As sure as night follows day, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) dropped the race card on Walgreens for closing several stores in high-crime areas of Boston. Following the closing of its Roxbury-area location, the race-hustling Squad member went off on the chain — making a total fool out of herself, as usual.

The drugstore chain closed three other Boston stores in 2022.

Pressley on Tuesday took to the House floor to accuse the popular chain of committing "life-threatening acts of racial and economic discrimination."

Walgreens' closures of pharmacies in Roxbury, Mattapan & Hyde Park are not arbitrary or innocent. They are disruptive, life-threatening acts of racial & economic discrimination. As a multi-billion-dollar corporation, they must stop divesting from Black & brown communities.

Neither Walgreens nor any other corporation "must stop" doing anything because you say so, Ms. Presley. How about demanding that those responsible for out-of-control crime must stop committing crimes?

.@Walgreens' closures of pharmacies in Roxbury, Mattapan & Hyde Park are not arbitrary or innocent.

They are disruptive, life-threatening acts of racial & economic discrimination.

As a multi-billion-dollar corporation, they must stop divesting from Black & brown communities. pic.twitter.com/iSvhFWw8Bl

— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) January 31, 2024

After noting that Roxbury is “85 percent black and Latino,” Pressley's belligerence continued:

This closure is a part of a larger trend of abandoning low-income communities like the previous closures in Mattapan and Hyde park — both in the Massachusetts 7th. When a Walgreens leaves a neighborhood, they disrupt the entire community and they take with them baby formula, diapers, asthma inhalers, life-saving medications, and, of course, jobs.

Memo to Ms. Pressley: Perhaps if members of the community didn't rob those Walgreens stores blind — likely stealing some of the products you mentioned, included — the locations wouldn't have been closed. That said, of course, compassion is warranted for law-abiding members of the community who are inconvenienced or worse by unchecked crime. 

Pressley incredibly asked:

Why was there no community input? No adequate notice to customers? And no transition resources to prevent gaps in healthcare?

Really? Corporations are in business to make money. When crime rates affect profits — particularly to the extent of closing retail locations — a corporation's principal responsibility is to its shareholders — not a community that allows out-of-control crime to continue. Harsh — but true.

“Shame on you, Walgreens,” Pressley said. 

No, Ms. Pressley, shame on you for blaming Walgreens for protecting its shareholders, while you and your left-wing colleagues not only do nothing about high crime rates in depressed "black and Latino" communities; you also rush to cry "racism" at every concocted, intentionally divisive opportunity.

Needless to say, Walgreens isn't the only corporation forced to close locations in high-crime areas. As we reported in late January, In-N-Out Burger finally decided to close its first-ever location — in Oakland, California.

In-N-Out has officially decided to close their [sic] first location ever in Oakland near the airport. This decision has been made due to the high crime activity and car break-ins.

"Racist," Ms. Pressley?

🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨

In-N-Out has officially decided to close their first location ever in Oakland near the airport. This decision has been made due to the high crime activity and car break-ins. pic.twitter.com/zXfhMW3Jhu

— In-N-Out Burger ᶠᵃⁿ (@innoutburger_) January 21, 2024

Let's put this into perspective, shall we? 

According to MarketScale, in February 2023, the "2022 National Retail Security Survey revealed a 26.5 percent increase in organized retail crime (ORC), according to the National Retail Foundation. How are retailers reacting? Some, like Starbucks and McDonald’s, are acting on their concerns by retail closures to locations in areas they deem unsafe."

It should be noted that MarketScale went on to push the notion that retail locations in high-crime areas should "beef up their security and crime prevention measures inside the stores." Yeah, I call BS. 

The Bottom Line

Local authorities should "beef up" their efforts to crack down hard on out-of-control crime — including allowing law enforcement officers to do their job. Why should corporations be responsible for increasing their expenses because high crime rates are allowed to continue, virtually or completely unchecked? They shouldn't.

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