Businesses in downtown Washington, D.C. have sustained damage for two straight nights as rioters have broken windows and stolen goods amid tense standoffs with police in Lafayette Square Park near the White House.
The vandalism comes as protests have spread across the country following the death of George Floyd while in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department.
D.C. businesses damaged over the weekend include restaurants, pharmacies, coffee shops and more, as chronicled by local publications like DCist, the Washingtonian and PoPville. One of the victims was the Oval Room restaurant near the White House, which is owned by prominent Washington restauranteur Ashok Bajaj.
"People were just coming in and out, breaking windows right in front of our own eyes. Oval Room is completely done. It’s just sad," he told the Washingtonian.
The Oval Room's website notes its proximity to the White House and touts the fact that it is popular among high-profile Washington politicos.
"Located steps from 'The Oval Office,' a virtual 'Who’s Who' of Washington politicians and media dine here; that is why The Oval Room is one of Washington’s Power Restaurants," the site says.
According to the Washingtonian, "The rich aren't safe anymore" was written on the outside of the restaurant in graffiti and it was set ablaze.
A passerby takes a picture of Canali's shattered showroom glass window in downtown Washington, Sunday, May 31, 2020, after Saturday's protests turned violent, following the death of George Floyd, a black Minnesota man who died in police custody. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
The Associated Press reported that other places that took damage included Canali's, a men's boutique, Mervis Diamond Importers and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau building.
The basement nursery of St. John's Church in Lafayette Square near the White House was set ablaze by rioters, but the flames were put out before much damage could be done to the rest of the building.
"I am happy to share with you that I could see no other real damage besides that one room, and quite a bit of graffiti and debris around the exterior of the church," the Rev. Rob Fisher said. "Protestors easily could have done a lot worse to our buildings, but they chose not to do that. (The damage I saw to other nearby buildings illustrated this point.)"
Shattered window and door glass from Mervis Diamond Importers is scattered on a sidewalk in Washington, Monday, June 1, 2020, after a night protests over the death of George Floyd. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
According to PoPville's Twitter feed, the businesses hit included multiple coffee shops, a tobacco and vape shop, several pharmacies, Kraken Axes -- a place people can go ax-throwing -- and the jewelry store Market Street Diamonds.
Meanwhile, DCist chronicled businesses that had been damaged before Sunday night's unrest -- which was the worst night in the district so far.
According to the publication, Dolcezza Gelato & Coffee at City Center had some windows broken. A Kate Spade and a Michael Kors each sustained damage. And other victims included the law firm WilmerHale, a Sunglass Hut in Georgetown and the Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute, which is located near the White House.
Former President Barack Obama added his voice to the chorus supporting peaceful protesters while expressing anger about the violence spreading across the country.
"[T]he waves of protests across the country represent a genuine and legitimate frustration over a decades-long failure to reform police practices and the broader criminal justice system in the United States," Obama said in a Medium post Monday. "On the other hand, the small minority of folks who’ve resorted to violence in various forms ... are putting innocent people at risk, compounding the destruction of neighborhoods that are often already short on services and investment and detracting from the larger cause."
He added: "So let’s not excuse violence, or rationalize it, or participate in it."
Not all of the business owners in D.C. took as hard a line against the violence as Obama did in his statement, however.
Michelle Brown, the owner of Teaism, a chain of tea shops in D.C., saw her location near the White House set ablaze. But she told the Washingtonian, "It doesn’t matter how I feel. It’s not about me ... There are 100,000 people dead. This guy had a policeman sit on his neck for nine minutes."
She punctuated that feeling with a tweet just after midnight on Sunday morning: "Before anyone puts a single word in our mouths. Black lives matter."
