LOS ANGELES/LONG BEACH, Calif. – According to reports on news and social media, Armenian-owned stores were among the victims of rioters and looters in various parts of Los Angeles and Southern California over the last weekend as social order broke down following widespread protests of the George Floyd murder of May 25.
Among these were stores pillaged and set on fire in the downtown jewelry district on Friday night, May 29.
(a video of the destruction at the Khachadourian family jewelry store in downtown Los Angeles which took place sometime after midnight on May 30)
According to an Associated Press report, in the neighborhood of West Hollywood, Los Angeles, windows of shops along trendy Melrose Avenue were all broken on the evening of Saturday, May 30. Alan Kokozian, owner of Tony K’s Shoe Store, related that his entire product stock was either stolen or damaged, and he himself was hit in the head with a flying bottle as he tried to persuade looters to spare his store.
On Sunday, while examining the hole in his roof caused by arson, Kokozian said, “This was not a political protest. This was basically a bunch of thieves getting together taking advantage of a situation.”
