Below The Beltway

There’s been much discussion about this especially tragic incident in the early hours of Black Friday:

VALLEY STREAM, N.Y. (CBS) ― We’re used to seeing scenes like this across the country — people running, pushing, trying to get their hands on the great bargains. But on Friday – better known as “Black Friday” to millions upon millions of holiday shoppers across the country, a scene like this turned deadly as a mob stampeded over a security guard at a Long Island Wal-Mart.

The heavy glass and steel sliding doors were literally knocked off their hinges in the shopper-stampede-to-be-first. Then the wave of humanity caved in on defenseless Wal-Mart workers as they opened early — 5 a.m. — for the annual bargain hunting ritual that kicks off the morning after Thanksgiving.

“The crowd pushed so forcefully that they crashed the doors down and one of the workers from Wal-Mart was pushed to the floor as the crowd entered the store, many of them running,” said Det. Lt. Michael Fleming of the Nassau County Police Department.

Cell phone video obtained by CBS 2 HD shows Jdimytai Damour, a 34-year-old part-time employee hired as a holiday temp. He was crushed in the onslaught and pronounced dead an hour later. As responding Nassau police and paramedics tried to save him, they were also jostled and pushed to the ground.

“The man got trampled, stomped on — everybody banged through the doors,” witness Terrence Howard said.

Witness Kimberly Cribbs said all those people who got in went right on shopping after the worker was run over.

“Oh yes, they’re savages,” Cribbs said.

As 2,000 customers surged ahead, several hundred began cutting the line creating mass chaos. Many bargain-hunters said they watched in horror.

“Pushing in, pounding through the doors to get TVs and electronics,” Sean Newman said.

This isn’t anything new, really. We see videos of these Black Friday shopper stampedes — whether they be at Walmart, Best Buy, or whatever other retailer might decide to open at the insane hour of 5am on the day after Thanksgiving — many times in the past. (here’s a video of one from 2005,, another from 2006, and another from 2007)

The police on Long Island are purportedly looking at surveillance tapes to see if they can identify anyone involved in the incident, but this seems to me to be more an example of stupidity and greed than anything criminal.