Bakery owners in Ohio armed themselves with guns and defended their shop as protests in Cleveland became violent over the weekend.
Rioters attempting to break into family-owned Corbo’s Bakery on Saturday using bats and other weapons backed down when they saw co-owner Joe Corbo and his two sons standing inside, armed with guns.
“We don’t want any trouble. We don’t want you guys in here damaging our property. We’re just protecting our business, and truthfully, I would say maybe 80% of them understood. They left us alone and kept walking, and then, there was that 20% that just were accusing us of some things and crazy things that just weren’t true. We weren’t there to hurt anybody or cause a problem. We were just protecting our business,” co-owner Selena Corbo told a local Fox affiliate.
[Click here for complete George Floyd coverage]
The protesters at first tried to break in despite the guns but then backed away from the scene and moved on to other businesses, according to the local Fox affiliate. The rioters did manage to break one window at the bakery.
“It’s just sickening. T can’t even put it into words — it’s just awful. I mean, I can’t even believe it. I thought we were done with that kind of stuff, you know, years and years ago. I thought Cleveland moved forward. I love our town. I think we’ve all built it up as Clevelanders, and it’s a great place to live, and it just got shot down in a matter of a few hours. It was terrible,” Selena Corbo added.
Corbo’s Bakery was supposed to open Monday after being shuttered for two months due to the coronavirus, but the opening has been delayed.
The weekend was wrought with protests that spiraled into violence across the country in major cities. The demonstrations began after 46-year-old George Floyd died in the custody of Minneapolis police on Monday. Floyd, a black man, died after white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin restrained him by placing his knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Chauvin and three other officers involved in Floyd’s detainment were fired Tuesday. Chauvin was taken into custody on Friday and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
