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Immigrant-owned restaurant vandalized and looted in Portland Friday night riots

Owners say looters broke in through a back door, tore expensive handwoven Persian rugs off the walls and stole computers, tablets and alcohol.

PORTLAND, Ore — A Portland restaurant owned by an immigrant family is reeling after being vandalized and looted during rioting Friday night.

Plywood covered the front windows of the Persian House restaurant on Saturday. Someone shattered the windows Friday night - looters broke in through a back door.

The owners say expensive handwoven Persian rugs were torn off the walls and destroyed, computers and tablets and alcohol were stolen.

It saddens us to share the scenery of these riots last night in Port... land. The restaurant was vandalized and looted. If small businesses were already impacted by the pandemic, these riots definitely didn't help the cause. They have been a distraction from the justice for George Floyd.

Sara Houranpay and her family own the restaurant. She said she agrees with protesters who are against police violence, but said looters are hurting the cause.

“These crimes are not just against the police - or as some of these looters were going by saying, 'Screw the corporations.' It’s not just against them. It’s against innocent bystanders. There’s black business owners, there’s Asian business owners. There’s tons of minorities who own these businesses. We’ve already suffered through this COVID and are financially suffering. This is just another step that truly we did not need,” she said as her mother wiped away tears.

Houranpay said her family is from Iran and her parents opened the restaurant 30 years ago at SW 10th and Morrison in downtown Portland.

Her father has often fed homeless people over the years, Houranpay said.

Friends started a GoFundMe page to help the restaurant with expenses that insurance will not cover.

RELATED: Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler extends curfew, will begin at 8 p.m. Sunday

RELATED: Downtown Portland businesses looted, vandalized during riots

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