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> Liberal city dwellers in Chicago and Philadelphia discretely texting me pictures of cars on fire outside their neighborhoods I'm a long-time urban Philadelph

> Liberal city dwellers in Chicago and Philadelphia discretely texting me pictures of cars on fire outside their neighborhoods I'm a long-time urban Philadelphia resident who spent almost the entirety of the unrest this past summer listening to police scanners on Broadcastify (except when they were blocked). I also consumed almost all available (edit: local) media coverage. I read r/philadelphia at least daily. The only automobile arsons I am at all aware of during these periods were of police cars. There were indeed several of them, over an extended period of time. But I am not aware of any private vehicle arsons. Even building arsons weren't very common. They were almost always done in a moronic attempt to hide evidence of other crimes (e.g. looting). So how many people in Philadelphia texted you pictures of cars on fire? Whose cars were they? What neighborhoods were they outside of? When did these acts of arson occur?

rayiner 6y ago
The cars on fire were in Chicago. Arsons were up 65% in Chicago in 2020: https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/2/26/22300843/chicago-burned-arson-fires-insurance-fraud https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/2/26/22300843/chicago-burn.... I don't know why you think police vehicles don't count. 8 government vehicles were set on fire in just one day in Chicago last summer. And it wasn't just cars (which I'm just using as an example): > Dozens of convenience stores and retail shops were hit by arsonists, along with five department stores, five groceries, two churches, a currency exchange, a car dealership, a bank, a bar, a barbershop, a carwash and a drugstore. Most of those fires were set on May 31 and June 1.
- coolgeek 6y ago
  Why are you answering my questions about Philadelphia with a link and a quote about Chicago? I directly quoted your comment. You said "Liberal city dwellers in ... Philadelphia discretely texting me pictures of cars on fire outside their neighborhoods" That quote can only be read as suggesting that multiple random vehicles were set on fire. If you meant police cars, why didn't you say that? Why would anyone anywhere have to "discretely" text you photos of a burning cop car? It was widely covered - live, in real time - by local and national media!
tptacek 6y ago
Chicago was a nightmare during the unrest this summer, and the violence was not confined to the Mag Mile; they trashed food stores on the west side, where the nearest grocery stores were miles away. Buildings were set on fire. I don't know about specific car arsons, but car arsons are less unusual than building arsons here, so I wouldn't be at all surprised. "Very bad shit didn't happen in Chicago this summer" would not be a good hill to die on. From your comment downthread, I assume you just mean to say you think it wasn't that bad in Philly. It also was very difficult to talk about it at the time; there was a loud (though, I think, Very Online) strain of political thought saying that the violence was a good thing, and that criticism of the violence was "dictating to people how to protest". That the violence wasn't coming from the protesters at all was beside the point.
- patio11 6y ago
  I had a call with a bank in Chicago where they apologized for not being able to do [a thing the McKenzie family needed done] because their branch was closed. I asked if they had closed again due to covid-19, because the site said that that branch had re-opened. They said "Oh, no. We're back to WFH because our branched was torched." I don't want to point fingers at the bank for social reasons, but I was flabbergasted, given that it is not in part of the city where a bank would consider itself at obvious risk during a suspension of the general prohibition against breaking into banks.
- coolgeek 6y ago
  I don't know about what happened in Chicago. I'll take everybody's word for it that it was worse than Philly. I wasn't quite able to articulate this last night, but the original comment I was replying to implies that random white people were subjected to arson, and that it was done retributively - because they were white. If that happened in Chicago, I hadn't heard about it and I'm not particularly interested in arguing about it. But, as I said in my other comment, nothing of the sort happened in Philly.
  - tptacek 6y ago
    No, you were probably more likely to be subjected to unrest-related violence in Chicago if you were Black.

rayiner 6y ago

The cars on fire were in Chicago. Arsons were up 65% in Chicago in 2020: https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/2/26/22300843/chicago-burned-arson-fires-insurance-fraud https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/2/26/22300843/chicago-burn.... I don't know why you think police vehicles don't count. 8 government vehicles were set on fire in just one day in Chicago last summer. And it wasn't just cars (which I'm just using as an example): > Dozens of convenience stores and retail shops were hit by arsonists, along with five department stores, five groceries, two churches, a currency exchange, a car dealership, a bank, a bar, a barbershop, a carwash and a drugstore. Most of those fires were set on May 31 and June 1.

coolgeek 6y ago
Why are you answering my questions about Philadelphia with a link and a quote about Chicago? I directly quoted your comment. You said "Liberal city dwellers in ... Philadelphia discretely texting me pictures of cars on fire outside their neighborhoods" That quote can only be read as suggesting that multiple random vehicles were set on fire. If you meant police cars, why didn't you say that? Why would anyone anywhere have to "discretely" text you photos of a burning cop car? It was widely covered - live, in real time - by local and national media!

tptacek 6y ago

Chicago was a nightmare during the unrest this summer, and the violence was not confined to the Mag Mile; they trashed food stores on the west side, where the nearest grocery stores were miles away. Buildings were set on fire. I don't know about specific car arsons, but car arsons are less unusual than building arsons here, so I wouldn't be at all surprised. "Very bad shit didn't happen in Chicago this summer" would not be a good hill to die on. From your comment downthread, I assume you just mean to say you think it wasn't that bad in Philly. It also was very difficult to talk about it at the time; there was a loud (though, I think, Very Online) strain of political thought saying that the violence was a good thing, and that criticism of the violence was "dictating to people how to protest". That the violence wasn't coming from the protesters at all was beside the point.

patio11 6y ago
I had a call with a bank in Chicago where they apologized for not being able to do [a thing the McKenzie family needed done] because their branch was closed. I asked if they had closed again due to covid-19, because the site said that that branch had re-opened. They said "Oh, no. We're back to WFH because our branched was torched." I don't want to point fingers at the bank for social reasons, but I was flabbergasted, given that it is not in part of the city where a bank would consider itself at obvious risk during a suspension of the general prohibition against breaking into banks.
coolgeek 6y ago
I don't know about what happened in Chicago. I'll take everybody's word for it that it was worse than Philly. I wasn't quite able to articulate this last night, but the original comment I was replying to implies that random white people were subjected to arson, and that it was done retributively - because they were white. If that happened in Chicago, I hadn't heard about it and I'm not particularly interested in arguing about it. But, as I said in my other comment, nothing of the sort happened in Philly.
- tptacek 6y ago
  No, you were probably more likely to be subjected to unrest-related violence in Chicago if you were Black.