TUCSON, Ariz. - When protests turned violent in Tucson this weekend some people did a lot of damage to businesses downtown. So who’s going to pay for it?
While some people marching downtown were trying to make a point about racism, others were making a point of smashing things.
Surveillance video caught someone busting out the glass from a downtown restaurant and bar called Zen Rock.
Charro Steak lost a lot of glass to vandals over the weekend. Owner Ray Flores says it could be tough to replace the special artisan glass in time to re-open for Father’s Day. But he’s thinking about more than his business.
“We're very sad about what happened. And in Minneapolis, very sad about what happened to Mr Floyd, and his family. And, you know, this hurts us, but some broken glass is not a big deal comparatively to what happened and his family. So we'll recover and we hope, so America will recover also.”
The Rio Nuevo district is working to help cover repairs in the downtown area it works to develop.
Most businesses can rely on insurance to help cover repairs. Robert Tait of Budget Insurance says generally insurance will not cover terrorism or acts of war but insurance companies regard incidents like this weekend as vandalism covered by typical insurance.
“And it wouldn't matter if it was an individual that came by and broke the window or if it was a gang full of people that broke the window, you know, that's the same thing it doesn't matter it's still covered.”
Here’s more background on this from the Insurance Information Institute.
Ray Flores says he’s grateful for help that goes beyond what insurance can do.
“I just want to thank the city of Tucson and the community. They've been great to us, and they have a lot of messages of support. And, you know, we don't have anyone to blame. There's no reason to blame anything right now. Let's just go back to work and be building our country and our community.”
