Black Store Owner Calls Out Looters For Destroying Bronx Shop, 'Get A Job'

A video circulating online shows a black storeowner ruefully moaning over what is left of her Bronx store after looters pillaged it at the height of the George Floyd protests in New York City. She ripped the thieves for ravaging the shop and told them to “get a job” and to stop stealing.

Cleaning Up All Night

Lucy Hosley, a black 69-year-old storeowner in the Bronx, cannot do anything but look helplessly at the destruction left by the looters. “We’ve been here all night cleaning up. [They] tell me ‘Black Lives Matter.’ They’re lying,” Hosley said in a video that was posted Tuesday on YouTube. The pillage allegedly occurred early morning that same day.

The elderly storeowner also called out the thieves for looting her store. She told them if they needed money, they should get a job as she does. Hosley then asked the looters to stop stealing. The video shows broken glass and debris strewn everywhere from inside the deli up to the sidewalk on Valentine Avenue.

Nothing Was Spared

In an interview with The Post, Hosley said that the co-owner of the store, Mustafa Alsaedi, witnessed the incident on his phone as the store’s security cameras were linked to the device. He immediately called Hosley when he espied people ransacking their store. The elderly woman immediately rushed to the store, where she found around 30 young men inside, plundering the shelves. She also saw some of them using tools to break into the store’s cash register.

The 69-year-old co-owner admitted feeling sick to her stomach to see the business they have been growing for many years being destroyed in front of her eyes. “You said Black Lives Matter — why don’t you choke me? I’m black, look what you did to my store,” railed Hosley. She called out to looters that this is their neighborhood, and they have been trying to build their business up only to be torn down by hooligans. She added they were lucky they did not have to close during the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns. Hosley, however, lamented the fact that they have six employees who need a daily wage to feed their families.

Donors To The Rescue

Luckily, generous donors dug deep in their pockets to help get the deli back on track. A GoFundMe page, which has been established to help the elderly co-owner rebuild their store, has reportedly raised over $80,000 since Wednesday.

Hosley told The Post that at first, she felt anger towards the thieves, but she said she could not let hate consume her. She believes that many of the looters may have been brought up in an environment that believes they are worthless, and they are acting on that. She vowed not to let them win. “We will rebuild this store and it will serve this community again,” Hosley promised.