Starbucks staff mocked a woman in a Trump T-shirt. Trump backers turned the tables. https://t.co/Mn82fNMD1v #thestate
— SC Politics (@BuzzAtTheState) June 26, 2017
While it has been described as a sit-in, Tatro says the crowd was made up of paying customers and not just “people who were filling chairs.”
“We wanted the staff to see that Trump supporters are just as human as anyone else,” he said. “We live in a diverse city. It’s unacceptable in a modern society to make a customer feel uncomfortable, whether it’s a liberal business mistreating a conservative customer or a conservative business mistreating a liberal customer.”
The Mecklenburg County Republican Party posted on their Facebook page that the event was “a perfect example of a peaceful political demonstration.” The party reported that participants included representatives of the MeckGOP Board, Deplorable Pride (an LGBT Republican group), Hispanics For Trump, Women For Trump and even some independent voters. Republican Rep. William Brawley of Matthews also attended, and spoke to the crowd.
Starbucks has formally apologized for the original incident, which took place earlier this month. Kayla Hart of Charlotte reported she was wearing a shirt in support of President Donald Trump at the Starbucks and was bullied and laughed at by the staff....
Tatro said the Mecklenburg County Republican Party feels the apology was acceptable – as long as the bullying stops. He calls what happened to Kayla Hart “terrible.”
“I think it not only hurt her feelings, but discouraged her from being involved in political process,” he said. “Many Trump supporters are afraid to wear Trump gear for that reason...It’s a shame that some people only feel comfortable when it’s group of 40 people or so.”
