MELROSE—Looters will not be able to utilize or sell stolen Apple devices from burglarized areas including Grove Shopping Center in Los Angeles as of Saturday, May 30 due to the devices being tracked and disabled. Apple’s website indicates that stores will remain closed until at least Saturday, June 6.
Each device has been loaded with security software which displays the message on their screens indicating that their locations are being monitored. The device will not be able perform its regular functions aside from “Find my iPhone” and are also Activation Locked.
“Please return to Apple Walnut Street,” one message states from an iPhone embezzled from a Philadelphia Apple Store.
“There is a pain deeply etched in the soul of our nation and in the hearts of millions,” Apple store CEO Tim Cook stated in an email to his employees addressing the killing of George Floyd.
“To stand together, we must stand up for one another, and recognize the fear, hurt, and outrage rightly provoked by the senseless killing of George Floyd and a much longer history of racism.”
The multinational corporation has been the primary target for looters, in areas including Washington D.C., Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Philadelphia. They made the decision to close a majority of the stores in the U.S. for the safety of staff and customers—stores which had just reopened after COVID-19 shutdown.
“Minneapolis is grieving for a reason. To paraphrase Dr. King, the negative peace which is the absence of tension is no substitute for the positive peace which is the presence of justice. Justice is how we heal,” Cook tweeted following the initial protest activity.
