(This post may contain disputed claims. We make no assertions as to the validity of the information presented by our Opinion Columnist. We are an opinion blog, not a traditional news outlet, and this post should be treated as such. Enjoy.)During the second night of looting, violence, and Black Lives Matter protests in Philadelphia over the officer-involved shooting death of a knife-wielding assailant, a group of protesters assaulted a reporter as he filmed inside a store. The clip paints an ugly picture of what’s happening in Philly. Don’t miss this.
Elijah Schaffer, a reporter for BlazeTv, was allegedly attacked on Tuesday night while filming inside a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania store as the second night of violence erupted in the city over the shooting death of Walter Wallace Jr, who was killed on Monday after allegedly charging at officers while holding a knife.
After the police shooting of the 27-year-old, knife-wielding assailant went viral, Philadelphia erupted in violent protests and looting, footage of which was caught on camera and posted to social media that evening. More than 90 people were arrested and 30 officers were hurt in the rioting on Monday, but it didn’t end there.
Sadly, the rioting started up again Tuesday with more protests and looting across the city. As the violence continued for the second night, Elijah Schaffer entered a store to film some of the widespread lootings taking place inside. Unfortunately, the reporter captured more than he bargained for when he became a target for the violence that was sweeping the city.
As Schaffer entered Five Below, a discount store, he witnessed dozens of masked rioters in the process of looting, Breitbart reported. As he recorded the criminal activity, he became the target of a violent assault as looters demand he stop filming.
“Hey Bro stop recording,” several men shouted before surrounding Schaffer and allegedly attacking him, which Shelby Talcott, a reporter for The Daily Caller who was also reporting from Philadelphia Tuesday night, caught on video.
Watch the footage:
Mass looting across the river and @ElijahSchaffer just got beaten up for filming. This is inside the Five Below store. Police are in the same parking lot near the Walmart, but there seem to be too many looters pic.twitter.com/CZeIiMokJa
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) October 28, 2020
“Mass looting across the river and @ElijahSchaffer just got beaten up for filming,” Talcott tweeted. “This is inside the Five Below store. Police are in the same parking lot near the Walmart, but there seem to be too many looters,” she added to the post, which featured footage that showed her walking inside the store and seeing Schaffer, who was wearing a white patterned bandana, The Blaze reported.
“Stop recording!” alleged looters called out to the journalist before he was surrounded by several people who began throwing punches, leaving Schaffer with a busted lip.
.@ElijahSchaffer got beaten up inside one of the stores for filming: pic.twitter.com/l2vbCe8Aeb
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) October 28, 2020
“@ElijahSchaffer got beaten up inside one of the stores for filming,” Talcott wrote in a tweet, sharing images of Schaffer’s injuries.
Taking to Twitter himself to tell his side of the story, a bloodied and beaten Schaffer explained in a video that he “was jumped by BLM rioters while they were looting more than a dozen stores, including Wal-Mart, T-Mobile, & 5-below.” In the footage, he struggled to speak due to his rapidly swelling, busted lip, which he claimed would likely need stitches.
“Though in pain, I didn’t stop reporting because Americans need to see what the corporate media refuses to show,” Schaffer continued. In addition to filming and sharing the aftermath of the attack, Schaffer also posted the footage he took leading up to the assault. Both of which can be seen below.
PHILADELPHIA: This is the footage I was recording when BLM assaulted me.
Other journalists were filming but I was the only white person in the store
I do believe I was targeted for being white as they accused me of being a white supremacist
& did not attack people of color pic.twitter.com/Gji7uHq0gB
— ELIJAH SCHAFFER (@ElijahSchaffer) October 28, 2020
“PHILADELPHIA: This is the footage I was recording when BLM assaulted me,” Schaffer wrote in the tweet accompanying the video. “Other journalists were filming but I was the only white person in the store I do believe I was targeted for being white as they accused me of being a white supremacist & did not attack people of color.”
Remember, the widespread rioting and looting erupting in Philadelphia are tied to the recent shooting of a man who chased police officers with a knife, forcing two police officers to fire at him. Despite efforts by police to save him, Wallace died shortly after at a local hospital, which led to protests that turned violent as a series of riots unfolded.
More than 30 police officers have been sent to the hospital as a result of the violence, including one female sergeant who was struck by a truck driven into a line of police. As Schaffer and Talcott clearly prove, the violence isn’t only being directed at law enforcement, either. These aren’t peaceful protesters. Don’t let the mainstream media tell you otherwise.
