‘Woke’ retailers who supported left-wing police reforms are now asking Congress for help amid the rash of smash-and-grabs spreading across the country.
Retail CEOs are calling on Congress for help amid lootings that leave businesses struggling with hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen or lost merchandise.
Some of those same companies supported organizations that called to overhaul policing and defund the police in the United States.
According to Sean Pritchard, president of the San Jose Police Officers Association, “Many corporate leaders jumped on the woke bandwagon and wrote big checks to organizations that continue to advocate to defund the police.”
“They did not think of anything beyond not being labeled a racist.”
Nearly two dozen CEOs signed the letter to Congress to ask for support as theft crimes rage on.
Company chiefs included the leaders of Nordstrom, Levi Strauss, Target, Home Depot, and Ulta Beauty.
“Leading retailers are concerned about the growing impact organized retail crime is having on the communities we proudly serve. This important legislation will modernize our consumer protection laws to safeguard families and communities from the sale of illicit products, and we urge its quick passage,” read aletter sent by the Retail Industry Leaders Association to Congress.
Left-wing support
Many companies that signed on to the letter pledged support for left-wing groups during the nationwide riots and protests that followed the death of George Floyd.
Some publicly promised to help organizations such as the Equal Justice Initiative, Black Lives Matter and the ACLU, which advocated to reform or defund policing in cities across the country.
Recently, Nordstrom stores have grabbed attention due to looters and mobs storming multiple locations.
The smash-and-grab tactics have lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise and damages. CEO Erik B. Nordstrom signed the letter asking for Congressional support.
However, earlier in the year, the company doubled down on its support of far-left organizations, including Black Lives Matter.
Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter and a self-described “trained Marxist,” said that the way “we actually get real accountability and justice” is through the “demand of defunding law enforcement.”
The calls set off a flood of changes of liberal cities, moving millions in funds away from police departments and increasing anti-police sentiment setting off increases in early retirements and police resignations.
Police departments across the U.S. now struggle to recruit new officers.
Recently, some cities reversed course and called for the hiring of more police officers amid large crime spikes. Police leaders are taking issue with the softening their position on defunding police and spreading “amnesia” over the anti-police sentiments expressed last year.
“We urge President Biden to move at warp speed to create a vaccine to address our emerging amnesia virus that has infected politicians, organizations, and individuals who are now claiming they never advocated to defund the police, they just wanted to re-imagine policing,” said Craig Lally, President of the Los Angeles Police Protective League.
Hitting back
California’s Proposition 47, which passed in 2014, has come under massive scrutiny because it reduced shoplifting charges regarding the theft of items $950 or less to misdemeanors.
They were previously charged as felonies. At the time, supporters of the proposition were then-Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and the ACLU.
Now, as company CEOs ask for assistance to combat the widespread crime in their businesses, some members of Congress are hitting back.
“Help them directly? Hell no. They should be ashamed of themselves,” said Texas Republican Representative Chip Roy.
“The days of crony capitalism are about to come to an end. But unlike the unprincipled, woke corporations bowing down to the altar of so-called ‘environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment’ to enrich themselves, I will always fight for the rule of law, which will help everyone — including them.”
