‘It’s your worst nightmare to see on the screen everything you’ve worked for being burglarized…’
(Joshua Paladino, Liberty Headlines) Rioters in Charlotte, North Carolina, looted a black-owned jewelry store, a restaurant that donates 100 percent of its profits to the poor and needy, and many other businesses over the weekend.
The destruction of these locally owned businesses provides further evidence that rioters do not care about the civil rights, health, safety, or material success of the poor and downtrodden.
A few days after James Mack reopened his store, Epic Times Watches and Chains, he posted a sign that said “black-owned business” in hopes that this would keep rioters away. But it didn’t work, WCNC reported.
Criminals broke glass windows and stole merchandise.
“It was disheartening,” Mack said. “It’s your worst nightmare to see on the screen everything you’ve worked for being burglarized.”
The vandals caused about $20,000 in damages and losses.
“It hurt. It’s like a double hurt,” Mack said, referring to the economic pain that he suffered during the coronavirus shutdown.
Rioters also smashed the windows of The King’s Kitchen, a non-profit business that has yet to reopen after the shutdown. Repairs will cost about $30,000, WSOCTV reported.
“I’m grateful for that, that nothing inside was torn up,” founder Jim Noble said.
After Noble had his store’s windows boarded up, the store’s workers gathered for church and prayer.
“I pray for those on the riot side, that they would have a heart for other people,” Noble said.
Noble employs homeless people and people who are recovering from a substance addiction.
During the coronavirus shutdown, The King’s Kitchen served 70,000 meals in Charlotte and nearby communities.
“We’re still producing those meals every day. We have to run as a restaurant, but we also have to run as a ministry,” he said.
Many other businesses in Charlotte were destroyed, including Carolina Ale House:
— Tyrell (@Ty_Sensei) June 1, 2020