Friggin looters are as bad as the SHAMELESS hoarders with zero compassion

[theking]

Looters burned her business, then a complete stranger stepped in to help

LONG BEACH, Calif. — As she climbed into her car Monday at dawn to go see what was left of her business, Zahalea Anderson tried to remain optimistic.

“Maybe it won’t be that bad,” she told herself. “Maybe there will just be smoke damage.”

It was the morning after a peaceful Long Beach demonstration demanding justice for George Floyd devolved into violence and mayhem. Swarms of looters armed with hammers and crowbars used Sunday’s protest as an excuse to vandalize and ransack Long Beach retailers.

Anderson already suspected her martial arts school didn’t emerge unscathed because she had seen a neighboring business engulfed in flames while watching TV on Sunday night. Only her husband’s pleas kept her from ignoring the citywide 6 p.m. curfew and rushing to the site right then.

When Anderson arrived at the corner of 7th Street and Pine Avenue after a sleepless night, the destruction she found left her heartbroken. The fire had torn through an entire block before firefighters put it out, leveling a men’s clothing store and severely damaging Anderson’s martial arts school, a hair salon and several other minority-owned shops.

Anderson’s dojo reeked of smoke and ash. Firefighters told her that her roof could collapse at any moment. Not much inside appeared salvageable besides items of sentimental value — statues that once belonged to her parents, artwork her students had made or the charred remains of a mural that hung from the dojo’s back wall.

For Anderson, it was devastating to see her martial arts school covered in broken glass, soot and debris. Long Beach residents have come to the school to learn the art of self defense since Anderson’s father started offering jiu jitsu classes in his backyard more than a quarter century ago.

“I felt so hopeless seeing everything I’ve put my heart and soul into go up in flames,” Anderson said. “My head was down. A part of me said, ‘Yeah, it’s a wrap. It’s over.’ ”

Maybe it would have been, were it not for the generosity of a complete stranger halfway across the country.



Marie Hosep stumbled across Anderson’s story while scrolling through Twitter on Monday.

Someone on Hosep’s timeline had tweeted support for Anderson alongside screenshots of two Facebook posts that she had written that morning.

Anderson’s story reached Hosep at a time when the Michigan resident was still seething over the senseless death of Floyd at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer. Hosep was eager to find a more meaningful way to contribute to the Black Lives Matter movement than marching in a protest or posting her support to social media.

To Hosep, it didn’t matter that Anderson lived more than 2,000 miles away or that the two had never met. The African American business owner’s plight was the worthwhile cause that Hosep had been seeking.

“I figured why not help this person who has lost her business for no good reason?” Hosep said.

At first, Hosep searched in vain for a way to donate. When she found nothing, Hosep set up a GoFundMe page with Anderson as the sole beneficiary. Then Hosep spread the word via Twitter and Facebook.

By the time Hosep was able to reach Anderson to tell her about the GoFundMe, donations had already blown past the original $2,000 goal. As a result, Anderson was initially suspicious that this account set up by a complete stranger might be a scam.

“I was like, ‘Is this real?’ ” Anderson said. “I wasn’t sure whether to believe it. It seemed too good to be true.”

Eventually, Hosep was able to persuade Anderson that her intentions were pure and that the money was hers. Then the two women watched in joyful disbelief as the donations kept pouring in from as far away as England. The total surpassed $40,000 before dinnertime on Monday. By the time Anderson awoke on Tuesday morning, it was over $100,000.

[theking]

Small-town police chief killed as officers in 3 cities wounded during violence at George Floyd protests

A retired St. Louis police captain who became a small-town police chief was found fatally shot early Tuesday outside a pawn shop that was looted after protests over the death of George Floyd turned violent.

[darkhelmet]

Shop owner lives matter too.

[theking]

Is there any evidence as to who killed the police chief? Yes there is looting by protesters, but mixed in with them are also white supremacists. Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions.

Doesn't matter if the killer looters are blacks, asians or "white supremacists", they are still idiots with zero common sense but full of selfishness for their behaviors that are not even relevant to Floyd's cause..What's worst is the innocent people they hurt that actually live in those neighborhoods and depend on those businesses and services..

No different than the SHAMELESS hoarders and scammers that took advantage of the situation instead of helping it..especially those targeting the poor and elderly with scare tactics..