Explosives Found in Van in Philadelphia, Curfew Imposed to Quell Riots

Police in Philadelphia found explosives and other suspicious materials in a van on Wednesday night, multiple reports said, while authorities imposed a citywide after-dark curfew to quell the violence and looting that erupted following a police-involved shooting.

Police found no one inside the van, while a witness told authorities they saw a man running from the vehicle, NBC10 Philadelphia reported.

Philadelphia city officials imposed a curfew to quell the outbreak of looting and violence that marred peaceful protests over Monday's shooting death of Walter Wallace, who was wielding a knife and behaving erratically when shot by police.

Wallace's death sparked two nights of rioting and skirmishes between police and protesters, with earlier reports of around 50 officers injured and 172 people arrested.

"Seeing police spread throughout the city, most near retail businesses. Hearing reports of smaller-scale looting but nothing like the scene from last night near Walmart," he wrote in a tweet.

Police turned out in force to cordon off a West Philadelphia commercial district that was looted the previous night, but looters broke into businesses elsewhere, including in the city's Port Richmond section, aerial news video from WPVI television showed.

Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, has mobilized the National Guard to Philadelphia in response to the unrest, officials told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/explosives-found-in-van-in-philadelphia-curfew-imposed-to-quell-riots-reports_3557273.html