Minnesota store owner forced to close again after reopening following 7-month closure due to looters
'It's tough to know that now we have to close again,' Habib, who owns the sneaker store STUDIIYO23 in Minneapolis, which was targeted by looters twice in one year, says.
Minnesota sneaker store owner Moh Habib told "Fox & Friends" that his business was targeted by rioters earlier this week, two weeks after reopening following a seven-month closure.
The store was first damaged during the George Floyd riots in May, where the store lost about $150,000 worth of merchandise.
"It's tough to know that now we have to close again," Habib, who owns STUDIIYO23 in Minneapolis, which is also an art gallery, told host Steve Doocy.
"It’s my sole source of income for me and my two little kids," he continued, noting that the store is also the only source of income for his employees.
Habib spoke on "Fox & Friends" the morning after a third night of unrest following the police-involved shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright on Sunday.
Minnesota police made more than 60 arrests for rioting and other offenses during protests for Daunte Wright on Tuesday night in Brooklyn Center, Minn.
Officers took people into custody for "riot and other criminal behaviors," Minnesota State Patrol Colonel Matt Langer said in a news conference early Wednesday morning. "The behaviors that we continue to see are unacceptable and we are not going to tolerate them ...It is not acceptable and it will not be tolerated if you choose to do criminal activity and destroy property and throw objects and make it unsafe for people to come and exercise their First Amendment rights."
Protestors who took to the streets for the third straight night Tuesday called for an independent investigation in Wright's shooting.
Wright was allegedly shot and killed by a 26-year police veteran during a traffic stop Sunday.
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The protest follows the resignation on Tuesday of Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon and Kim Potter, the officer who police said fired the shot that killed Wright.
Habib’s store is located about 15 miles from Brooklyn Center and said it is "a shame" that people took advantage "of an already terrible situation" and looted his store, which he said serves as a "community space," for a second time.
He noted that in May, during the Floyd protests, police officers couldn’t help him because the "city was on fire" and he believes "the police force was already strained that evening."
Habib said this time around, "by the time I arrived at the scene, there were officers there, but because the city was so busy with crimes everywhere, as soon as I got there as the owner, they needed to pick up and leave to attend to other calls that they were receiving."
He told Doocy that he understood that officers couldn’t help him given crime was taking place "all around us."
Habib noted that his store was "surrounded by looters" and if it wasn’t for him and five employees and friends who were armed in front of his store, looters would have targeted his business once again.
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"I just think that they’ve seen an opportunity, where they know that law enforcement is going to be extremely busy and not be able to respond to all the calls. There are selfish people out there in the world unfortunately who take advantage when people are down," Habib said, noting that he is not the only business affected by the riots.
"Thousands of businesses across Minnesota and across the U.S. were devastated not only by lootings, but then you add on top of that the pandemic and the economic pressure that puts on business owners all across the nation it's been really tough," he continued.
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