The plans to break into, vandalize and steal from Philadelphia businesses on Tuesday night were not much of a secret.

As word spread that a Philadelphia judge had dismissed all criminal charges against the former police officer who shot and killed Eddie Irizarry last month, people took to Instagram to share their anger and plan a response.

“WHAT TIME WE GOING “SHOPPING”???” one person asked.

“We looting or not??!!” wrote another.

“I know they say tearing up our stuff ain’t right,” someone said, “but that’s the only way they hear us.”

Before the night was over, police said, groups had broken into businesses across Philadelphia, stealing, ransacking and leaving destruction in their wake. Dozens of people — including what police described as a caravan of “criminal opportunists” — broke into stores along popular shopping corridors from Center City to the Northeast to West Philadelphia, authorities said. They broke through metal door protectors and spliced locks with bolt cutters, then looted the stores and fled with electronics, shoes, clothes, liquor, pharmaceuticals, and other goods.

By morning, 52 people had been arrested, including three juveniles, police said. Most were charged with burglary and theft, prosecutors said, and one person faces charges of illegal gun possession. Police said most people arrested were between the ages of 18 and 22; their identities had not yet been released.

The damage was not as severe as what the city endured in 2020, when some stores were burned amid unrest that spanned multiple days and nights, but it left business owners again sweeping up broken glass and damaged merchandise throughout the morning. Shoe and clothing racks at JD Sports in the Roosevelt Mall were mostly bare, and a sign on the door read “closed until further notice.” Fine Wine & Good Spirits announced that all of its stores would close Wednesday after 18 locations were broken into.

“Basically, people saw an opportunity and they took it,” said Benjamin Nachum, manager of Patriot Pharmacy in North Philly, which was looted Tuesday night for the third time since it opened in 2019.

The groups took to the streets after Municipal Court Judge Wendy L. Pew dismissed all charges against Mark Dial, who was a Philadelphia Police officer when he was charged with murder for shooting Irizarry on Aug. 14. Dial, a five-year veteran of the force, shot Irizarry, 27, six times as he sat in his parked car, the windows rolled up and a knife in his hand, in Kensington after police saw him driving erratically.

Prosecutors said the officer’s decision to use lethal force was criminal, but Pew said they did not present enough evidence to support that and threw out the case. The DA’s Office quickly petitioned to refile the charges.

Irizarry’s heartbroken family denounced the judge’s decision and staged a peaceful protest on Tuesday evening outside City Hall.

Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford made clear in a news conference Tuesday night that Irizarry’s supporters had nothing to do with the unrest that followed. He called the young people who looted “criminal opportunists” who were not affiliated with the earlier gathering and said they were taking “advantage of a situation” and trying “to destroy our city.”

“This had nothing to do with the protests,” he repeated.

Irizarry’s aunt Zoraida Garcia repeated calls for peace Wednesday, saying that vandalism and looting are “not going to bring justice to my family or bring my nephew back.” Her family, she said, “does not condone this type of behavior.”

People angry with Pew’s decision, she said, should “come to the court instead of tearing down our city.” Bring posters and stand in front of the courthouse, she said, “and let’s do this the right way. Fight together for justice.”

A livestreamed arrest

The young people involved in the crimes, Stanford said, had organized their plans over social media, and once one group started looting in Center City, others did the same in other neighborhoods.

Shortly after the gathering at City Hall dispersed and Irizarry’s family went home, rogue groups of people, some in ski masks, ran through the Rittenhouse Square shopping district.

First, just before 8 p.m., they broke into Foot Locker, police said, stealing clothes and other merchandise, before moving down Walnut Street. They gathered around the Apple Store and pried the front doors from the hands of security guards inside, video shows, before running in and fleeing with iPads, iPhones, and other electronics amid cheers.

The celebrations were short-lived. Soon after those who took them ran from the store, the devices were disabled and locked by Apple security, and a loud alarm blared from each phone’s speakers. People started smashing the electronics in the street and police recovered a “pile of iPads” abandoned nearby.

The group also broke into Lululemon, the high-end fitness apparel store. Videos showed that police on bikes interrupted the theft and apprehended multiple people, tackling some to the ground and delivering one young man a punch to the face, as others fled.

By 8:40 p.m., police had locked down a four-block stretch of Walnut Street, from Broad to 18th Streets, and Chestnut Street was cleared and secured 30 minutes later, police said.

One 22-year-old, Dayjia Blackwell — a popular social media personality known as “Meatball” who sells hats and beanies — appeared to have livestreamed much of the night to her more than 185,000 followers on Instagram. After her friends smashed iPhones and fled Lululemon, videos show she got into a car and could be heard telling people to meet at a new location.

“Aramingo! Aramingo!” she said, according to her video.

A caravan of cars then moved north to a plaza at Aramingo and Castor Avenues in Port Richmond. The GameStop appeared to be the main business damaged. Drivers gathered in the parking lot to decide where to go next.

“Sixth and Lehigh! Come on!” someone yelled out the window.

Others gathered at the Roosevelt Mall in the Northeast and broke into JD Sports.

Dozens then peeled back the metal shutters of a Fine Wine & Good Spirits — one of 18 to be burglarized overnight, according to a company spokesperson. They ran into the store, and fled with bottles of liquor and wine.

“Rest well, Eddie,” Blackwell said, as people ran out with bags of alcohol.

Her next video showed she was back in a car, with red and blue lights flashing through the cabin.

“They want me bad,” she said. Her friends told her to stop recording as they realized they were being pulled over.

As officers walked up to the car, Blackwell leaned out the window: “We don’t got nothing to do with this!” she told police.

“Get out the car,” an officer told her.

Then the stream ended and Blackwell was arrested. She remained in custody Wednesday evening, awaiting arraignment.

Mayor Jim Kenney and other city leaders condemned the destruction.

“They are going to have to pay a price,” Kenney said. “This is not shoplifting. This is looting. This is riot.”

Paul Levy, president of the Center City District, called it “senseless, opportunistic theft.”

“We support legitimate protest; this was random destruction,” he said.

(Inquirer staff writers Rodrigo Torrejón, Chris Palmer, Robert Moran, Erin McCarthy, Ryan W. Briggs, and Jake Blumgart contributed to this article.)

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