South Central Reporter

As demonstrations for Black Lives Matter have erupted across the nation, looting has come hand-in-hand with it, with Christoper Hicks, Mt. Olive 3 Republican precinct committeeman, saying looting is never OK.

"Overall we have seen time and time again how the race of a business owner plays an impact on if their business will be targeted," Hicks, of Sawyerville, Illinois, said in an email interview with South Central Reporter. "Sadly, we have witnessed business owners of all races and ethnicities become victims of senseless rioting. We must stand together as one to combat the utter chaos Democrats are attempting to bestow upon America."

Hicks isn't alone in how he views looting either, but others aren't entirely against the idea of looting. 

Looting may be a way for people to get what they need for free, but it is more than just that. Looting is a tactical power, which can been seen as a political mode of action, Vicky Osterweil, author of "In Defense of Looting," told NPR. Looting attacks many ideas, but most importantly right now the context of why Black Lives Matter has risen. 

"Importantly, I think especially when it's in the context of a Black uprising like the one we're living through now, it also attacks the history of whiteness and white supremacy," Osterweil told NPR. "The very basis of property in the U.S. is derived through whiteness and through Black oppression, through the history of slavery and settler domination of the country. Looting strikes at the heart of property, of whiteness and of the police. It gets to the very root of the way those three things are interconnected. And also it provides people with an imaginative sense of freedom and pleasure and helps them imagine a world that could be. And I think that's a part of it that doesn't really get talked about — that riots and looting are experienced as sort of joyous and liberatory."

But New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called it "inexcusable," NPR reported. St. Paul, Minnesota Mayor Melvin Carter is also against looting, saying those who participate in it are "destroy[ing] our community." Many other law enforcement officers, government officials and others are denouncing looting and distinguishing it from peaceful protesting. 

"Peaceful protesting is a constitutionally protected form of free speech. Rioting is not," Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told NPR. 

Hicks has said that looting is never the answer and should never be used to support a cause. 

"Violence, looting and arson are never acceptable, although Democrats are continuously encouraging such criminal behavior," Hicks told South Central Reporter. "After the November election, it would not be surprising to see even more brazen, criminal acts being committed. It is not a coincidence that Democrat run cities are experiencing these destructive and dangerous riots."