Seems that some were fairly well-off, some were college students, some were recently unemployed (and therefore getting unemployment PLUS that extra $600/week from the feds. 

But we are told they had to break into stores to loot and steal just so they could eat, just so they could clothe themselves. 

And, BTW, I have a question:

Who was buying all of those high-end goods that they liberated from their white oppressors stole from the stores they broke into? I strongly doubt that the pawnshops would take ’em, so they must have sold them to someone…..and where did THOSE folks get the money?