Manufacturer to Leave Minneapolis After Plant Set on Fire in Riots

The owner of a manufacturing plant in Minneapolis, Minnesota, says he will move his business out of the city after officials failed to protect his livelihood from being set on fire in riots this month.

Owner of 7-SIGMA, Kris Wyrobek, told the Star Tribune in an interview that he plans to leave Minneapolis after protesters, arsonists, and looters wrecked the city in weeks-long riots over the death of George Floyd.

The riots, which started in Minneapolis, quickly spread to Los Angeles, New York City, Seattle, Portland, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and other smaller to medium-sized cities. Police officers have been attacked in the unrest, businesses have been burned down and looted, and innocent bystanders have been killed.

Wyrobeck’s 7-SIGMA — which designs, manufactures, and supplies polymer and metal components and assemblies for printing, medical, aerospace, and industrial companies and has about 50 employees — will not be returning to Minneapolis after it was set on fire in the riots.

The Star Tribune reported:

“They don’t care about my business,” said Kris Wyrobek, president and owner of 7-Sigma Inc., which has operated since 1987 at 2843 26th Av. in south Minneapolis. “They didn’t protect our people. We were all on our own.” [Emphasis added]

…

“The fire engine was just sitting there, but they wouldn’t do anything,” Wyrobek said. “That’s the frustrating thing to us.” [Emphasis added]

…

When asked if he thought of relocating before the riots, Wyrobek said, “not in my wildest nightmare.” On Monday, he was sorting through the remnants of his business, figuring out how to get up and running again. [Emphasis added]

Property damage records reported by the Star Tribune revealed that close to 1,000 commercial properties were left wrecked, 50 of which were entirely destroyed, in the riots. Experts have said the damage may be upwards of $500 million.

The riots came just after states forced small and medium-sized businesses to close up shop during the Chinese coronavirus crisis — some for almost three months — while big businesses were allowed to stay open and further dominate markets.

Many of the businesses destroyed in riots across the U.S. had only just started to reopen as states began lifting their lockdown orders.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.