Philly looting, riots are wrong. But so is ignoring what is driving the behavior.

I know a lot of Philadelphians are mad about looters breaking into the Apple and Foot Locker stores and making off with armfuls of iPhones and athletic shoes. They’re sharing videos of police rough-handling rioters as they place them under arrest. They cluck their tongues as they ask, “Where are the parents?” and say, “These kids today are out of control.”

There’s a part of me that’s right there with them.

But I also need those same Philadelphians to show similar disgust with the Municipal Court judge’s boneheaded decision to dismiss all charges against former Police Officer Mark Dial in the killing of Eddie Irizarry. That was a total miscarriage of justice.

Let me be clear: I don’t condone looting. Not one bit.

But I also don’t agree with the judge’s decision on Tuesday to claim there wasn’t enough evidence against a cop who was caught on video shooting Irizarry as he sat in his car with the windows rolled up.

Acting Police Commissioner John Stanford said he didn’t believe the looting stemmed directly from that verdict or the demonstration that followed. “This had nothing to do with the protests,” Stanford said Tuesday. “What we had tonight was a bunch of criminal opportunists take advantage of a situation and try to destroy our city.”

Let me repeat myself: I don’t condone looting. However, I think I understand the feelings behind this atrocious behavior, which continued early Thursday morning. And until our city officials come out of their ivory tower and get more informed about what could drive people to rob stores en masse, Philly won’t make any progress — and this will keep happening.

Rioters didn’t break into those businesses just because they wanted the latest iPad or a pair of overpriced yoga pants. Sure, some vandals saw it as a chance to create mayhem, but some were out there that night because they are angry.

Back in 2020, following the riots after the police killing of George Floyd, I wrote a column quoting the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “A riot is the language of the unheard.”

I thought of that quote when I saw what one looter posted on social media on Tuesday after the Dial verdict: “I know they say tearing up our stuff ain’t right,” they said, “but that’s the only way they hear us.”

I think some people tried to be open to what protesters were saying in 2020, but the city didn’t fully hear them. Even after so much destruction, Philly still hasn’t taken meaningful action to address gun violence, poverty, housing, and all the other entrenched issues that keep entire swathes of Philadelphians disadvantaged and struggling.

The anger that boiled over back then — as demonstrators burned buildings and broke into businesses — may have simmered down, but it never disappeared. And all it needs is a spark.

I was stunned when Judge Wendy L. Pew announced she was dismissing the charges against Dial, who shot Irizarry at near point-blank range during a traffic stop in Kensington on Aug. 14. Police initially claimed Irizarry lunged at Dial with a knife, but that story quickly fell apart after video showed Irizarry sitting in his car when he was killed. (The District Attorney’s Office has appealed the ruling.)

Poor Irizarry didn’t have a chance.

Dial must be held accountable for what he did.

After the ruling, peaceful protesters took to the streets surrounding City Hall to express their outrage and disgust.

You know what happened next.

Large groups of people — some of whom likely didn’t even know Irizarry’s name — went on a rampage, tearing up our city in chaotic scenes reminiscent of what we experienced in 2020. Just like we did back then, we watched as they broke into retailers and helped themselves to whatever they wanted.

Like many people on social media, I was disgusted. I thought, Here we go again. As an African American, I couldn’t help but be embarrassed at the fact that most of the people I saw creating the carnage were Black. When police roughhoused them as they took them under arrest, I thought: “That’s what you get. Your parents should be ashamed of you.”

But here’s the thing: It’s possible to condemn the looters’ behavior while also understanding where their rage comes from. They are fed up — with the city, with its politics as usual, with its soul-crushing poverty. Even if many of the looters weren’t aware of Irizarry, they feel the effects of police brutality, they see that the promises made in 2020 have gone unfulfilled. They’re fed up with watching a company like Apple make $400 billion in 2022, while they work all day but can’t afford a new iPhone.

Do not misconstrue my words: The people who wreaked havoc and tore up stores in West Philly, Center City, and elsewhere were wrong, wrong, wrong. But so was the judge who threw Dial’s case out. So was Dial. So were all the cops who tried to cover for him by lying.

And so was the city for not listening hard enough to people back in 2020.