Amid the violent protests that went on in the Queen City last night, the NASCAR Hall of Fame sustained some damage.
According to the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, who operate the complex, the only damage done to the facility was a broken exterior window after a street sign was found hanging like a spear out of it. The hall itself was not breached and nothing was stolen despite earlier reports of looting. However, there were reports of confrontations involving half a dozen vandals inside the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant that’s connected to the hall, according to The Charlotte Observer.
The windows in the lobby of the adjacent NASCAR Tower were also damaged.
The CRVA released a statement breaking down the damage sustained to the hall and the surrounding buildings.
“The events that have transpired over the last 48 hours have been incredibly difficult for our community. We continue to keep open lines of communication with the City, CMPD and our partners to monitor the latest developments,” the statement said.
“The damage at our CRVA venues consists of broken exterior windows at the Charlotte Convention Center and NASCAR Hall of Fame and a breach that took place at one of our tenant spaces at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Buffalo Wild Wings.”
Despite the damage and ongoing protests, the hall is open today.
“We do have events scheduled to take place in the Charlotte Convention Center and NASCAR Hall of Fame today and in the coming days,” it added.
“The safety of these meeting attendees who have traveled significant distances to convene in Charlotte is especially important to us and we’re working to take appropriate security precautions in collaboration with our partners at CMPD.”
The NASCAR Hall of Fame wasn’t the only sports facility that was damaged in last night’s protests. The official team shop for the Charlotte Hornets at the Time Warner Cable Arena was broken into and looted.
The protests were sparked in response to the fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, 43, by police in the parking lot of an apartment complex near the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
The officer who shot him, Bentley Vinson, 26, is also black.
Charlotte police haven’t released video of the shooting but say that Scott had a gun and refused orders to stand down.
The protests started out peaceful in uptown Charlotte, but slowly turned violent yesterday and injuries to bystanders, protesters and police, and property damage were sustained.
