In recent days, protests demanding justice for George Floyd—a Black American killed by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota—have erupted across the U.S. These protests quickly escalated from peaceful demonstrations to armed confrontations, with clashes between protesters and police breaking out in over 30 cities across the country.
Among the protesters were those who took advantage of the chaos, vandalizing stores to steal expensive products inside. The Apple Store in Portland, Oregon, which had only been open for two days, was smashed by rioters, who made off with numerous display iPads and iPhones. Other Apple Stores in Philadelphia, Arizona, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. faced similar fates.
Those thieves thought they would have new iPhones and iPads to use, but when they got home, they were stunned to find that all these devices had been locked and were unusable. Apple had collected the IDs of the stolen devices and used its Mobile Device Management (MDM) system to issue a mandatory notification to the thieves to return the devices, similar to how users ‘lock iCloud’ when their devices are stolen to prevent personal data theft. The location information of these devices has also been sent to the police, meaning thieves who do not return them will be arrested.
It is unclear how many stolen devices will be returned, but this action shows that Apple is very firm against those who exploit political unrest for personal gain, an act that is very deserving of condemnation.