CLEVELAND, Ohio — Kelly Kandah is the owner of Colossal Cupcakes in downtown Cleveland.  

“it sounded like a gunshot that took the first window out. Glass just blew right pass me,” she said. 

She lives near her cupcake shop, so when she heard the peaceful protest turning ugly, she ran to her store to protect it and her staff.  

“So, I stayed up here and I was like, hey, I'm in here, I’m in here guys, and then they started throwing huge pieces of cement at me. They had full paint cans and then they jumped on the counter and started to charge towards me, so I barricaded myself with the staff in the bathroom, we were on the phone with police," said Kandah. 
 
Kandah says for about ten minutes she heard the looters destroying her store.  
 
Over the weekend during a violent protest, staff members at Corbo’s Bakery in Playhouse Square brought out shotguns to protect their store from being destroyed. 
 
A video posted to Facebook shows 3 men with weapons defending their restaurant against the protesters.  
  
Even though Kandah did survive the looting of her store, she says she understands why the men at Corbo’s Bakery stood their ground.  
 
“To protect myself, to protect the people that are here working for me in the store. I don’t see anything wrong with that.” 
 
Kandah says she will reopen the store in about two months, after they make repairs.