Bar that black Minneapolis firefighter bought with his life savings destroyed amid chaos

written by Paul Goldberg May 30, 2020

Violent and chaotic protests in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd led to the total destruction of a bar owned by Korboi Balla a black former firefighter Wednesday night.

Balla had invested his life savings in the bar and was planning to open after the coronavirus lockdown. The bar has now been wrecked.

WATCH:

Balla’ wife Tywanna posted on Facebook that they did not have insurance.

She wrote:

As we were standing in the front of the restaurant, people where in the back trying to steal the safe! This just happened an hour ago in broad daylight! It’s so easy to say what people should and shouldn’t do until it’s affects you! Yes people are mad and upset, I get that and I understand the protest, I’m hearing people say F*** the business they have insurance WELL WE DONT AND THIS IS ALL OUT OF POCKET!!! Let someone come run in your home and loot for the cause then and let’s see you be ok with it! This is your neighborhood and if you have children you couldn’t even walk them down the street because everything is burning or destroyed. You wouldn’t understand unless you was in this position! Justice for George Floyd but not this kind of justice.

***update: It’s now demolished, the whole building***

As tragic and heartbreaking as the story is, in a bright spot, a GoFund me started by Balla has now raised over $450k at the time of publication of this piece.

The GoFundme reads:

Scores Sports Bar was set for a grand opening this spring but when COVID-19 hit that was put on pause. Now, just as Scores was gearing up to welcome customers with updated guidelines from the govenor, George Floyd was murdered and everything changed overnight.

Scores Sports Bar was LOOTED,  VANDALIZED and DESTROYED 5/27/2020. This black-owned business is left trying to pick up the pieces amidst mourning with the community.

About the Bar Owners: Kb Balla & his wife Twyana are active members of their community. KB is a Firefighter on the Brooklyn Center Fire Department and Twyana was a member of the Sounds of Blackness. They have a 4 beautiful children and the toll of this entire situation is heavy. KB has been a community entrepreneur for decades and coaches and contributes to the community in which they live.