NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Members of the Guardian Angels got into a confrontation with looters at a Foot Locker in NoHo Tuesday night—a clash that ended with Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa possibly suffering a broken jaw.
Sliwa told the Daily News dozens of looters entered the Foot Locker at 716 Broadway before 10:25 p.m. He said the Guardian Angels, a volunteer organization of unarmed citizens, “started throwing guys out the door” but that more looters—he said hundreds—returned, prompting a larger confrontation.
"Once they were inside, they summoned others with their smartphones. It was like flashmobbing,” Sliwa said.
He claimed there were hundreds of looters at one point, with some trying to get into a neighboring McDonald’s too.
Video of the confrontation (at 2:28 in the video above) shows a crowd throwing objects at the Guardian Angels.
Sliwa said looters—some carrying baseball bats and lock cutters—threw firecrackers and garbage at the Guardian Angels but that the Guardian Angels “held our ground” in an “all-out battle.”
Sliwa and another Guardian Angel, Aram Sabet, were injured in the melee. Sliwa believes he suffered a broken jaw after he was hit with a ball peen hammer. Sabet was hit in the eye with a “metal device used to break windows.”
The NYPD eventually showed up and started chasing looters away, Sliwa said, but didn’t appear to make arrests.
“The cops weren’t aggressive. They didn’t collar anyone. They were like chasing tornados, but never catching them. They kept telling them to go home,” Sliwa told the Daily News.
Thousands of people took to the streets—to protest the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody—for a sixth day on Tuesday, with about 200 arrested by Wednesday morning, the NYPD said. The protests were largely peaceful compared to previous nights, when significant looting and vandalism were reported.