Video captured dozens of masked and hooded suspects ransacking a Los Angeles Nordstrom department store on Saturday in a brazen smash-and-grab heist, stealing up to $100,000 in merchandise, according to reports.

Between 30-50 people stormed out of Nordstrom at the Westfield Topanga Mall in Canoga Park around 4:00 p.m. after taking clothes, handbags, and other expensive accessories, Los Angeles Police Department told local media.

“To criminals, it is just property taken,” the police department said on social media. “To those who live in the area and patronize the Topanga Mall it is a loss of feeling safe.”

Police reportedly said a security guard was sprayed with Mace, pepper spray, or bear spray, likely by a suspect within the mob of thieves who eventually escaped in several vehicles, including a BMW and Lexus.

“The LAPD will exhaust all efforts to bring those responsible into custody and seek criminal prosecution,” police added.

Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass called on authorities to hold the suspected thieves accountable.

“What happened today at the Nordstrom in the Topanga Mall is absolutely unacceptable,” Bass said in a news release. “Those who committed these acts and acts like it in neighboring areas must be held accountable. The Los Angeles Police Department will continue to work to not only find those responsible for this incident but to prevent these attacks on retailers from happening in the future.”

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The weekend robbery scene marks the latest example of lawless behavior running rampant under Democrat control in California. In 2014, California voters approved Prop 47, which reduced the penalty for shoplifters who steal up to $950 worth of merchandise to a misdemeanor. Shoplifters could face up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000 if prosecuted.

Last weekend, law enforcement in nearby Glendale reported a “flash mob” of at least 30 suspects stole $300,000 of merchandise from an Yves Saint Laurent store at a high-end mall owned by Rick Caruso, who ran against Bass as a Republican in the 2020 L.A. mayoral race. He said the mall would reward up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects who committed this crime, Glendale police said.

Resistance scrappers dubbed “Blade Runners” have been wrecking surveillance cameras meant to enforce London‘s controversial program to tax high-polluting motor vehicles that is set to expand its boundaries in the coming weeks.

Various media reports and videos posted to social media detail how this band of rebels has been climbing up polls to dismantle and swipe parts from cameras that help track non-compliant drivers who get fined £12.50 (about $15.87 in the United States) a day to enter the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in the heart of the British capital.

One activist, clad in a balaclava to hide his identity, told the Daily Mail in the spring that he had personally stolen 34 Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras and surmised that Blade Runners had damaged hundreds of the devices by that time.

UK citizens are furious Sadiq Khan is installing ULEZ (Ultra low emission zones) recognition cameras throughout London. Those who can’t afford electric vehicles will be fined £12 pounds ($15) every time they drive past them.

Citizens are fighting back by taking them down as soon… pic.twitter.com/8AsvWYPbfA

— Pelham (@Resist_05) August 13, 2023

“Everything we are doing is for our own freedoms,” this Blade Runner, identified only as a father in his mid-40s, told the news outlet. “It’s the tip of the iceberg. We do not live in a democracy,” this person said, adding, “We will fight with everything we have for our freedoms.”

Despite the pushback to ULEZ, London Mayor Sadiq Khan is spearheading an expansion of the program to cover all of the city’s boroughs. The expansion is set to take effect on August 29 after the High Court ruled it lawful in the face of a legal challenge by five Conservative-led councils.

The ruling allowed London to “press on with the difficult but vital task of cleaning up London’s air and tackling the climate crisis,” Khan said in a statement. The government is also funding a “scrappage scheme” to provide financial assistance to local residents who get rid of non-compliant vehicles.

Still, as some raise concerns about a growing ULEZ zone in London harming businesses and workers, acts of defiance have continued. Authorities conceded that dozens of cameras were being vandalized weekly in the weeks preceding the planned expansion. Cameras being set up in new areas have had their wires cut off and lenses painted over in black, The New York Times reported in June.

In response, Scotland Yard began “Operation Eremon” to investigate the activity, according to ITV News London. “We are continuing to proactively target anyone we suspect of causing or seeking to cause damage to these cameras,” said Detective Superintendent Daniel Smith, per the report. “We are now reviewing this social media post and will follow up every line of investigation.”

There have been reports of charges against at least one individual over the alleged criminal damage of ULEZ cameras.

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As officials increasingly raise concerns about global warming and air pollution, low-emission zones have spread to cities across Europe, leading to measures geared toward getting older cars off the roads.

In London, most vehicles observed in and around the city on an average day are already compliant with ULEZ, according to the government’s website. It also says that “all petrol cars and vans registered new from 2006, and diesel cars and vans from 2016, will meet the ULEZ standards.”

The local government insists harmful nitrogen dioxide pollution has been reduced by nearly half in central London thanks to ULEZ, which was first announced in 2017 and began in 2019, and claims the expansion will bring “clean air” to 5 million more people.

Susan Hall, a Conservative candidate for mayor for the election set to take place next year, has vowed to undo the ULEZ expansion, according to Bloomberg.