A CNN reporter fell victim to a ‘smash-and-grab‘ robbery while reporting on San Francisco’s “rampant street crime.” 

In a series of tweets on Friday, CNN correspondent Kyung Lah described how her rental car’s rear window was smashed within seconds by thieves who then made off with her bags.

“Got robbed. Again,” Lah wrote. “[CNN producer Jason Kravarik] & I were at city hall in San Francisco to do an interview for @CNN. We had security to watch our rental car + crew car. Thieves did this in under 4 seconds. Security stopped the jerks from stealing other bags. But seriously- this is ridiculous.”

Got robbed. Again. @jasonkCNN & I were at city hall in San Francisco to do an interview for @CNN. We had security to watch our rental car + crew car. Thieves did this in under 4 seconds. Security stopped the jerks from stealing other bags. But seriously- this is ridiculous pic.twitter.com/3zcCzckavW

— Kyung Lah (@KyungLahCNN) March 17, 2023

Even though Lah hired ‘private security,’ the crooks were able to flee the scene.  

Our hired security guard tried to grab the crooks (I’m glad he didn’t get hurt!) but he got this picture of the getaway car.
To the jerks who stole our stuff— I hope someone on this site sees your plate and you get caught pic.twitter.com/k7VL0J9JHJ

— Kyung Lah (@KyungLahCNN) March 17, 2023

The irony is that the reporter at the left-leaning news outlet was filming a segment on “rampant street crime” in San Francisco, now considered the “shoplifting capital of America” because of progressive prosecutors who refuse to enforce criminal laws.

Surging crime, open-air drug dealing, and robberies are a byproduct of failed social justice reforms by progressive politicians, such as George Soros-backed District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who was booted out of office last June by angry voters. 

Twitter users had fun with this: 

defund the police is going great

— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) March 18, 2023

Looks smashy but mostly peaceful

— Sam Ikin (@sam_ikin) March 18, 2023

You sure this wasn't climate change?

— Chris Walkey (@ChrisWalkey) March 18, 2023

Too bad you work for an organization that spends 24/7 shilling for the very people whose policies have made this possible.

— Jesus = Answer (@hollis4congress) March 18, 2023

This post was originally published at Zero Hedge

Not unlike many other corporations with retail locations in cities nationwide, Target is calling it quits on Philadelphia. They follow in the footsteps of Wawa, who we noted last year had enough of Philadelphia’s crime and also picked up and left shop at several locations in Center City.

Target, located just blocks from one Wawa that recently closed, is taking the same action, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal. Its store at 12th and Chestnut streets in Center City will be closing after 7 years of operation. 

The 19,000 sq. foot store is going to be closing “due to several years of declining performance”, the report says. The company plans on attempting to relocate its 45 part and full time employees at the store. 

Kayla Castañeda, a spokesperson for Target, commented: “The decision to close one of our stores isn’t something we take lightly. It’s an action we take only after multiple years of working to improve performance.”

Target is also going to be closing three other stores, one in its hometown of Minneapolis and two in the Washington, D.C., area, the report continued. The company is also looking to open a massive 22,000 sq. foot store near 37th and Chestnut – basically in the middle of U Penn’s campus – which will help it replace its presence lost in Center City. 

The Center City store had just opened in July 2016 as part of an apartment building, and its across the street from a brand new $762 million Jefferson Health facility that is nearing the end of construction. On the south side of the closing Target store, additional commercial and residential buildings are being erected.

But the influx of new buildings onto the block wasn’t enough for the company to want to keep its store open. In addition to Wawa stores that have closed, a Marshalls located at 10th and Market street – just blocks away from Target – also closed earlier this year.

This post was originally published at Zero Hedge

Retailers in Oregon are sounding the alarm bell over huge spikes in organized shoplifting after Walmart was forced to close its final two stores in Portland.

Oregon legislators are introducing a package of bills in an attempt to fight back against the lawlessness, which according to Michael Zacher, a detective with the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, is “largely driven by substance abuse.”

However, the bills aren’t related to changing the state’s increasingly permissive view of drug enforcement, but focus more on increasing penalties for criminals engaged in organized theft.

Senate Bill 318 would set aside $5 million dollars to help authorities crack down on theft in cities and counties, while changes to Senate Bill 340 would stiffen penalties for organized retail theft, which under Oregon law involves working with another person to steal $5,000 or more worth of merchandise within a 90 day period.

Other changes would also empower authorities to charge thieves with a felony rather than a misdemeanor if they recklessly endanger other people in the course of a crime.

“In Oregon, Safeway/Albertson’s complains of losing more than $15 million in Multnomah County stores over the last eight years,” reports Oregon Public Broadcasting. “Police agencies talk of coordinated efforts to steal large amounts of merchandise, then sell it on the web or via flea markets. Store employees say they can feel unsafe as thieves carry out brazen thefts.”

Earlier this week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott blamed the Walmart closures on lawlessness in Portland and laid the blame squarely at the feet of Mayor Ted Wheeler.

Governor Abbott, are the dozens of Walmart stores that have closed in Texas in recent years all communities that "refuse to enforce the rule of law?" The retail industry is changing and retail theft is a national issue. https://t.co/pFVf0HwD4W

— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) March 7, 2023

600 employees face being let go or transferred as a result oft he closures, which Walmart refused to blame on theft despite CEO Doug McMillon previously lamenting a rise in “shrink,” an industry term for in-store theft.

Nike was also forced to close the doors to its neighborhood store in Northeast Portland and has asked the city to provide off-duty police officers to guard the premises, a request unlikely to be met due to an existing shortage of officers, partly a consequence of the BLM-inspired ‘defund the police’ movement.

OBI lobbyist Derek Sangston told lawmakers that the organized thefts were not homeless people trying to get by or kids stealing candy bars but rather the work of “organized retail crime syndicates.”

As we previously reported, Amazon recently announced it will be closing several grocery stores in high crime cities like NYC, Seattle and San Francisco, but claims the measure is related to “cost-cutting”.

As we highlight in the video below, all across America, the streets of Democrat-run cities are being taken over by the mad, the mentally ill and criminal mobs.

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