With his business lost to the Kenosha riots, a Dearborn man looks for help rebuilding
DEARBORN, Mich. - "What took me 10 years to build was demolished in 10 minutes," said Tony Farhan. "I just hope I can rebuild."
Farhan's Boost Mobile store was among the 20 businesses in Kenosha, Wisc. that burned to the ground amid the riots that descended on the city in late August. For the Dearborn native, it was a decade's worth of progress gone in an evening.
"That place was my baby, to be honest. A piece of me is missing, I was heartbroken," he said.
Farhan has dealt with difficult years in the past. His wife has been sick and his son has been diagnosed with cancer. Thankfully both recovered, but only before COVID-19 brought its own wave of struggles.
Then on Aug. 24, it got worse.
After police shot Jacob Blake, the racial unrest that had migrated through America's cities during the summer arrived in Kenosha. First as protests, then as riots. Looters first broke in on a Monday. The next day, more than a dozen came back and set his store on fire.
Farhan immediately jumped in his car and started driving there when he got the call.
"There's no law enforcement in sight, there's people standing in the street with pump shotguns, AK-47-type-assault rifles, some scary stuff - I'm like shaking as I was driving up," he said.
But by the time he arrived, it was too late.
"I just found a safe location to park and I was just out back watching when the fire department ended up getting there and some media people taking coverage - I was just watching it go up in flames," he said. "Literally, my heart sunk."

Making matters worse, Farhan says he was less than a week from closing on the building. Inside the business, he also kept personal belongings that his family was saving for when they moved into a house.
Farhan estimates the losses at around $100,000. And he's not even sure if insurance will cover it.
"On the business end, I might not get any of that. They've deemed it domestic terrorism which is a loophole for them to not pay out because they can't afford to pay anyone," he said. "It's not covered for domestic terrorism, just looting and rioting."
He's found a new location but says he doesn't have the money to get started. That's why he hopes you can help him pick the pieces with a GoFundMe.
You can find the link here.