Saint John — No, New Brunswick’s Port City hasn’t been ransacked by looters in recent days despite the fact that it certainly looks that way.
“There’s abandoned cars in the yards of homes,” described Jeanette Lancaster who was visiting the city on Thursday afternoon. “There were a lot of businesses, apartments and homes with their windows boarded up. There was garbage blowing around the streets like tumbleweed — the place looked like it was destroyed.”
Lancaster told The Manatee that she assumed the dire state of the city stemmed from what must have been a peaceful protest turned into looting like she saw in the United States in the past week.
“It’s all I’ve seen on CNN this week. I’d never been to Saint John until now and was saddened when I thought of what may have happened here — I mean, it just looks like a war zone.”
Saint John Mayor Don Darling claimed there were no reports of any looting whatsoever and even suggested the city was in better shape than normal due to the decrease in traffic brought on by the COVID-19 lockdowns.
“I’ve lived here my entire life and I don’t think the city has ever looked better,” he gleamed with pride while kicking a discarded McDonald’s bag to the side of the street. “And all the protests in the wake of the tragedy from down in the States were completely peaceful the entire time.”
Local Police Chief Casey Robins confirmed that there have been no reports of looting in the past week or even years in the city.
“No, this is just what it always looks like,” she said, seemingly confused about why we were asking. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a case of looting, to my recollection. This is a peaceful place for the most part and people probably feel too bad for us to loot here, honestly.”
Robins went on to say that she’ll continue to work closely with Darling and other city officials to keep Saint John safe and potentially spruce up its appearance, too, by adding that “a little looting might actually help the aesthetics around here.”
Let’s go back and examine why Saint John has become the city that it is today. There are many reasons why Saint John has fallen on hard Times. I’m tired of hearing it’s the Irving’s. It has a lot to do with many political decisions that have been made over the years. At one time it was the economic center of New Brunswick. Let’s study a little history here. Play games
I’ve been to Saint John once, and like the weird smell that permeates the entire city the memory of what a depressing place it is still lingers with me all these years later. These articles never fail to put a smile on my face, thank you!