'If Can't Depend On...The People That Are Supposed To Serve And Protect Us Then I'll Do It Myself': Sacramento Gym Owner

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — As protests got violent over the weekend, one downtown business owner stepped in himself to protect his gym.

He saw significant damage done to his neighbors and felt this was the only way. Bryan Washington is a Black business owner. He runs a gym called All City Riders off of 7th street.

He stood outside Sunday night in the thick of protests and managed to grab a bat away from someone he said was looking to cause trouble.

"I felt like ok, if I'm left to protect my own business and I can't depend on the city leaders or the people that are supposed to serve and protect us then I'll do it myself," Washington said.

He said be didn't want to let a young man with a bat hurt his life's work.

"Instead of giving him the opportunity to hold on to that bat and use it later on, I thought I'd take it away from him. And now I have myself a new bat," Washington said.

Washington said he feels the same pain as demonstrators.

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"I'm also a black person, black man who has dealt with the oppression this country offers us," he said.

He's asking for the violence to stop. Sacramento city officials said roughly $10 million dollars in damage was done to local businesses

"We know that you guys what to be heard. We're listening to you. We ask that you take a different approach because the businesses you're destroying may not be the big corporations you think they are," Washington said.

On Monday night, Sacramento implemented a curfew that started at 8 p.m. The National Guard also arrived to protect critical infrastructure, like the jail.

Amid this, Washington said he's inspired by the people who have already helped clean up the damage.

READ: Volunteers Help Cleanup In Downtown & Midtown Sacramento Following Looting, Vandalism

"I truly believe that on the other end of this, there's going to be us able to be a city that comes together," he said.