Hundreds of small businesses in Oakland, California, plan to strike Tuesday to protest what they claim is the city’s inadequate response to rampant crime, KTVU Fox 2 reported.
At least 200 restaurants, stores and offices will close between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., and some businesses plan to remain shuttered until Wednesday, according to KTVU. Participants in the strike hope to raise awareness about the crime wave that has threatened the lives and safety of businesses and patrons across Oakland.
“We are all dying figuratively and literally. The business community has just gotten to the breaking point where everyday someone is having to choose to close their doors because they can no longer stay in business,” Ryan Dixon, a restaurant owner in Oakland, told ABC7 News on Monday. “Whether they’re getting broken into repeatedly, whether their staff is being held up or assaulted, shootings in front of our businesses. People are afraid to come to downtown Oakland right now.”
Business owners said that the final straw for many of them was when the mayor failed to apply for additional crime fighting funding from the California state government, according to KTVU. One restaurant owner shared that when a group of business owners tried to discuss the situation with government officials, their requests for help were ignored and officials told them to invest in private security.
Oakland residents have criticized the mayor and district attorney for months as crime has taken over the city and forced many businesses to close. Reported violent crime in the area has increased by 21% over the past year, while robberies have gone up 33%, according to Oakland police data.
“Many businesses are facing a very challenging time dealing with crimes. People are afraid to come out to patronize our businesses,” Carl Chan, the president of the Oakland Chinatown Bureau of Commerce and the co-organizer of the strike, told KTVU on Friday. “We wanna stop closure of any business in our city.”
Chan, the mayor’s office and the Oakland Police Department did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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