Hey, racist neo-Nazis have to eat, too. But those attending the “Unite the Right 2” white supremacist rally in Washington, DC, on Sunday likely will have to bring their own rations because the owners of several local restaurants say they will refuse them service.
The Washingtonian reports that the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington has sent out legal information to help business owners refuse service to attendees of Jason Kessler’s rally to mark the one-year anniversary of the violent Charlottesville, VA protests that injured dozens and led to the murder of demonstrator Heather Heyer by white supremacist James Alex Fields.
“Our mentality is we’re going to protect each other. This is our city. Our house. Our people,” Dan Simons, co-owner of Founding Farmers, whose three DC locations are among the highest booked eateries in the country, told the newspaper.
Founding Farmers employees will be allowed to expense alternative transportation to get to work or take the day off if needed. And they can refuse service to anyone sporting the symbols of hate used by rallygoers.
Other restaurants, like the Lincoln, part of a presidentially themed chain, will shut down early to protect workers and regular customers. “We’re really trying to bestow our image of these Presidents and what they represented—freedom and equality,” owner Alan Popovsky told the Washingtonian.
Popovsky is posting signs on the doors of his various restaurants throughout the city that read:
…We are black and white, brown and yellow. We are woman and man, gay and straight. We are old and young, short and tall. We are native and immigrant, resident and visitor. We are Christian and Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist. We are wise and foolish, experienced and green.
But above all, we are HUMANS, and yes, we are AMERICANS.
As such, LINCOLN is a house which divided against itself will never stand, and we are a place of patience, tolerance, acceptance, equality, choice, freedom, opportunity, and love. Come in. Join us.
Hatred has no welcome solace here.
Brian Hill, owner of Chef Brian’s Comfort Kitchen, made it clear that the response by local business owners to the white supremacist rally in Lafayette Square, which is expected to draw 300-400 people, isn’t based on fear, but rather disdain.
“We were evicted from our home when I was 11. I’ve been shot at twice. Ask me if I’m worried. I’m not going to be afraid of a man that breathes the same air as me,” he told the newspaper.