Man wearing ‘F*** Trump’ t-shirt thrown out of Texas restaurant
'I stop the car and ask the officer if she is there over a T-shirt. She affirms this to be true,' says Adam Ternay
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A man wearing a T-shirt lambasting Donald Trump and citizens who voted for him was ordered to leave a Texas restaurant.
Adam Ternay walked into a restaurant wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with “F*** Trump and f*** you for voting for him” on the front, and “F*** the racist alt-right” on the back.
Mr Ternay claimed a manager approached him to tell him to leave First Watch cafe in Richardson, Texas, because children eating there might see the expletive-covered T-shirt.
“First, we were approached by a manager who let us know that customers were very distressed by my shirt and that children might see it,” he said in a lengthy Facebook post which went viral but now appears to have been deleted.
“I expressed deep sympathies and let her know that explaining ‘grab ‘em by the pussy’ to my daughter was equally unpleasant.”
He said that while they were being seated the manager again informed him a group of customers close by were “suffering due to my indescribable poor taste”.
After ordering drinks and having his food order taken a chef came out to ask him to leave the restaurant.
He recalled: “We ask to tip our server for occupying her table, get drinks to go and leave. One table of white people applauds.”
When he was in the car park a waiter approached him and told him he had decided to quit immediately after witnessing the restaurant ask Mr Ternay to leave.
“He told us: ‘you should hear these people asking not to be seated near Muslims.’”
Mr Ternay, who has received vitriolic messages on social media after his post received more than 42,000 shares, claimed a police officer also approached him in the car park.
“I stop the car and ask the officer if she is there over a T-shirt," he said. "She affirms this to be true and asks my name which I respectfully decline to give; she starts in on the shirt - whereupon I cite Cohen v California, 1971, in which the Supreme Court upheld the right to wear a T-shirt saying: ‘F*** the draft.’ She’s like: ‘Just leave, okay?’"
“Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to clarify our position and correct the misperceptions that are being perpetuated," the restaurant told The Independent in a statement.
"It is clear to us that the facts are being overshadowed by rumours and rapidly shared social media hype. We hope you will assist us in clarifying and sharing facts versus misplaced emotion.
"When we asked the gentleman to leave our restaurant on Sunday, it was in response to complaints from customers and families with young children regarding the vulgar obscenities boldly emblazoned on his shirt. Just as young children cannot go to R-rated movies that feature language like that, we do not believe they should be exposed to it in a family restaurant and we absolutely understand our customers’ uneasiness and decided to invoke our right to refuse service to that individual.
"In fact, our decision closely aligns with many media outlets’ choices to edit or filter obscenities in articles. Despite claims to the contrary made by others not informed of the event specifics, this incident has nothing to do with any political statement.”
During his post, Mr Ternay said he did not want to criticise the restaurant and had no plans to boycott it. "These things are never easy for businesses, and the workers were polite and professional," he said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments