This is another story that should be filed under “least surprising news ever.” Store owners in Ferguson, Missouri, say that almost three months of rioting, looting, and chaos over the Michael Brown shooting has run customers out of town.
In other words, the rioters – who were supposedly out to punish racist white cops – have hurt the very community they claim to stand for. It’s the same thing we saw after the 1992 Rodney King riots in LA. The police department didn’t suffer all that much, but local businessmen and law-abiding neighbors had their property and livelihoods destroyed.
Businesses in Ferguson say they are “going to wait and see” how to sustain what has been a tumultuous few months of riots and dramatically reduced revenue, with some local store owners saying customers are “too scared” to bring their business to the area.
Local stores and businesses throughout Ferguson expressed feelings of frustration and uncertainty as many have boarded-up windows, increased security measures and lost thousands of dollars in revenue amid protests stemming from the Aug. 9 police shooting death of Michael Brown. Many businesses said they will just have to wait and see what happens ahead of an expected November ruling on whether or not to indict officer Darren Wilson.
“We’ve lost $200 to $300 in business nightly, people are afraid to pick up in the night, after dark,” said Tammy Cao of the Hunan Chop Suey Chinese Restaurant. “People are too scared at night … I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
H/T: CBS
Meanwhile, millionaire “civil rights leaders” who helped stir up the riots, such as Jesse Jackson, are laughing all the way to the bank. I hope Jackson at least gives some of the money back to Ferguson store owners who have lost hundreds of dollars a day.