Wal-Mart violence spreads to Rhode Island

Buckeye, AZ grandpa beaten by police when he
tried to protect grandson from trampling

It’s not Xmas without mayhem at Wal-Mart - Ho, Ho, Horrible
By Will Collette

Wal-Mart had an especially bloody opening day to the holiday shopping season with violent incidents at almost 20 stores, including Providence. Desperate times led to desperate measures as Wal-Mart’s Christmas frenzy led many shoppers to turn on each other.

As we catalog the incidents, I can’t help but wonder at what this says about our culture. It certainly suggests re-thinking the “tradition” of pressuring working families into spending more than they can afford on stuff nobody really needs.

The alternatives: (a) Buy Nothing; (b) buy from small, local merchants, craftspeople, farmers; (c) donate to charity in lieu of presents or (d) make your presents yourself.

Or you can go to Wal-Mart and deal with this….

Providence. Mavelenia Bailey was arrested inside the Silver Spring Wal-Mart after allegedly stabbing two sisters, Shaelene Fields, 17, and Chandra Fields, 26, and threatening to stab a third person. The Wal-Mart manager gave police the 4-inch kitchen knife believed to be the weapon used in the assault. 

UPDATE: Porter Ranch, CA. In the now famous incident where a woman who was just a tad over-anxious to grab a Wal-Mart bargain and pepper-sprayed the shoppers all around her (injuring 20), CBS news has just reported that she has surrendered herself to police. 

Little Rock, Arkansas. A riot broke out at a suburban Wal-Mart store over $2 waffle makers. No injuries reported. 

Another Grandpa arrested for trying to protect grand
daughter from being pepper sprayed by police in
North Carolina

Kinston, North Carolina. Police pepper-sprayed a crowd of shoppers who wanted early dibs on some electronics items that were not yet ready for sale. Retired police officer Gordon Jackson was shopping at the store with his grand-daughter and said police were spraying into the air so the caustic liquid would fall over the whole crowd: "Some of it got on my granddaughter in her face and eyes and she had to go to the emergency room because she's asthmatic." Jackson was arrested when he asked the police to restrain themselves. 

San Leandro, CA. A family was approached by robbers as they exited the Wal-Mart and a struggle over the purchased goods ensued. One of the shoppers was shot and critically wounded. 

AZ grandpa's mug shot after being revived and
cleaned up

Buckeye, Arizona. A grandfather was bloodied and beaten to the ground by police for suspected shoplifting to the boos and jeers of the crowd. According to one version of events, there was a mass melee over electronic games in the Wal-Mart store and the man’s grandson was knocked down and trampled. The man allegedly tucked a game box in his belt to free his hands to assist the child, but that was interpreted as stealing by local police working a detail at the store. The grandfather was unconscious and covered with blood. After he was revived, he was arrested for shoplifting and resisting arrest. 

Mugshot of  man tasered and arrested at Florence, AL
Wal-Mart

Florence, Alabama. Police on detail at the Florence, AL Wal-Mart tasered a 22-year old man twice to knock him down so he could be arrested for being drunk and disorderly at the store just after it had opened on Thanksgiving night. 

Fruitport, Michigan. A teenage girl was trampled at the electronics counter at Wal-Mart and rushed to the hospital. Fortunately, her injuries were minor, according to police. 

Milford, CT. Police used a stun gun to break up a fight over video games, zapping shopper Brian Shellnutt (interesting name) who was subsequently arrested.  

Springfield, MO. Krista Black was mugged and beaten after leaving the Wal-Mart for her car. 

Kissimmee, FL. Oswald Marbert was arrested and jailed after getting into a brawl with other customers at the jewelry counter in Wal-Mart. The charge is resisting arrest. 

Oregon, OH. Police responded to three separate brawling incidents at the Wal-Mart in this Toledo suburb. One of the brawls was over towels that had been marked down to $1.88. 

Rome, NY. A brawl at the Wal-Mart electronics counter left two women injured and one man arrested. Local police say other people are likely to be charged. 

Myrtle Beach, SC. Three Wal-Mart shoppers were approached by two men in the parking lot. One of the shoppers, a 58-year old woman, was shot. One of companions pulled her own gun and fired into the air, scaring off the assailants. Pardon me if I refrain from going hooray for the 2^nd Amendment. 

Woodland Park, CO. The local Wal-Mart was emptied due to a bomb scare.     

Enid, OK. And another local Wal-Mart was evacuated due to a bomb threat. 

Bentonville, Arkansas and Neosho, MO. Two separate bomb threats at Wal-Mart stores caused customer evacuations.

Wal-Mart calls all of these incidents “unfortunate,” “regrettable,” blah, blah, blah. And yes, Wal-Mart is a huge chain with lots of stores, so maybe just based on the Law of Large Numbers, you’d expect a certain amount of chaos in and around them. Not to mention they were offering deals that many desperate shoppers may have found irresistible – thus the brawls and riots and pepper spray to get the goods.

But that doesn’t make the spectacle any less disgusting. Wal-Mart is a company that has propelled the end of much of American manufacturing by flooding the US market with cheap foreign sweatshop-made goods.

Wal-Mart has destroyed untold numbers of small businesses. Wal-Mart has dragged the US labor market down with its low wage, lousy benefits jobs.

For the sake of short-term savings for Wal-Mart merchandise, our consumer society has traded its long-term wealth, if not its soul.

There are so many reasons why you should not shop at Wal-Mart. Ever. And it’s not just that you might get beaten, shot, gassed, trampled, tasered, stabbed or arrested.