Oakland business owners fume as they sweep up after Trump protest

Graffiti-lined streets. Shattered windows. Boarded-up storefronts. Destruction had returned to Oakland.

When the sun came up over the East Bay on Thursday, the sweeping damage from the previous night’s anti-Donald Trump protests became evident as residents, business owners and city officials set about cleaning up the staggering mess.

“This is irritating,” Steve Suzio said as he swept up glass from his shattered windows and door at Oakland Coin and Jewelry Exchange along Broadway. “I understand people are upset, but why take it out on local businesses?”

For many like Suzio here in the city’s small but vibrant downtown, this kind of vandalism is nothing new.

Oakland traditionally has been ground zero for Bay Area civil unrest - like the Black Lives Matter and Occupy movements - and factions of demonstrators invariably turn their frustrations toward businesses in the community.

Spray-painted graffiti spelling out “F— Trump” was scrawled in multicolored swaths covering the walls along downtown city streets. Windows were punched out or shattered into spider-web patterns at banks, cell phone stores, fast-food joints, and empty retail spaces.

Two city workers argued Thursday morning about whether a red spatter on the side of a Chase Bank on 14th Street and Broadway was paint or blood. After a few minutes of discussion, they agreed it was blood.

Two contractors look to replace a window at Spur Oakland that was shattered during protests in downtown Oakland the night before. Two contractors look to replace a window at Spur Oakland that was shattered during protests in downtown Oakland the night before. Photo: Evan Sernoffsky / The Chronicle / / Photo: Evan Sernoffsky / The Chronicle / / Image 1 of / 48 Caption Close Oakland business owners fume as they sweep up after Trump protest 1 / 48 Back to Gallery

Police arrested 30 people during the unruly demonstration. Several thousand people had gathered peacefully at Frank Ogawa Plaza before night fell and things got ugly.

The masses in Oakland were among scores of protests around the country following Trump’s election as president of the United States.

From the onset of his candidacy, Trump proved to be a divisive candidate whose bombastic language targeted Mexicans, Muslims and women. But his message of disrupting the status quo helped many frustrated Americans look past his indiscretions and propelled him to the presidency.

Many on Wednesday, though, were not satisfied with how democracy played out. Some in the mob set about lighting fires, spray-painting everything in sight and shattering windows with crowbars as others launched bottles and rocks at officers. Police deployed tear gas and three officers were injured in the melee, officials said.

“I guess I underestimated how many rabble-rousers would come to town for the party,” Suzio said. “The problem is the people who cause problems blend in with everyone else.”

Suzio said his shop was wrecked back in 2009 during the protests following the killing of Oscar Grant by a BART cop on New Year’s Day. He estimates Wednesday’s damage will cost about $5,000 but he wasn’t ready to start fixing the windows. Another protest was scheduled in Oakland on Thursday evening.

“We’re going to have to decide whether to board everything up,” he said. “We’ll get through. The best you can do is the best you can do.”

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf reached out to the businesses during a news conference Thursday morning, explaining that the city was making an effort to curb the perpetual destruction.

“This is the very difficult set of circumstances we are dealing with,” she said. “We are deeply sorry that your businesses continue to be targets, but we want you to know we are working hard to employ tactics that will prevent this from happening in the future.”

Down the street from Suzio’s shop on Broadway, 24-year-old Brandon Durant was trying to make sense of why the front glass door was shattered when he got to work.

He’s an intern coordinator at SPUR, an urban planning nonprofit that works with cities to make sure there’s affordable housing and that growth does not displace people.

“I understand the frustration, but I think people need to relax and think about what to do next,” he said. “Destroying things, that doesn’t make sense to me.”

Durant looked out across the street at Oakland’s Cathedral Building built in 1913 at the confluence of Telegraph Avenue and Broadway. The walls were covered in spray paint. The ground-floor windows shattered.

“That building is iconic - it’s crazy,” Durant said.

Not everything was laid to waste, though. Pauline Baldado owns Cafe Gabriela on Broadway with her sister. Their business has always been spared from the vandalism during Oakland protests.

“We are blessed,” she said, unable to explain why her coffee shop is spared. “We want to rebuild Oakland not destroy it. We’re a small business and we do our part — so knock on wood.”

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky