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Video: ‘Black Friday’ Shoppers Get Into Fights, Police Make Arrests
All hell broke loose on that sacred American shopping holiday, 'Black Friday,' with fights in stores all over the country.
In a Philadelphia Walmart, a fight broke out in the electronics section as buyers fought over $200 television sets, but no one was arrested, reports Philly.com.
Shoppers were arrested after trading blows outside a JC Penney store at 1:30 a.m. in Kentwood, Michigan, reports WOOD-TV. Police had to use pepper spray to stop the angry shoppers.
Shopper Samantha Chavez was arrested inside a Walmart in Altamonte Springs, Florida, after cops said she caused trouble in line (video below), reports the NY Daily News.
While being arrested, Chavez rolled on the ground and screamed: “Please stop! I didn’t do anything!”
In Covington, Washington, a couple were reportedly run down by a drunk driver in the parking lot of a Walmart on Thursday night.
The 71-year-old driver hit the couple with his SUV as they were walking toward the store, reports KING-5 TV.
Let's look at some of the heart-warming scenes from around our country today. We start in Mobile, Alabama -- where Walmart shoppers discovered a good deal on sheets:
How about a woman getting arrested for causing trouble on line?
Early this morning in Georgia, shoppers nearly rioted near a display of cell phones (video below).
Some stores and malls are taking extra precautions to head off violence by shoppers.
At the Mall of America in Minneapolis, teens were barred from shopping all day on Friday unless they accompanied by a parent or an adult.
Mall spokeswoman Bridget Jewel told The Pioneer Press: “Last year we experienced a large influx of youth, more than we had anticipated. We don't want it to turn into a place for people to come and hang out."
In Los Angeles, the LAPD deployed dozens of extra officers around the city on Friday, reports the Los Angeles Times.
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Every Wednesday before
Every Wednesday before Thanksgiving retail employees mark up their price tags by 40% & drag out last years crap they couldn't sell, then display them all on Black Friday under 30% off signs. Retailers order the cheapest electronic products to pawn off on consumers as "one-day only" deals to lure the ignorant into the malls & shopping centers at 5:00am, then run ads that claim certain "specials" will only be available from 10:00am to noon, so these tired, materialistic consumers think they need to remain in these stores for hours. Consumers think they've saved money, but they've just purchased last years products or cheap crap created just for this "Holiday". The exhaustion, frustration, anger & violence of these crowds becomes worse each year. We've seen less violent food riots in 3rd world countries than we are seeing in the US over the Thanksgiving weekend. Then Christians have the NERVE to claim that Atheists are the one's ruining Christmas traditions.
The WAR on the spirit of Christmas lies squarely with greedy corporate retailers & credit-card obsessed Americans who play right into their schemes every year. Most Christians don't even attend church on Christmas Day, because this day is NOT about Christ. It's about proving to your neighbors that you can charge as much useless crap as they can. Anyone could share gifts with their family & friends throughout the year, but this holiday is all about comparing how many gifts you got & gave to those gifts your neighbors got & gave. How humiliating for an American parent if their child didn't get the "fad" gift of the year! Or if your lover didn't go into debt to get you more than he/she could afford. Is it any wonder that these shoppers get more angry, pathetic & desperate each year? But my sympathies are with retail employees who have no choice but to witness these spectacles every year.
Black Friday is NOT
Black Friday is NOT "sacred."
There is nothing "sacred" about Black Friday. Anyone who willingly waits in line a week or more just to wait for a store to start a sale on things is a stupid fool, and just as brainless as those who fight with others just to buy the last item of a product. It shows just how selfish and self-serving the human race has become.
Thanksgiving is NOT a time for waiting in line for days at a time just for a store to open, and it is not for shopping for so-called "rock-bottom bargains" which is nothing more than a ploy for the department stores and mega-malls to get you to enter their lairs and part with your money (and get trampled and robbed by angry and greedy shoppers in the process). I can buy the same items for a decent price at any other time of the year; I don't use the excuse of "buying Christmas gifts" to fight angry crowds to get the latest smart phone or the very last HD television set, or fight with a customer over a "thing" because "I had my hands on it first." I don't have to wait until Christmas to buy someone a gift -- I can do that any time of the year.
Thanksgiving is meant to be a time to be with family and friends and give thanks for the family we have, the friends we are fortunate to share our lives and experiences with, and all of the good things, yes and even some of the bad things, that have blessed our lives. The dinner is a nice side benefit to that, but not the sole reason for the holiday, which was originally established to celebrate the bounty of the harvest and the fellowship of family, friends, and our Creator.
If you think that Thanksgiving and Christmas are solely for the procurement of things or getting the latest model of a gadget, then I suggest that you might want to sit down in a quiet place and reflect on what is truly important in your life -- getting "things," which last for only a short time -- or family and friends, which last a lifetime.
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“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” -- Benjamin Franklin
Banning teenagers from the
Banning teenagers from the mall? Isn't the problem adults fighting over so-called bargains? Stores will have a few loss leader items at below cost, but better bargains can be had at other times than Black Friday.
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