The riots that erupted over George Floyd’s death have caused between $1 billion $2 billion in damage, US insurance companies reported. Meanwhile, tensions remain high, as the latest Antifa protest in Philadelphia shows, Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet reports.
U.S. insurers say the cost of the damage could exceed the cost of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. At the time, it led to an insurance loss of $775 million, $1.4 billion at current value. Even more shocking is that the insurance claims only cover between May 26 and June 8 of this year, and could reach $2 billion, as companies continue to tabulate the damage.
Since the riots have continued far longer than June 8, including in cities like Portland and Seattle, many more hundreds of millions may be added to this tally.
Axios, which originally published the report, also notes, “U.S. companies have learned the hard way that their insurance doesn’t cover business interruption related to the coronavirus, most policies emphatically do cover riot-related losses.”
That means that these figures do not cover the total damage caused by the rioting, only the damage that was actually insured. Considering riot-related damage is not commonly covered, the $1-$2 billion figure may cover only a small fraction of the overall damage.
Protest in Philadelphia see Antifa attacking one another and even a dog
The latest protest in Philadelphia underlines the scale of not only property damage, but the violence that pervades the Antifa movement.
The original reason for the demonstration was to counter another rally of the Proud Boys right-wing movement, which itself was eventually canceled, but in-fighting between Antifa resulted in dangerous attacks during the protest.
Fighting broke out amongst the radical left during its own counter-demonstration over a reported misunderstanding. A masked man waved a baseball bat before a group of Antifa members who thought they were facing a right-wing demonstrator. The man was chased down the park, all the way to his car and they also tore the hair off a female reported. The incident seen below was posted on social media.
BREAKING: a protester comes alongside creator @realJamesKlug with a bat and hits the ground next to him with force
The crowd then turns on the man and confuses him for being a Trump supporter, calling him a Nazi
They proceeded to destroy his car with hammers as he escaped pic.twitter.com/MPdP6Z1atf
— ELIJAH RIOT (@ElijahSchaffer) September 19, 2020
After Antifa members chased the individual to his car, they can be seen smashing his car with a hammer while a terrified dog barks inside.
“F*ck you and your dog!”
Philadelphia: Antifa attacks a targeted individual, destroys his vehicle, and puts his dog’s (in the car) life in danger.
Reminds me of a scene from Wizard of Oz. pic.twitter.com/qOOkn8e4k2
— Kalen From Scriberr (@FromKalen) September 19, 2020
According to a recent survey by Princeton University, 637 riots broke out in the United States between May 26 and Sept. 12, with 91 percent attributed to the Black Lives Matter movement. Most of the riots, 86, occurred in California. They also saw 48 of America’s largest 50 cities experience rioting.
Title image: A woman holds a sign addressing ANTIFA at a protest in Los Angeles on Monday, June 1, 2020, over the death of George Floyd, who died May 25 in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa)
