More Bethesda Row businesses boarded up ahead of Tuesday protest

A George Floyd-related protest scheduled for 1:00 PM at the Bethesda Library this afternoon is expected to be peaceful. But many businesses have decided to board up their storefronts anyway, joining bluemercury and the Apple Store, which boarded up Sunday as a group of 75 looters smashed windows and stole merchandise just over the D.C. line in Northwest Washington. They never made it past a cordon of 50 officers in riot gear at the Montgomery County line.

Workers were hammering boards into place at the Chase Bank on Bethesda Avenue Monday night. Their building at 4749 Bethesda Avenue has extensive glass panes across the entire facade. Retailers with expensive merchandise like Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma were among those walled up yesterday. Pampillonia Jewelers cleverly covered their sign, as well, leaving it unclear to anyone coming from outside the area as to what exactly the business behind their boards is.

Paul Bakery was not boarded up Monday night, but it looked like anything that wasn't nailed down inside the French bakery had been removed in advance. Montgomery County police officers were patrolling around Bethesda Row on foot all evening, but protests did not come close to the Maryland/DC line last night, much less to Bethesda.

With all of the effort, businesses may ultimately only slow down determined looters with plywood. Businesses like the Apple Store in DC had their boards simply pried off, and their stores ended up being cleaned out anyway.