Restaurant Owner Boots Trump Supporter Who Flashed Gun When Asked To Wear Mask
A man in Kansas flashed a gun at a restaurant employee after he was asked to wear a face mask as he entered the establishment, according to The Kansas City Star.
- The man, who was wearing a Make America Great Again hat, walked into RJ’s Bob-Be-Que Shack in Mission, Kansas and was promptly asked by Arlo Kinsey, an 18-year-old employee of the restaurant, to wear a face mask.
- As soon as he was asked, the man proceeded to lift up his shirt to reveal the concealed weapon in a holster on his hip.
- Kinsey spoke about the incident, saying:
“My first thought was, I work in customer service and this is really what’s going to happen? All we’re asking is that you wear a mask for a couple of minutes. We could have taken your order outside if you didn’t want to. But you go into an air conditioned area without a mask on, and if I tell you to wear one, you’re going to shoot me? Wow. I make $8.50 an hour, plus tips — for this?”
- Kinsey immediately went to get the restaurant owner, Bob Palmgren, who got into a heated exchange with the man and asked him to leave:
“(Kinsey) comes around and says this guy won’t put a mask on and has a gun, and I’m like holy sh*t. I run over there, and I’m like hey, what’s going on? And he shows me his Trump hat,” Palmgren said. “And I like Trump. Everybody’s got problems. But it doesn’t make a difference. You don’t have a mask on. And I’m like, your gun’s not going to kill coronavirus, now get the hell out of here.”
“He goes, ‘Well, I won’t be in here anymore.’ And I said, good, I don’t want you in here. And got him to leave.”
- The man reportedly left before restaurant employees could identify him.
- Palmgren said that he has been strictly enforcing the mask mandate in his restaurant, and he’s concerned that customers refusing to wear masks will jeopardize his business.
