An Oakland coffee shop is facing criticism after denying service to a local police officer, citing a policy of protecting “the physical and emotional safety” of its customers.
Hasta Muerte Coffee posted on its Instagram page about the incident, saying that the shop has a policy “of asking police to leave for the physical and emotional safety of our customers and ourselves.”
“We know in our experience working on campaigns against police brutality that we are not alone saying that police presence compromises our feeling of physical & emotional safety,” the business wrote. “There are those that do not share that sentiment – be it because they have a friend or relative who is a police, because they are white or have adopted the privileges whiteness affords, because they are home- or business- owning, or whatever the particular case may be.”
The coffee shop wrote that supporters of the police department are now trying to “publicly shame” the business because the police officer in question was Latino.
“OPDs recent attempts to enlist officers of color and its short term touting of fewer officer involved shootings does not reverse or mend its history of corruption, mismanagement, and scandal, nor a legacy of blatant repression,” the caption read.
The coffee shop also shared photos of two negative reviews in the wake of the incident, adding the commentary, “Not my president” and, “sorry not sorry.”
The Oakland Police Department responded to the situation in a tweet, saying that the department “respects business owners right to serve anyone they choose.”
“OPD along with other community members are reaching out to the business to have constructive dialogue in our efforts to unite our community,” the department wrote.
Oakland has recently been in the national spotlight after Democratic Mayor Libby Schaaf warned residents of impending immigration raids. Attorney General Jeff Sessions then filed a lawsuit against the state of California over its sanctuary city policies.