16th Street Mall Store Owner Tired Of Trying To Protect His Business From Looters
DENVER (CBS4) - A store owner on Denver's 16th Street Mall has had to try to defend his business for several nights in a row from looters, and he's hoping there won't be any more illegal activity in the city. Damage to his store included broken windows.
"It's the third time we've been looted in two days," said Zach Monks, owner of Sole St. Shoes.
The store is Monks' livelihood. He was just getting back on his feet recently after he was forced to shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, and now he's dealing with rioting.
"It was tough. Seeing it like that once it tough, but seeing it three times now, just kind of ... broken, almost," Monks said.
While Monks understands the frustration of protesters who are dismayed by police brutality and upset over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, he says he wishes they were more productive with their efforts.
"Absolutely protest peacefully, but doing damage to people's property doesn't help the cause."
Multiple businesses were dealing with similar situations up and down the 16th Street Mall. At midnight a worker was sweeping up broken glass in front of the Target Store. City crews also spent hours on Saturday morning cleaning up, too.
For complete coverage of the protests in Minneapolis over the police killing of George Floyd visit CBSMinnesota.com and stream CBSN Minnesota.