BlazeTV reporter Elijah Schaffer was attacked Tuesday night inside a Philadelphia store while filming ongoing looting in the wake of the police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr., who was killed after allegedly charging at officers while holding a knife on Monday.
What are the details?
The Daily Caller reporter Shelby Talcott, also reporting from Philadelphia, tweeted Tuesday night, “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.”
Talcott posted footage showing her walking inside the store and seeing Schaffer, who was wearing a white patterned bandana, being approached by alleged looters amid calls for him to “Stop recording!” Schaffer was seen on the video being surrounded by several people who threw punches.
Talcott then posted images of Schaffer with a busted lip, reporting, “.
@ElijahSchaffer got beaten up inside one of the stores for filming.”
Schaffer explained in a video posted on his own Twitter feed that he “was jumped by BLM rioters while they were looting more than a dozen stores, including Wal-Matt, T-Mobile, & 5-below.”
He continued, “Though in pain, I didn’t stop reporting because Americans need to see what the corporate media refuses to show.”
BREAKING: I was jumped by BLM rioters while they were looting more than a dozen stores,
including Wal-Matt, T-Mob… https://t.co/um7HuYXtza
— ELIJAH SCHAFFER (@ELIJAH SCHAFFER)1603851147.0
Schaffer then shared the footage he took leading up to when he was attacked. In the tweet accompanying the video, he wrote, “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.”
PHILADELPHIA: This is the footage I was recording when BLM assaulted me.
Other journalists were filming but I was… https://t.co/Jz69QaFImN
— ELIJAH SCHAFFER (@ELIJAH SCHAFFER)1603853272.0
What’s the background?
After the police shooting of 27-year-old Wallace went viral, Philadelphia erupted in violent protests and looting caught on social media that evening. More than 90 people were arrested and 30 officers were hurt in the rioting on Monday. The rioting started up again Tuesday with more protests and looting across the city.