have been forced to create an “anti-looting unit” as the New York city faces off against the deadliest winter storm in decades.
With the freezing winter storm hitting the city of Buffalo and the surrounding areas of upstate New York hard, looters have taken to the streets to take advantage of the situation. Multiple videos of looting have gone viral on social media as a result.
#BREAKING: Heavy gunfire heard as looters flee from business
Currently Multiple Looting is occurring throughout the city following a major blizzard that took place as Footage shows someone firing several rounds as looters run from a building. Injuries unknown pic.twitter.com/GTWfkMqSeB
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) December 26, 2022
This man telling #Buffalo looters to "put the shit back" is the hero we didn't know we needed #BuffaloBlizzard #BuffaloLooting #BuffaloBlizzard2022 pic.twitter.com/rXidwNuGER
— Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) December 27, 2022
Due to the mass crime wave, the Buffalo Police Department has been forced to set up a specialised anti-looting unit to deal with the criminals, and has so far made 9 arrests by Wednesday morning in connection with store break-ins.
“This isn’t people stealing food and medicine and diapers. They are destroying stores. They are stealing televisions, couches, whatever else they can get their hands on. They’re opportunists,” said Joseph Gramaglia, the Buffalo Police Commissioner during a Tuesday press conference.
There’s looting in Buffalo NY b/c it snowed?????? pic.twitter.com/LItUw0T0zJ
— Luke Rudkowski (@Lukewearechange) December 26, 2022
“All you’re doing is destroying the resource you have when you need to go to the store again and buy food or whatever else that you need. You’re destroying your community. It will not be tolerated,” Gramaglia added.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said the looters were the “lowest of the low,” slamming them as being “absolutely reprehensible” for looting in the dangerous conditions. “I don’t know how these people can even live with themselves, how they can look at themselves in the mirror,” he said.
“They’re not looting foods and medicines. They’re just looting items that they want,” Brown continued. “So these aren’t people in distress. These are people that are taking advantage of a natural disaster and the suffering of many in our community to take what they want from retailers.”
So far, the storm has claimed 35 deaths in the area, with the majority of those being with the city of Buffalo itself. This now tops the highest death toll reported for the blizzard that hit Buffalo in 1977, which has been widely considered to be the worst storm to hit the area of all time.
