The mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, is launching an investigation into the protests against (and eventual shutdown of) a local restaurant that was criticized for having a menu item that was deemed racist.
The 11-Worth Cafe, a staple in the Omaha community, announced earlier this month that it was closing its doors for good following “numerous threats” over a “racist” menu item, and Mayor Jean Stothert has gone on the record to say she doesn’t want the establishment to close and is investigating the situation, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
“We wanted to make sure we heard their side of the story,” Stothert, who met with the restaurant owners on Tuesday, along with Police Chief Todd Schmaderer and City Prosecutor Matt Kuhse.
The investigation will look into potential criminal activity, including reports that protesters, upset about a menu item named after Robert E. Lee, pounded on the restaurant’s windows, blocked traffic, and extorted money in the form of a donation from the owners in exchange for ending the protests.
Protesters were also upset about social media posts made by the restaurant owners that expressed anger at the Black Lives Matter protests and suggested rubber bullets used by police should be switched to lethal bullets. The mayor said those comments are “not very acceptable,” and the son, named Tony, reportedly said he understood why that caused anger in the community.
The leader of the protest movement against 11-Worth Cafe, a local city council candidate named David Mitchell, said in a Facebook Live video when the controversy erupted that the restaurant was told by upset residents to rename the menu item after a “black icon” or “black Union soldier” and also told to issue a public apology, while others demanded the restaurant to donate $500 to $1,000 to an African American organization.
The restaurant agreed to make a donation in the amount requested, prompting some protesters to demand more money that some, including Mitchell, viewed as extortion.
The Caniglia family who owns the restaurant said the protests, the public pressure, and threats that involved the police responding multiple times was too much to stomach and decided not to reopen after closing on June 15.
“Our customers and staff are of the utmost importance to our family,” a letter from management stated. “The verbal abuse, taunting, and having to be escorted to and from their cars by police and security officers for their safety for two straight days was more than we could watch them endure.”
Strothert appears optimistic that a solution can be reached to ensure the restaurant’s reopening.
“We don’t want to let this one incident that was a few hours on a Saturday and Sunday to close a long-standing business that people enjoyed,” she said. “The message I wanted to give to them — and I wanted them to hear it from me — is we don’t want them to go out of business. We don’t want them to close.”
