Chick-fil-A sauce leads to grocery store attack in Kansas, police say

Man allegedly went ‘ballistic’ and ‘began throwing punches’

A sign hangs outside of a Chick-fil-A restaurant on 6 May 2021 in Chicago, Illinois (Getty Images)

A disagreement over Chick-fil-A sauce led to a grocery store attack in Kansas and ended in one man being arrested, local police have said.

James Adam Hirsh, 37, was arrested for aggravated assault on Thursday, Wichita police said. He was booked after he allegedly went “ballistic” over the sauce in a local supermarket, The Wichita Eagle reported.

Wichita police spokesperson Charley Davidson told the newspaper that the dispute had begun over “Chick-Fil-A sauce being on sale”.

“Mr Hirsh was asked to calm down or leave the store when he began throwing punches,” Mr Davidson told The Eagle.

He added: “Private security detained Mr Hirsh until he calmed down. Hirsh then threatened staff, exited the store, and got into his car.”

The spokesperson alleged that Mr Hirsh ”drove his vehicle toward the entrance doors of the business, where staff were standing”.

Court records didn’t immediately list an attorney for the suspect.

The newspaper reported that Chick-fil-A sauce has been limited because of shortages related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The incident is not the first time the chicken brand has recently made headlines, with its competitor Burger King having gained attention after posting an apparent dig at the chain over LGBT+ month.

The burger restaurant announced last Friday that it would donate 40 cents to the Human Rights Campaign, the US’s largest LGBT+ civil rights group, for every Ch’King chicken sandwich sold in June.

Chick-fil-A has in the past stirred controversy for its public stance on LGBT+ marriage, with its CEO in 2012 saying that the company supports "the biblical definition of the family unit,” CNN reported.

The fast-food chain, which operates under devout Baptist ownership, has since attempted to distance itself from its unsupportive stance.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press