You may not realize, though, that Cronkhite/Torpedo bags is operated out of a building that is in this neighborhood -- maybe 2 blocks north of the 3rd precinct of the Minneapolis Police Department, which was set on fire last night.
I haven't heard any direct information about their company, but I do know that a bar 1 block farther north of them was burned down last night. (Accidentally, I drove past this bar earlier in the day yesterday, and saw them boarding up the windows. Ugh...). And yeah, just about everything else in the general area has at least been looted, if not burned down as well. It is amazingly horrible.
Also, tuba player and instrument repairperson Laurel Chapman is based in the Ivy Building, across the street from the burned-down bar, and right next to Torpedo/Cronkhite. I've heard from her, she is fine, but her building is smoky, and had some water damage from burning debris that landed on the roof and had to be extinguished. No looting at the Ivy Building though.
I hope that Cronkhite/Torpedo and Laurel Chapman can all get back to business soon enough, and get back to their important musical work. It's already been enough (too much!) with the pandemic, so the riots have just been the exact wrong amount of horribleness at an already difficult time.
PS -- my family is fine; things are tense here in downtown Minneapolis, but so far, they have been peaceful in this part of the city. Curfew in place starting at 8pm tonight, so hoping for a peaceful evening.
2016
