Breaking News
Clothing Store Owner Says He “Lost Everything” Following Destructive Protests
Zola Dias, owner of a clothing store in Atlanta, said he “lost everything” after his business was vandalized and ransacked during riots caused by the tragic death of George Floyd.
Dias is an immigrant and the owner of Attom Concept Store. “I came to the United States to make my dreams come true and then now we just don’t know if we’re going to reopen,” Dias said.
Store manager Kris Shelby, who lives near the store, described what happened. He said that on Friday at around 1 a.m., he heard glass breaking.
“I see people running, and then I look down at our store and I just see a sledgehammer and like a bar that holds the ropes to block people off, I seen one of those go through our window and all I could do was just sit back and say, ‘That’s a wrap on that,’” Shelby said.
“And as bad as I wanted to go down there and Zola was like ‘I know you want to go down there, but we need to just sit back for our safety and we need to just take care of it tomorrow morning,’” he added. “But we already knew the damages that were being done.”
Outrage
https://twitter.com/TedDBexar/status/1267636925495574528
The protests and riots started after the death of George Floyd – a black man. He died after Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis cop, kneeled on his neck. Many people across the country demand justice for Floyd, but the protests devolved into riots.
According to Shelby, insurance doesn’t cover everything. He also said that “to be honest right now we don’t even know if insurance is going to cover anything.”
Dias said that the destruction from the looting and vandalism adds to the hardships of the business. This followed a temporary closure to limit the spread of COVID-19.
According to Shelby and Dias, fifteen police officers showed up to check on the store. Two officers came to assess the damage. “They said someone had called the police on them, thinking they were breaking into the store,” reported Fox News.
“I mean at the end of the day, we understand, but it’s like what was this all about?” Shelby said. “Is it because we’re black-owned and from the looks of it because of what’s going on right now someone is like, ‘They must be some African Americans sitting down there breaking into the store?’”
“It was just not right at all,” he added.
Up Next:
