Donald Trump Supporters Booted From West Palm Beach Restaurant
A local West Palm Beach man and Trump supporter said that the Flanigan’s Seafood Bar and Grill on Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach, Florida kicked him and his group out last week because they were playing patriotic songs. On the restaurant’s jukebox. And of course, the restaurant denies the claim.
From the Palm Beach Post:
Noah Frye, 18, said he and a party of seven were asked to leave Flanigan’s Seafood Bar and Grill at 330 Southern Blvd. on Feb. 2 following a dispute with one of the restaurant’s managers. The group had gone to the restaurant after joining other Trump supporters to wave at the president as his motorcade passed on Southern Boulevard on the way to Mar-a-Lago from Palm Beach International Airport.
Trump spent last weekend at his estate on Mar-a-Lago. Usually when Trump arrives in town, his motorcade takes Southern Boulevard from Palm Beach International Airport to Palm Beach. Often, Trump supporters and detractors line parts of the route, particularly in the area near Flanigan’s.
When the motorcade had passed, Frye said he and his group walked into the restaurant, some wearing shirts and hats supporting Trump. Frye said staff “acted kind of weird toward us,” but he stopped short of saying they were asked to leave for being Trump supporters.
Frye said the group was waiting for a table when they went to the jukebox and played three songs — “God Bless America,” “God Bless the USA” and the “The Star Spangled Banner.”
According to Frye, a restaurant manager went to the jukebox midway through the National Anthem and turned off the machine. Frye said the manager explained that he shut it off because it was sputtering and experiencing a technical issue, Frye said.
Frye said the group asked for a refund for the money they put in the jukebox, but the manager refused. Fry said a woman in his group tried to take a picture of the jukebox with her cellphone so they could report the issue to the jukebox vendor but the manager prevented her from doing so.
“At that point, he says, ‘You guys have to leave,’” Frye said.
Frye said people from the restaurant reached him later by phone and he was given various explanations for their removal, including complaints that songs were being played too many times to complaints that the party was becoming too rowdy. He disputed those assertions.
“Bottom line, we used our American money to play our nation’s anthem on the jukebox and we were discriminated against and told to never come back,” Frye said.
“We feel we were kicked out because of playing American songs, patriotic songs,” he said. “It has to do solely with the fact that they turned off our nation’s anthem. That’s offensive to us.”
Abel Trigoura, a corporate supervisor for Flanigan’s, said the company has been contact with the parties involved and is working to resolve the matter. He said that anyone is welcome at the company’s restaurants regardless of their political beliefs.
“We’re a family-driven business and we welcome all parties,” he said. “We have been supportive of anybody that comes in. We don’t take any part in any politics. We’re just there to provide good food and good drinks and we welcome everybody.”
There’s no excuse for employees to take it upon themselves to create policy. This was just dead wrong. What do you think?
