‘Please don’t destroy our restaurant’: Minority business owner sends message to Denver rioters
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DENVER (KDVR/KWGN) — Dozens of local businesses in Denver are picking up the pieces after rioters tagged and vandalized their restaurants over the weekend.
Protesters lined the streets of Colfax Avenue in front of Saki Melius’ restaurant, Menya Ramen & Poke.
“I respect and support the peaceful protest,” Melius said.
She shares in their outrage over the senseless killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. But when nightfall covered the city of Denver, the protests turned violent.
“Today I’m alone because my employees are afraid to come in,” Melius explained.
Melius was caught in the middle. Agitators shattered her windows and set her dumpster on fire. She was forced to close her restaurant for two months due to coronavirus, now this damage is another setback.
“Being a minority, we are working so hard. We want to make it through this and after COVID. So yesterday morning I was hoping to just clean up and open, but I couldn’t because I was so sad. I couldn’t stop crying,” she said.
Melius put pen to paper and lined her windows with a message to the aggressors. She is pleading with them to leave her restaurant alone.
“We don’t need that. We’re here to survive together.”
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