Former President Donald Trump called for states to deploy the National Guard to help deal with rampant retail looting, or "smash-and-grab" incidents, in a Tuesday statement.

Trump said that if the Democratic politicians in charge of cities where the mass lootings are taking place don't take action, the National Guard "must be called out."

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“If Democrats don’t immediately stop smash-and-grab robberies, which are taking place in their cities, the National Guard must be called out. There has never been such a thing that has happened in our Country," Trump said in the statement. "Large numbers of stores are leaving San Francisco and other cities. Some chains are closing most of their stores, it is all not even believable.”


Mass looting of retail stores has spread across the nation's major cities in recent weeks. The phenomenon has been dubbed "smash-and-grab" robberies by the media after some claimed that using the word "looting" has racial connotations.

A group of young people wearing ski masks reportedly robbed a Home Depot in Los Angeles County on Black Friday, stealing sledgehammers and crowbars.

A Minnesota Best Buy was also targeted by a flash-mob-style robbery on Friday, according to a report.

A mob of 80 robbed a Nordstrom in the greater San Francisco area last week. The spectacle was caught on video.

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“There was a mob of people,” a local restaurant owner who witnessed the robbery said. “The police were flying in. It was like a scene out of a movie. It was insane ... I had to start locking the front door. Locking the back door. You never know, they could come right in here. It was crazy … All the guests inside were getting concerned. It was a scary scene for a moment.”