As many as 200 people gathered near Zona’s Tamales in Denver’s historically black Five Points neighborhood Thursday evening to support the 84-year-old restaurant owner who was arrested last week on charges of theft by receiving.
The protest began with a prayer offered by a group from Epworth United Methodist Church, which gave way to cries of racism stirred by civil rights activist Alvertis Simmons.
Speakers accused white neighbors of trying to push the 40-year-old business out and called the police investigation that resulted in the arrest of Zona Moore “a dirty sting.”
Police said reports by neighbors that crack cocaine was being sold out of Zona’s prompted them to approach Moore in May to ask for help to stop possible illegal activity near the restaurant at East 26th Avenue and Welton Street.
Zona’s hadn’t drawn complaints in the past, said Moore, who is known as “Momma” to longtime residents of the neighborhood.
Moore, who walks with a cane, said she sits next to a window looking out on the small parking lot and eating patio. She said she keeps watch and taps on the window to warn people to move on.
Police also asked Moore to close Zona’s at midnight instead of 3 a.m. But she said she couldn’t afford to lose the late-night business.
Despite efforts by Moore and her employees to shoo trouble away from the restaurant, police kept fielding complaints, said Denver Police District 6 Commander Tony Lopez.
“It’s not her responsibility. You can’t corral people out there,” said Moore’s daughter, Sharon Moore, on Thursday afternoon. “We want (the police) to move them off.”
In June, police began investigating Zona’s, which resulted in the arrests of Moore, her son Saalim Muhammed, 68, also known as Charles “Buck” Fields, and three other employees.
Moore, Muhammed and employee Renee McKinnon, 49, were arrested July 22 on suspicion of theft by receiving for allegedly buying and selling stolen cigarettes and buying stolen 37-inch televisions.
“Many officers drop by and eat there,” Lopez said. “We are all disheartened.”
That same day, Ernest Allen McKinney, 57, and Gill “Toni” Lee, 50, were arrested on suspicion of distribution of cocaine.
McKinney, an occasional employee of Zona’s, was arrested near the tamale stand after he allegedly sold less than a gram of crack cocaine to a confidential informant. Lee was arrested after she allegedly helped someone locate crack to purchase while she was working at Zona’s.
On Saturday, two days after she was arrested, Moore said her building’s property manager served an eviction notice. City property records show the building is owned by the Thomas W. Bean Foundation, named for a pioneering black businessman.
On Thursday evening, Moore sat in a chair in the restaurant parking lot observing the rally as her grandchildren worked the restaurant counter.
She said she was pleased with supporters’ shouts, prayers, protest signs and honking car horns.
Earlier in the day, Moore said she was not worried about leaving her historic location.
“I’m not fighting to stay here,” she said. “I’m fighting to clear my name.”
Sarah Horn: 303-954-1638 or shorn@denverpost.com
