'I understand their frustration': Black-owned business hit by looters in Center City
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Exclusive surveillance video at one Center City business caught looters storming stores after peaceful protests turned into violence and looting in Philadelphia late Saturday.
"We saw on our cloud cam that people were coming into my store," said Leon Scott, owner of Silver Legends.
Scott couldn't believe his eyes. Exclusive surveillance video caught looters storming his store at 20th and Walnut.
"My windows had rocks thrown in them, my front door was kicked in...threw some things around," he said.
Vandals made off with an undisclosed amount of money, but left behind most of the merchandise.
Like many businesses, Silver Legends was shuttered due to the pandemic. With rent already high in the city, and expensive repairs to be done, this is an added burden.
But, as a black business owner, Scott says he feels the same frustration as those who were peacefully demonstrating.
"I do understand the frustration though...no lives were lost here...property can be replaced," Scott said. "Nobody wants to lose their property for no reason, but at this point, people have reached such a boiling point that they're fed up and taking it out any way they can."
It took until 3 a.m. to clean up the store and board up the windows.
"My neighbors were kind of enough to come down and assist me with securing my store so that gives me faith in people," he said.
