Flora Westbrook, a Minneapolis salon owner whose place of business was completely burned to the ground by rioters and looters in May, has attended multiple events with Vice President Mike Pence, including Wednesday night’s vice presidential debate.
Additionally, Westbrook was featured on a “cops for Trump” panel led by the vice president where she was able to share her story along with other Minneapolis business owners who have been negatively affected by the lack of law and order.
“I was supporting four kids, putting kids in school, put them in college and, you know, trying to just live the American dream,” said Westbrook regarding the early days of her business. “I never got a loan or a grant; I worked and started my business.”
Despite someone spray painting the phrase “black owned” on the front of Westbrook’s salon, it didn’t deter the rioters from burning down her business in the chaos that followed the tragic death of George Floyd.
In a video posted to Vice President Pence’s Twitter account, it showed the vice president along with Flora visiting what was left of her salon, Flora’s Hair Design. During the video, Vice President Pence mentions her family’s invitation for her to move to Arizona to be with them.
“Don’t make any plans to leave Minneapolis, you’re going to build back,” he says.
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) October 7, 2020
Meanwhile, vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s running mate, has largely failed to condemn the rioting and looting that has taken place for the past several months. Sen. Harris even went as far as promoting a bail fund that put up the money to release violent criminals from jail, effectively enabling the destruction of businesses such as Flora’s Hair Design.
During Wednesday night’s vice presidential debate, Pence simultaneously condemned the killing of George Floyd and the violence that ensued. The vice president highlighted Westbrook’s situation and the struggle she has gone through after her business was decimated by radical left-wing agitators.
“Just a few weeks ago I stood at what used to be her salon; it was burned to the ground by rioters and looters,” said Pence. “And Flora is still trying to put her life back together.”
Flora Westbrooks, is one of Vice President @Mike_Pence’s guest at the debate tonight.
Her salon was burned to the ground by Left-Wing rioters.
There is no excuse for what happened to George Floyd, but there is also no excuse for rioting and looting.#VPDebate pic.twitter.com/U2x9Mx7jM7
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) October 8, 2020
Theo Krumholz
Theo is a freelance reporter for Alpha News. He works as a financial controller in the mechanical contracting industry and graduated from Bethel University with a degree in business finance.
