Downtown Tacoma businesses looted by small group at end of peaceful protest
An hours-long peaceful protest in Tacoma ended early Tuesday with a small group smashing storefronts and looting two businesses.
The protest lasted about 12 hours, starting with more than 1,000 people in Wright Park and first marching to Old Town before returning downtown.
Eventually the group split into two and wound all over the city, even getting onto a freeway in the evening.
By midnight, 75 or so remaining people were heading home. A few stuck around.
“There was a small subset that broke windows in four businesses,” police spokeswoman Wendy Haddow told The News Tribune on Tuesday morning. “It was so fast. Our officers could hear breaking glass but didn’t know where it was coming from.”
Four businesses in the 1700 block of Pacific Avenue downtown had windows broken out. Another two in the 1900 block had people break in and steal merchandise.
The owner of a coin shop spotted up to 10 people with hammers shattering windows and reported it to police.
Three carloads of people were responsible for the damages, police said.
Two vehicles sped off when officers responded. One was stopped and two men were arrested.
Officers stopped a vehicle matching the description of a car used during the looting and arrested two men inside, one of whom was wearing a stolen jacket with the tags still on it, according to court documents.
On Tuesday, prosecutors charged the men, ages 22 and 24, with second-degree burglary. One lives in Parkland and the other in SeaTac, according to court records. They pleaded not guilty at arraignment. Superior Court Judge Clarence Henderson Jr. set bail at $5,000 for each.
Indochine Asian Dining Lounge was another one of the businesses affected.
Vandals broke out the restaurant’s main window and stole several computers and bottles of alcohol.
“It could have been a lot worse,” said owner Russel Brunton.
Bubble Tea Shop was another business that suffered broken windows and doors.
“Last night our windows were broken by opportunists who wanted to distract from the message of the peaceful protest for Black Lives Matter,” the company wrote on social media. “Our windows can be replaced and the mess can be cleaned up, but the lives of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and so many more black individuals cannot be replaced. We stand in solitary with the black community.”
Protest leaders could not be reached for comment Tuesday morning.
In a tweet, one account detailing the Tacoma protest wrote, “Broken windows of businesses with insurance policies don’t really upset me like cops beating people and killing people, sorry if that bothers anyone.”
Mayor Victoria Woodards brought water to some protesters Monday night and introduced herself.
“They said, ‘Mayor, will you march with us?’ And I said, ‘As long as you don’t walk up a hill and continue to be peaceful, I will,’” Woodards told The News Tribune.
She marched with them for a while and learned later in the evening they were still out marching and went onto Interstate 5, which she felt was no longer entirely effective as a means of protest. She said she put on her mom hat.
“When I walked on the freeway last night, I said, ‘You guys all did a great job today, you were peaceful — but it’s time to go home,” Woodards said. “The killing of George Floyd was very sad and unacceptable. That could have been a colleague, a friend, a family member.
“It’s really sad that this is where our country has gotten to ... It hurts, what’s happening in America. Racism still exists in our country. I think people are tired. You are seeing people who are rising up ... I am proud to live in a city where people will stand up, and they will be respectful.”
The protest was organized by students against police brutality and racial injustice.
Those marching Monday often chanted the name of Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis a week ago after a white police office knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Despite the trouble that erupted at the end of Monday’s protest, Tacoma police said they do not plan to change how they’re handling things.
“Our goal is to facilitate a safe environment for everyone to demonstrate peacefully,” Haddow said.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 9:30 AM.
