Hundreds of looters stormed Midtown Manhattan for a second night in a row Monday, brazenly bashing through the windows of high-end stores and making off with stolen goods as police attempted to control the chaos.
The roving gangs began their spree of rampage after a demonstration over George Floyd’s death earlier in the evening, at times clashing with peaceful protesters who desperately attempted to stop the looting and destruction.
“It’s systemic, one person breaks the glass with something,” a witness said about the looting. “Someone else comes up on a bike and robs the store, it’s systemic, you can see.”
In advance of an 11 p.m. curfew, looters breached a Best Buy, Nike Flatiron, Aldo, Microsoft, Michael Kors and the Nintendo store in Rockefeller Center.
Young men could be seen carrying crowbars as they tore down plywood covering store windows and bashed their way inside.
Police stormed into a Microsoft store on 5th Avenue near East 53rd Street around 9 p.m. to detain looters while others fled with stolen goods.
“Get that money,” one man on a Revel scooter shouted as looters ransacked the store before a trio of NYPD cops arrived from a rear entrance.
A high-ranking police source told The Post that the looting and destruction appeared to be perpetrated by gangs from across the five boroughs.
“It’s coordinated,” the source said. “They are not out-of-towners. We know who they are.”
A similar scene took place at a Sephora at 5th Avenue and 19th Street around 9:30 p.m., when a trio of suspected looters stepped into the busted-up cosmetics shop, unaware that police officers were already inside.
A reporter witnessed one of the young men sneaking away after catching sight of the cops — while another darted out of the shop and fell face-first on the glass-strewn ground.