AndrewBlakeMiami, FL – Employees at a Cheesecake Factory verbally attacked and made threatening gestures at a black man wearing a Make America Great Again hat, according to The Daily Wire.
Multiple witnesses told The Daily Wire about the incident that happened on Mother’s Day when 22-year-old Eugenior Joseph was dining with his girlfriend’s family.
Joseph and multiple witnesses told The Daily Wire that a woman who worked at the restaurant at the Dadeland Mall walked up to him and started pointing at his hat and asked other employees to come over.
“Her finger was literally on top of his head, we were all looking at her like ‘what is happening?'” a witness told The Daily Wire. “She was pointing at him, calling her other coworkers, telling them to look at this guy wearing a Make America Great Again hat.”
The Daily Wire reported that a dozen employees came over and made comments about the hat. Some employees said they wanted to punch Joseph in the face.
Witnesses also said that when the employees talked about the hat in their own conversation, they referred to Joseph using the n-word racial slur.
One witness said the employees started talking out loud about how they wanted to knock the hat off of Joseph, according to The Daily Wire.
One of the employees made intimidating looks at Joseph and clenched his fists and made hand gestures that appeared to indicate that he wanted to fight, The Daily Wire reported.
“He got behind me and another coworker came by and they were staring at each other and he fist bumped him and then he started looking at me, balling his fists, smacking his fists, trying to scare me,” Joseph told The Daily Wire.
The Cheesecake Factory employees allegedly continued to harass Joseph after he got up to use the restroom.
“I got up and went to the restroom, my girlfriend followed me, and as we were walking back, a group of [the employees] came out from the back and they just started clapping and yelling, and just screaming things at me,” Joseph said to The Daily Wire.
Another witness claimed that employees in the kitchen area loudly booed Joseph when he walked by.
Multiple witnesses said that as the family exited, the manager followed them and told them that the employees admitted to their conduct and that one of the employees had been sent home.
The Daily Wire reported that it viewed several pictures and videos taken by witnesses of the incident that confirm what happened to Joseph.
There was a video that show Joseph and his party leaving the restaurant and talking to law enforcement officials who arrived on scene. No charges were filed with the police, according to The Daily Wire.
In a statement to The Daily Wire, Alethea Rowe, Senior Director of Public Relations at The Cheesecake Factory, wrote:
“No guest should ever feel unwelcomed in one of our restaurants and we are taking this matter very seriously. Upon learning of this incident, we immediately apologized to the guests in person. We are conducting an investigation and will take the appropriate corrective action.”
A Cheesecake Factory spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch that the employees in question were suspended pending the investigation.