Alissa Azar on Nostr: Follow up: When I arrived at Clarklewis earlier, there was a large camera inside ...

Follow up:

When I arrived at Clarklewis earlier, there was a large camera inside conducting an interview with the owners or staff. I went inside and chatted with one of the owners. He informed me they were closed because their staff walked out. While we chatted, he insisted that they had no knowledge of this event being a white supremacist event when they agreed to it. I told him that I believed him, and I am inclined to believe him, but I expressed that the issue came from the disproportionate response to how we were treated when asking questions and filming when it was brought to the attention to the chef (who told people he was the manager). When informed on who they are, he told us that they do not discriminate against religion, and even after being informed of who these people were, continued to threaten us with calling the cops, closed all the garage doors, closed all the blinds, and even allowed the Nazis to exit from the back. I told him that i have a hard time not interpret that as literally protecting Nazis.

By the time I came outside, some people had been protesting the business. A bit later one of the owners asked if I would be down to talk to the chef from the encounter earlier in the day in front of the owners who were not present when this went down. I said yes.

The chef (who said he was the manager), stated that he only did what he did to ensure he kept the staff safe. I told him even if that were true, and even if I did believe him, from mine and others perspective that it was really impossible to not see that as threatening three people filming and asking questions with arrest while literally protecting Nazis. He said that he understood and even apologized.

Whether I believe that part or not, I don’t know. I stand by my anger, and by the fact that Nazis absolutely should not be welcome in our community. I also do believe that the owners didn’t have prior knowledge, but as I explained to them countless times, none of us went there with the assumption that the establishment knew and was ok with who they were hosting. We went there giving them the benefit of the doubt, and what was infuriating was the disproportionate response and stark contrast of treatment once the chef was informed who was there.

After they all apologized, i shared what we had discussed with some people who were still there, and folks chatted about how people would feel safe moving forward. People agreed on three asks, that the white supremacist money be given directly to their staff, that the establishment come up with a plan for when and if known white supremacists gather or organize in their establishment again, and a better vetting process for who they have events in their space. The owners agreed.