A store worker in his 70s was assaulted by a looter Monday night after the man tried to interrupt a mob looting and setting fire to his workplace amid ongoing riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The incident, which was caught on video, shows the victim, identified as 71-year-old Robert Cobb, coming out of the burning store with a fire extinguisher, attempting to spray looters that appear to run out of the back of the building with stolen goods.
As he tries to prevent the looters from breaking into the building by spraying them with the fire extinguisher, an unidentified person approaches the man from behind and knocks him down.
According to a health update on the victim’s GoFundMe, Cobb suffered a broken jaw in two places and needed emergency medical attention. His jaw will require two plates and will be shut for a period of time with wires while the fractures heal.
The suspect reportedly slammed Cobb in the head with a plastic bottle filled with concrete, knocking him to the ground. The impact of the fall reportedly broke his jaw, though there were other lacerations to his head that caused heavy bleeding, the owner of the mattress store told Kenosha News.
The woman that was recording the video rushed to the man’s aid, along with several other people who witnessed the man’s assault. “He didn’t deserve any of that, any of it,” someone can be heard yelling in the video. “This is just wrong guys, do you not see this?”
Looters assault an older business owner trying to defend his business in Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 24, 2020. pic.twitter.com/LdlLnOpvfJ
— After Action Report (@after_theaction) August 25, 2020
Another woman who appears to be with the looters and arsonists, tried to justify the assault, saying they “were just trying to protect” themselves as Cobb sprayed them with the fire extinguisher.
“You don’t understand what terrifies these black men out here. They are not making it home to their family,” the woman said about the rioting. “How about that?”
The store has since burned to the ground, while Cobb has been released from the hospital and is recovering. All of the store’s products were destroyed in the fire.
The suspect, apparently a male, was caught on camera attacking Cobb, but no information has yet been released by authorities about whether they’ve managed to identify or arrest him.
In Cobb’s fundraiser, the owners of the store are described as having helped out people in the neighborhood “for years with money, food, mattresses when no one could afford to pay.”
“They have served the Kenosha community selflessly and so didn’t deserve this horrible attack,” the page reads. “They are honest, hard working and honorable people.”
Demonstrations against alleged police brutality in Kenosha erupted after 29-year-old Jacob Blake was shot last weekend. Rioters have since burned down dozens of buildings and broke into small businesses, stealing from them. They also lit vehicles on fire and attacked police officers.
Activists joining the demonstrations were upset that Blake was shot by police on Sunday after they responded to a domestic incident and tried to arrest him.
Blake resisted arrest that day and struggled with officers, who tased him, but he didn’t respond and continued being uncooperative. He then walked around the front of his vehicle to the driver’s side as police yelled at him with guns drawn, opened the driver’s side door, and reached in. Kenosha officer Rusten Sheskey then fired his gun seven times into the suspect’s back while holding onto his shirt.
In an update on the investigation into the shooting, the Wisconsin Department of Justice said Blake was in the possession of a knife when officers responded to the 911 call from a woman who said her boyfriend was at her house but was not supposed to be there.
“During the investigation following the initial incident, Mr. Blake admitted that he had a knife in his possession. DCI agents recovered a knife from the driver’s side floorboard of Mr. Blake’s vehicle. A search of the vehicle located no additional weapons,” the state Department of Justice said.
Epoch Times reporter Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.