A McDonald’s restaurant in California was looted in the middle of the Juneteenth celebrations this week, prompting a search by police to try and recover the fistfuls of cash stolen from the register. Hundreds of people had attended the celebrations in the historic black neighborhood of Leimert Park, Los Angeles, but blocks away from Monday’s festivities, chaos erupted and was caught on video.
In a series of clips uploaded online Tuesday, a mob of young people can be seen entering the burger joint, trashing the place, screaming, and ripping the cash register out of the machine.
A group of employees behind the counter at first appear to try and warn off the teens but eventually retreats shortly after the crowd begins throwing food and other items at them. The group then climbs on and over the counter before getting to work on looting the register.
The McDonald’s franchise manager who left prior to the attack, Teron Liggins, reportedly told FOX 11,
“It got a little hot for a second and it was a lot of people crowded together and everybody created, you know, some type of animosity. That’s unfortunate for sure. I’m also a man of God. So, you know, I try not to fear anything but God. But at the same time, you got to be smart. You got to be cautious.”
One of the clips posted to Twitter has been viewed nearly 10 million times since Tuesday.
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Teens loot a McDonald’s in Los Angeles on Juneteenth. Why is this tolerated?
pic.twitter.com/Zw4g5RmySh— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) June 20, 2023
Los Angeles, California.— Video shows McDonald’s damaged and cash register looted during Juneteenth Festival in Leimert Park | #ppv_tahoe pic.twitter.com/HDYzeYqKfQ
— PPV-TAHOE – News Journalist (@ppv_tahoe) June 20, 2023
At least one person was arrested by police in connection to the robbery. The incident is reportedly still under investigation.
The chaos unfolded nearly eight hours into the town’s annual Juneteenth celebration, which was expected to conclude with a performance from Grammy award-winning R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan. Just minutes before the singer was set to take the stage, however, the crowd began to panic as reports of shooting began to spread through the crowd. The singer canceled, and the celebrations ended an hour early.
When Los Angeles police arrived at the scene, however, they found no evidence of a shooting. Minutes later, however, their attention was called to the McDonald’s after reports came flooding in of a massive fight at the location.
Sullivan wrote on her Instagram page during the incident,
“I hope everyone made it home to their loved ones tonight! I’m so disappointed we couldn’t come together and celebrate Juneteenth! If you’re still at the park please leave. The show is cancelled [crying emoji].”
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The chaos at McDonalds during the Juneteenth Festival in Leimert Park pic.twitter.com/BHXQuSAAa8
— 2UrbanGirls (@2UrbanGirls) June 20, 2023
A stampede at the celebration was reportedly triggered after a vendor’s tent was knocked over, prompting someone to shout “gun,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Spectators were reportedly already on edge following a string of Juneteenth shootings around the country, including one earlier in the afternoon that left 6 teens injured, and two shootings over the weekend that left 23 people wounded and 2 dead.
The Times report describes the Leimert Park Juneteenth festival as having featured 300 black-owned businesses, three main stages, two DJ stages and one spoken word stage.
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