Some of the buildings in the shopping center along Flatbush Avenue in Hartford were boarded up Wednesday, a move business owners say they're taking as a precaution against looting.
Some cities have seen looting, violence and property damage as tensions over the killing of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died after pleading for air as a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against Floyd's neck for several minutes, boil over. Police departments have said in many cases, the looters are not the people protesting.
So far in Connecticut, there have been no reports of looting or significant property damage. But business owners said they're taking the steps out of an abundance of caution.
"So much is going on right now, it's hard for us to take the chances," Abhinav Ralli, who owns a liquor store in the area, said. "We wasn't sure what was going on that's why we were preparing our small businesses," he added.
He said many of the stores are keeping their doors open, and want customers to know they're still open for business.
