Kienan Dixon:
Estamos con ustedes. we are with you. Support from small businesses that line the fairfax district of los angeles. Still those same businesses have become victims. Protests and unrest have spread across the country as tensions reached a boiling point following the death of George Floyd in minneapolis. Chong ko is the owner of this dry cleaner in LA…just one of the many businesses damaged by protests that turned violent over the weekend.
Chong Ko:
Not only window, my computer on the floor, everything is down. Somebody stole my clothes, customer clothes. It’s really sad.
KD:
Ko says she lost thousands of dollars on Saturday when looters broke into her store.
Still, others got it worse.
CK:
It’s not too bad, my store. Next door, the smoke shop, it’s a lot of money he lost there. It’s very sad. He doesn’t have any insurance, I don’t know what’s going to happen
KD:
Ko’s story is like many others around LA, around the nation, as protests have taken a turn for the worse.
On Saturday, la mayor Eric Garcetti assured that he wouldn’t call upon the National Guard for help.
Only hours later, announcing that he had called them in for support after damage and looting to buildings like this one.
CK:
It’s very sad, you know. Everybody has to be careful right now. Nothing’s worth it when people do it like that.
KD:
In Los Angeles, Kienan Dixon, NCC News.
Unrest has found its way around the nation following the death of George Floyd, 46, just seven days ago.
Protests have swept the country, finding essentially every major metropolitan area. Over the weekend in Los Angeles’ Fairfax District, those protests turned violent.
Chong Ko has lived in Los Angeles since moving from Denver 18 years ago. Three years ago, she opened her dry cleaning service. On Saturday, she lost thousands of dollars and has potentially thousands more in damages to her corner shop.
Protests that started out as peaceful demonstrations became violent riots as the sun set on Fairfax Avenue.
Ko says at around 11 p.m. Saturday, she got a call that her business had been broken into and a window was shattered as looters hit several businesses in the area.
When she arrived, she saw more. “Not only window, my computer on the floor, everything is down. Somebody stole my clothes, customer clothes. It’s really sad.”
A smoke shop two doors down from her dry cleaner was hit even worse, Ko said.
“It’s not too bad, my store. Next door, the smoke shop, it’s a lot of money he lost there. It’s very sad. He doesn’t have any insurance, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
This is a small example of what is happening across the country, as independently owned shops are caught in the crossfire of a nation boiling over with tension.
