"when the looting starts, the shooting starts" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "Originally used by Walter E. Headley, the police chief of Miami, Florida, in response to an outbreak of violent crime during the 1967 Christmas holiday season. He accused \"young hoodlums, from 15 to 21\", of \"taking advantage of the civil rights campaign\" that was then sweeping the United States.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": "when the looting starts, the shooting starts"
      },
      "expansion": "when the looting starts, the shooting starts",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "when the looting starts, the shooting starts"
      },
      "expansion": "when the looting starts, the shooting starts",
      "name": "en-proverb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English proverbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Crime",
          "orig": "en:Crime",
          "parents": [
            "Criminal law",
            "Society",
            "Law",
            "All topics",
            "Justice",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Lethal force is justified against rioters and looters."
      ],
      "id": "en-when_the_looting_starts,_the_shooting_starts-en-proverb-XE6iOJtK",
      "links": [
        [
          "Lethal",
          "lethal"
        ],
        [
          "force",
          "force"
        ],
        [
          "rioter",
          "rioter"
        ],
        [
          "looter",
          "looter"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US) Lethal force is justified against rioters and looters."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Walter E. Headley",
        "when the looting starts, the shooting starts"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "when the looting starts, the shooting starts"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Originally used by Walter E. Headley, the police chief of Miami, Florida, in response to an outbreak of violent crime during the 1967 Christmas holiday season. He accused \"young hoodlums, from 15 to 21\", of \"taking advantage of the civil rights campaign\" that was then sweeping the United States.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": "when the looting starts, the shooting starts"
      },
      "expansion": "when the looting starts, the shooting starts",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "when the looting starts, the shooting starts"
      },
      "expansion": "when the looting starts, the shooting starts",
      "name": "en-proverb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English proverbs",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "en:Crime"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Lethal force is justified against rioters and looters."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Lethal",
          "lethal"
        ],
        [
          "force",
          "force"
        ],
        [
          "rioter",
          "rioter"
        ],
        [
          "looter",
          "looter"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US) Lethal force is justified against rioters and looters."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Walter E. Headley",
        "when the looting starts, the shooting starts"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "when the looting starts, the shooting starts"
}