KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When the smoke settled on the Country Club Plaza in the very early hours of Sunday, the damage was left for businesses to clean up.
From broken windows to spray painted buildings, protests on Friday and Saturday night left the businesses in disarray.
Early Sunday morning, businesses like RE on the Plaza cleaned up all morning, with one of their large windows shattered by a rock.
"We had been closed for 75 days. I get emotional every time I say that. We want for people to be able to come back to work this week and not have to clean up a mess," owner Chrysy Huff said.
Her friends and family helped pick up the pieces of the store and worked to prevent further damage.
"There were a lot of rocks thrown last night and they were sometimes used to throw at the officers. So, we felt it was something that we could do. We could pick them up. So, we asked friends and family to come. They are putting them in buckets and we are taking them away, they are the landscaping rocks," Huff explained.
Huff said she fully supports the protests and what they stand for. She is just heartbroken that businesses have to suffer more than they already have because of COVID-19.
Down the street, dozens of people picked up trash bags to collect trash from the overnight protesting.
"This is horrible. I just decided to help because this is my city and this is ridiculous," said Beverly Green, who was picking up trash.
People who were picking up water bottles and other trash said they help not only because it's the right thing to do, but because they think the city deserves better.
"Someone has to have a voice on the other end instead of it being negative. We need more prayer in our city, we need to pray for our officers and we need to pray for people who don't understand this is not the way to fight," Green said.
