There are expensive ways to ruin your life.

Then apparently there is smashing through the glass door of a neighborhood pizza shop at 3 in the morning for $78.

Sir.

That’s exactly the kind of morning the owners of Protest Pizza + Bar, a gay-owned pizzeria in Washington, D.C.’s Dupont Circle neighborhood, woke up to on August 21st.

And while the burglary itself was ugly, what happened afterward turned into one of those very D.C. reminders that sometimes a neighborhood will say, “Oh, absolutely not. Not our pizza place.”

A 3 A.M. Break-In at Protest Pizza

Surveillance footage captured a man dressed in black with his face covered approaching Protest Pizza shortly before 3 a.m.

According to local reporting, the person first tried to force his way through the front entrance. When that didn’t work, he smashed the glass door, entered the restaurant, jumped over the bar and headed toward a cash register in the back.

His haul?

Seventy-eight dollars.

That’s it.

Nobody was inside the restaurant at the time, and nobody was injured. Owners Randy Downs and Ricky Bennett later said that aside from the broken entrance and stolen cash, the burglar did not take or destroy anything else inside the business.

Which means somebody allegedly committed an entire burglary for less than the price of two people going to brunch in Dupont Circle with cocktails.

This Wasn’t Some Huge Restaurant Chain

That’s part of what makes the story sting.

Downs and Bennett aren’t executives watching security footage from a corporate headquarters three states away.

They’re partners in life and business who spent more than a year preparing to open Protest Pizza.

They also live across the street.

So imagine spending months pouring money, energy, stress and probably several arguments about cheese into your dream business—then looking outside one morning and seeing the front door smashed.

That’s personal.

Bennett and Downs told FOX 5 that the break-in felt like a violation not only of their business but of something they had worked intensely to build.

And honestly, I get it.

Small businesses aren’t just buildings. They’re somebody’s savings. Somebody’s sleepless nights. Somebody saying, “You know what? I’m going to bet on myself.”

For LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, they’re often something else too: visible pieces of community.

No, Police Aren’t Calling This a Hate Crime

Let’s address this clearly because gay-owned business + crime can create an assumption before we’ve even finished reading the headline.

There is currently no evidence that Protest Pizza was targeted because its owners are gay.

Downs and Bennett have said they believe the incident appears to have been financially motivated, and police are not investigating it as a hate crime based on the information publicly available.

Then Dupont Circle Did What Dupont Circle Does

This is the part of the story I love.

Once word spread about what happened, customers, neighbors and other business owners started reaching out.

And they didn’t just send sad-face emojis.

They showed up.

The owners described an outpouring of support after posting about the incident online, with people stopping by, ordering food and offering assistance. Businesses from outside the Washington area reportedly contacted them as well.

Even online, Washington residents were talking about deliberately buying pizza to support the business after the burglary.

Which is the kind of petty community solidarity I fully support.

“You broke into their restaurant?”

Fine.

Everybody order two pizzas.

Protest Pizza Is Trying to Be Part of D.C.’s Queer Community

The business’s connection to LGBTQ+ Washington goes beyond simply having gay owners.

Downs has said the restaurant is actively working to build relationships within D.C.’s queer community.

Protest Pizza recently catered the relocated Bear Happy Hour at JR.’s, and it has been building a calendar of community-oriented events, including queer comedy and LGBTQ+ happy hours.

And location matters here.

Dupont Circle and nearby 17th Street have long been woven into D.C.’s LGBTQ+ history and nightlife.

So when another queer-owned business plants itself in that neighborhood, that means something.

Especially now.

Protest Pizza Keeps Moving

The burglary hasn’t stopped Protest Pizza from continuing its community plans.

According to Metro Weekly, the restaurant has continued booking LGBTQ+ and neighborhood events and strengthening its relationship with queer organizations in Washington.

Which means the burglar got $78.

The restaurant got a neighborhood.

I’ll let you decide who came out ahead.

Until then…

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