There are only about four days until Election Night for the 2020 presidential race, but businesses in several major cities all across the U.S. are preparing for what may be a wild night-or nights. Businesses in Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. are preparing for the worst by boarding up their storefronts.
Most of those cities, and several others, have been hit hard by violent riots, leaving businesses and towns destroyed. Looters have broken into stores, trashed the places, and taken what they’ve wanted. Most of the riots are following instances of what they are calling racially motivated police brutality. These owners are preparing for what could be a very chaotic election night, that could turn into weeks if the official winner is not determined that night; which there is speculation that could happen.
Alex Provensano owns a salon in D.C. and he’s already boarded his building. He said, “I’m usually a very positive person; I hope for the best. But the people are very stressed out, and there is a lot of uncertainty in the country right now. It’s pretty scary.”
LA has already had several businesses board up due to the riots that have taken over the city. Several other businesses are following suit to prepare for Tuesday night and more potential chaos. Beverly Hills even announced that they will be closing the Rodeo Drive shopping area on November 3 and 4.
Some police departments say they’ve received questions about potential unrest on election night. The Santa Monica PD say they haven’t received any intelligence that would indicate unrest next Tuesday, but they continued to say they understand “that things change rapidly and are actively monitoring the situation.” The NYPD has advised businesses in Midtown Manhattan to take additional security precautions in the event of large-scale demonstrations to take place on or around Election Day.
Sources: The Blaze, Wall Street Journal, USA Today; Photo-San Francisco Chronicle
