Following the death of George Floyd, protests have been continuing all across the United States for about a week now and while the campaigns against police brutality have started, certain opportunistic looters have resorted to violence and stealing during the protest.
Apple is one of the high-end retailers that actually saw the filth straight of rioting and looting and has now decided to take action in order to protect its staff and also to prevent further damages.
Apple's statement
According to Apple's CEO Tim Cook in a message he sent to his employees, there is an existing pain that is deeply etched within the soul of the nation and also in the hearts of millions. In order to stand together, it is necessary that people stand up for one another by recognizing the fear, the hurt, and also the outrage that was rightly provoked by the recent senseless killing of George Floyd and also a much longer history of terrorizing racism.
Cook also said that Apple's mission is to create technology that actually changes the world for the better and that they have strived for years to make Apple inclusive of everyone. These words were also being digested as the tech giant decided to shut down majority of the stores located in the US in order to keep both staff and customers safe.
The stores had actually just recently opened up once again after a pause due to the ongoing pandemic. Unsurprisingly, Apple stores have become a favorite target for looters which pushed the tech giant to pull out their stocks from shops.
Apple store damages
Apple stores have also reportedly been damaged and attacked over in Washington DC, LA, San Francisco, New York, and even Philadelphia, with looters breaking in and stealing whatever products they see accessible at that time. Looters also run over to steal the boxed iPhones from Apple retail stores.
This comes with a major setback because Apple is popularly known for its move to disable a certain device when it is found out to be illegally taken out from a store. When an unauthorized or a device that was illegally obtained activates, a certain message will appear on the screen saying the device has been disabled and is also "being tracked" along with the saying that "Local authorities will be alerted."
According to an article by Forbes, usually, the phone will be returned to the store but with the current circumstances, the phone might actually be stripped for certain parts and might even be dumped even faster due to fear of being traced.
Looting has increased drastically ever since people started to protest BlackLivesMatter and the death of George Floyd. Opportunists have started to use this opportunity to vandalize, steal, and destroy both private and public property.
