Protest Pizza owners Ricky Bennett and Randy Downs – Photo: FOX5 DC screenshot
Protest Pizza + Bar, a gay-owned pizzeria in D.C.’s Dupont Circle neighborhood, was robbed of $78 during an early-morning break-in on Friday, August 21.
As reported by D.C.-based FOX affiliate WTTG, surveillance video captured a man dressed in black, with his face covered, approaching the pizzeria at 1633 1/2 P Street NW shortly before 3 a.m.
The suspect attempted to force open the front door before smashing its glass and entering the business. Once inside, he leapt over the bar, ran to a cash register in the back, grabbed the money inside, and fled.
Randy Downs and Ricky Bennett, the co-owners of Protest Pizza, told Metro Weekly in an interview that no one was inside the business or injured during the break-in. Although $78 was taken from the cash register, nothing else inside the business was damaged, stolen, or vandalized.
Protest Pizza co-owners Randy Downs and Ricky Bennett told Metro Weekly that no one was inside the business during the break-in and no one was injured. Although $78 was taken from the cash register, nothing else was damaged, stolen, or vandalized.
“Luckily, we are very fortunate that this person came in, went straight for the cash, and left,” Bennett said. “It could have been so much worse.”
Since opening on November 4, 2025, Protest has offered pizza by the slice and whole pies, wings, vegan and gluten-free options, frozen yogurt, frozen margaritas, cocktails, and zero-proof drinks. The pizzeria also fills group and catering orders and has forged relationships with local theater companies, arts groups, LGBTQ sports leagues and social groups, youth and senior organizations, and elementary schools. It also hosts comedy nights, Drag Bingo, and LGBTQ happy hours.
Bennett discovered the break-in while walking his dogs around 7 a.m. He noticed that the glass in the pizzeria’s front door had been shattered and immediately called 911, and police responded within minutes. A detective later arrived, interviewed the co-owners to establish a timeline, and opened an investigation.
Downs said other area business owners reached out to recommend contractors who could repair the door. The door was replaced, and Protest Pizza was “open and slinging pizzas all day long,” he said.
Replacing the door cost $850, but the co-owners did not file an insurance claim because their policy carries a $1,000 deductible.
Despite the financial loss, the co-owners said the response from the wider community has been “incredible.”
“We had Evita Peroxide, a drag queen, immediately drop by that morning, bringing flowers and a card signed by other drag performers,” Downs said. “PETA, who has an office just a block away and gets food from us…stopped by with a card and condolences. And other businesses on 17th Street and Dupont Circle also stopped by just to check in and say, ‘We’re ordering pizza tonight.’
“On Friday night, we were packed, slammed. We even had to turn off the online ordering because we couldn’t keep up,” he added. “As new business owners, when it’s still not even been a year since we opened, it’s been amazing to see that we’ve been able to build such a strong relationship with the community by supporting them and having them show up for us. It’s been awesome.”
Protest Pizza’s owners said they are reviewing their security measures and training their 16 employees on cash handling and precautions to take when closing for the night.
The co-owners said they are cooperating with MPD’s investigation and reported that a similarly dressed person returned to the pizzeria around 3 a.m. Saturday.
“We can’t definitively say it was the same person,” Bennett said, “but they were dressed similarly and looked like the same person from Friday morning. They were outside the business, but Randy was quick to activate the siren, so they left without causing any damage or gaining access.”
“That incident was added to the report, and just highlights the fact that we have to remain vigilant and can’t be too cautious,” he added. “We’ve got to keep an eye out for everybody in the neighborhood, with the community coming together to watch and protect each other.
Downs and Bennett said the break-in appeared to be financially motivated and that there is no evidence the pizzeria was targeted because it is gay-owned.
Meanwhile, the co-owners continue to book events and build relationships with community groups. On Friday, Protest catered the newly relocated Bear Happy Hour at JR.’s, a few hundred yards away on 17th Street NW, and will continue catering the monthly event.
Upcoming events include a GoGayDC happy hour on September 1, a queer comedy night with Bo Banter on September 17, and a Dupont Circle Village happy hour on September 22.
“We’re trying to get out there and build a network to make sure we’re part of the queer community,” Downs said.
Asked how people could support the business, he said, “Stop in for a slice or frozen yogurt, meet friends over frozen margaritas, bring your team after a game, place a group order, attend an event — and come back.”
San Francisco's oldest gay bar, the Stud, had its Instagram account temporarily suspended last week after at least one user reported its posts for allegedly promoting "human trafficking," its owners told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Stud primarily uses its social media accounts -- including Instagram, where it has more than 30,000 followers -- to promote its parties, concerts, and drag events. But the bar's co-owners say the suspension hampered its ability to promote recent events and may have resulted in lost revenue.
As the weekend approached, Honey Mahogany, a local activist and one of the bar's co-owners, explained the suspension in a video posted to her Instagram account. The bar is owned and operated by a worker cooperative known as The Stud Collective.
"It started as an excuse to get people together," says Fergus O'Brien, a local realtor who prefers to go by his first name, referring to the monthly gathering he has organized for a decade and that, until this week, was known as "DIK Bar Bear Happy Hour."
"Over time, it became a community of its own, and it's always evolving," Fergus adds. "People come to catch up with old friends, meet new ones, and enjoy a setting where conversation doesn't have to compete with loud music. It's really about bringing people together and all that entails."
Vandals targeted Corner Drug, a family-owned pharmacy in Woodland, California, on August 17, smashing a window displaying several pro-LGBTQ signs and spray-painting an anti-gay threat on another.
The spray-painted message read: "Support f****ts, get bashed." The "S" was barely visible in crime scene photographs of the damage, while a crossed-out "T" behind one of the letters suggested that the vandals had made an error while scrawling the hateful message.
Corner Drug disclosed the vandalism in a Facebook post, saying the business was targeted for supporting the LGBTQ community. Signs displayed in the shattered window identified the pharmacy as a "Safe Place" for LGBTQ people and declared, "Hate Has No Business Here," according to the Davis Vanguard.
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