Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, during a weekly update held Monday morning, said that his office has been actively working following last week's looting incidents and have brought charges to more than 70 people involved in the crimes.
But, they aren't done yet.
Since those incidents occurred, following murder charges being dropped against Philadelphia Police officer Mark Dial for the killing of Eddie Irizarry, who was stopped for a traffic violation, Krasner said his office has been in contact with businesses that were victimized during the recent unrest.
"We have been very actively pursuing contact with some of the affected businesses, and their employees," said the district attorney.
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In discussing how they are handling the fallout from last week's incidents, Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal made sure to note that law enforcement officials are drawing a hard line between those involved in a peaceful protest following the court decision and those involved in criminal behavior.
"The bad apples who decided to 'so called' protest with the act of looting were, in fact, stealing," she said. "Folk were stealing while peaceful protestors were walking with the families. The thieves weren't walking with the family in support, rather, they were too busy stealing."
In discussing the charges that most of those arrested will face -- felony burglary and conspiracy charges, in many cases -- Assistant District Attorney Clint Orem said that they expect to bring charges against more individuals in the near future.
"We expect more individuals to be charged in the coming days," he said.
Asked if the DA's office plans to focus on charging those who may have had a hand in organizing the looting -- as one online influencer was notably arrested after livestreaming their involvement in the events -- Krasner said that his office is "very interested" in going after organizers who may have left "a trail on social media, by text, by telephone, by other means."
"We are very interested in bringing justice to people who view it as their task to encourage others to join them in breaking the law," said Krasner.
Following claims that Krasner's office may have been too lenient in charging those involved in similar unrest after the George Floyd protests in 2020, some asked the district attorney if any of the charges in connection to the most recent looting could be considered "strong."
Kresner defended how his office handled the fallout from the George Floyd protests, noting that none of the individuals charged in the recent incidents were arrested in 2020.
"It would appear, if none of them are here, that we did the right thing before," he said.
Also, Krasner argued that the charges that have been brought to those arrested following last week's events were being charged accurately.
"I think felony charges are pretty serious," he said.
As police are seeking to identify more of those who may have been involved in looting crimes last week, officials released a number of new images and surveillance video.
Those postings can be found here.
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