Dallas riots leave volunteers, businesses to clean up the mess

Saturday morning in Dallas’ Deep Ellum neighborhood looked similar to most others: Cyclists and window-shoppers breezed along sidewalks while diners enjoyed brunch at popular cafes. A few more police cars, some plywood-boarded windows, and the occasional glint of glass fragments on the ground marked the only evidence of dramatic protests the night before.

What began as a peaceful protest Friday night in honor of George Floyd in downtown Dallas and the historically black Deep Ellum neighborhood devolved into a riot of flash bangs, tear gas, dumpster fires, and hurled bricks. Business owners and volunteers, including some who came to the peaceful protest, cleaned up the mess Saturday.

Rioters Friday smashed the storefront of downtown’s iconic Neiman Marcus building and busted the windows of a 7-Eleven on Commerce Street. In the light of day, a vacuum street sweeper droned out front, cleaning up the last of the safety glass near the curb. A 7-Eleven cashier told me angry protesters didn’t steal anything.

In the same row of shops, rioters also heavily damaged a clothing boutique. Guns & Roses owner Princess Pope, who is black, said on social media that she and her employees “will work vigilantly to rebuild and restore what was destroyed.”

Just beyond downtown in Deep Ellum, customers filled every chair in High & Tight Barbershop. Rioters shattered its massive, double-pane storefront window. Manager Adelina Martinez told me through a cloth mask, clippers in hand, that she couldn’t consider closing for cleanup: The store depends on every dollar coming in after coronavirus restrictions shut it down for two months.

Instead, employees swept up glass and worked until 3 a.m. to board up the window. The business opened as scheduled at 8 a.m. Saturday. Martinez said replacing the window will cost more than $1,000: “[Protesters are] trying to cure violence with violence, it seems like, which isn’t the answer.”

Down the street, a pair of police officers—one black and one white—sat in their cruiser writing burglary and criminal mischief reports. One officer told me it was their own version of “mopping up from last night.” One report focused on clothing and shoe store Sneaker Politics, where rioters stole over $100,000 in merchandise.

David Sullivan lives in the neighborhood and spent the morning walking around with his kitchen broom, sweeping up the last bits of glass. Sullivan, who is black, participated in the protests the night before. He said a handful of “knuckleheads” and “youngsters” ruined the event by getting violent: “It’s not the people actually standing up for the cause.”

Both his parents are police officers, so he is conflicted. But he understands where some of the rage comes from: “They tried the peaceful way for years, with Colin Kaepernick and all that, and that got us nowhere, so people are mad about that.”

Still, he thinks rioters’ anger is misplaced: “The business owners don’t deserve all this. They’re just trying to make a living, just like all of us.”

By nightfall Saturday, the anger and frustration again seethed into Dallas’ streets, when a violent contingent eclipsed peaceful protesters. Rioters expanded their territory, moving through downtown Dallas and Deep Ellum into the fashionable Uptown neighborhood and across major freeways, prompting closures.

Police estimate 700 nonviolent protesters gathered at 4:30 p.m. in front of Dallas Police Department Headquarters. But as afternoon faded to evening, some participants began destroying property, damaging police cars, spray painting public monuments and buildings, and breaking windows. Video circulated on social media of a white business owner with a sword charging at rioters, who beat him unconscious with fists, rocks, and a skateboard.

Looters came out in force Saturday night, robbing a cigar shop and a Whole Foods store, among other businesses. Just before midnight Saturday, Dallas Police reported arresting 89 people and recovering three guns and one stun gun.

Some of Dallas’ top leaders are black, including its mayor, police chief, and district attorney. On Saturday night, Chief of Police U. Renee Hall admonished her city on Twitter: “We work together to build a stronger Dallas, a stronger Texas, a stronger United States of America, but it does not happen by tearing up property and hurting people, and it will not be tolerated in the city of Dallas.”

Dallas advocacy group Next Generation Action Network is planning another George Floyd rally and march for Monday evening.