The effect that billionaire left-wing financier George Soros is having on our society is devastating and getting worse.
Soros, you may recall, funds organizations that, in turn, fund campaigns of local prosecutors who agree to implement so-called “criminal justice reforms” that are little more than promises not to prosecute a whole range of crimes under the dubious or outright false rubric of combatting “systemic racism.”
The results have been predictable: Measurable and dramatic increases in the very crimes the Soros-backed DAs and prosecutors have declined to charge, leading to major spikes in theft and violence.
Indeed, the situation with bold daylight thievery has become so pronounced in many parts of the country retailers are having to shut down operations and close stores, such as in the case of Giant Food, which operates about 165 grocery stores in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, and Vermont.
According to Fox News, the company has taken many steps to keep its stores safe, including limiting store entrances; hiring security guards; restricting the number of items at self-checkout stands; putting less high-value items on shelves; and securing razor blades in containers that make noise if opened.”
Ira Kress, the company’s president, said he’s seen theft rise at least “tenfold in the last five years” and violence increase “exponentially.”
He said that he hopes the measures will help keep stores afloat, even if they are inconvenient. “The alternative is worse for customers,” he told the Washington Post. “The last thing I want to do is close stores. But I’ve got to be able to run them safely and profitably.”
Fox News noted further:
Several large retailers like Walgreens, Nordstrom and Whole Foods have had to close stores in cities due to increased shoplifting and safety concerns.
Fears of violent reactions from shoplifters has also changed some companies policies over the years.
“We used to chase shoplifters,” Kress said. “And you’d get the product back, and nobody would ever fight you. … I didn’t worry about somebody pulling a knife or gun on me [40] years ago.”
“We’re seeing the highest level of organized retail crime and theft ever,” Lakshman Lakshmanan, senior director in Alvarez & Marsal’s consumer and retail group, said in the Post report.
Other retailers forbid their employees to confront shoplifters over fears for their safety. And in some left-wing cities, employees don’t even call police anymore because they know the alleged thief is not going to be prosecuted anyway.
Kress told the Post it is “embarrassing” when local politicians complain to store owners when they close locations.
“It’s laughable for any of our politicians — and I’ve offered to meet and talk with any of them — to be ignorant to what’s going on in their communities, in their jurisdictions, with their constituents,” Kress said. “And for politicians to blame businesses … for leaving is embarrassing.”
