An Egyptian immigrant whose downtown Columbus, Ohio, clothing store was looted during protests this summer told Congress Thursday the civil unrest transformed his “American dream” into “a nightmare of loss and destruction.”
Sam Mabrouk, who moved to Columbus from Egypt more than a decade ago, detailed how protesters ransacked his store in May during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died while in the custody of Minneapolis police.
The loss of merchandise from the store was estimated to be over $70,000 and not covered by insurance.
“I thought being a minority myself would protect me,” he said in testimony before a House Judiciary Committee’s Civil Rights Subcommittee. “I never thought that a protest in support of minority rights would flip and do harm to local, minority-owned businesses. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened to me as well as many other small shops in downtown Columbus.”
Mr. Mabrouk said he lost 10 years of savings in hard work in just two hours as looters pilfered his store. He was also threatened to be shot twice that same night, he told lawmakers.
“I have been living the American dream, along with all the blood, sweat and tears that it requires,” he said. “Then one day I woke up to a nightmare of loss and destruction. But I am not a quitter and I’m ready to work harder than before to get my small business back to where they were before that horrible night of May 29, 2020.”
Mr. Mabrouk appeared before lawmakers to testify on the Justice Department’s handling of civil rights issues, including its response to the civil unrest that followed the deaths of Floyd and other unarmed Black men and women at the hands of police.
Testifying from Columbus via livestream, Mr. Mabrouk told lawmakers that he was up most of the previous night. He worried that the angry response to a Kentucky prosecutor’s decision to charge only one of the officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s death would result in his store being looted again.
“I was monitoring local media, social media and my store’s security cameras to make sure there wouldn’t be a repeat of that fateful day this past summer,” he said. “It’s sad that I had to do that instead of spending time with my kids after a long day of work, but I’m willing to do it because it is not just a job, it is my family’s livelihood.”
Rep. Steve Cohen, Tennessee Democrat, expressed sympathy for Mr. Mabrouk but also used his testimony to respond to Republican criticism that Democrat lawmakers haven’t forcefully condemned the violence and destruction occurring across the country this summer.
“We are against looting and unlawful behavior,” he said.
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