Protest, boycott erupt at SC restaurant over owner’s posts on race, Black Lives Matter
Dozens of protesters descended on a South Carolina restaurant after the owner made controversial online posts about race and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Demonstrators on Monday urged people to boycott Tanner’s Big Orange in response to Facebook comments from John Allen Zeller, who runs the Greenville business, multiple news outlets reported.
Zeller offered an apology after making his comments.
“I’m definitely not a racist but the one who’s gonna judge me on that is Lord, on that day,” the restaurant owner said, according to WYFF. “We’re all going to give an account for what we do. I’ve said stupid things, made mistakes, this is one of them.”
Zeller said he regrets writing a post about “’how white people should not bow down’ to the Black Lives Matter movement,” WHNS reported.
He also apologized for his online comment that referenced “race and cuckolding, or women having sex with someone other than their husbands,” The Greenville News reported.
LaVonne Bailey, a longtime customer, told WYFF she works at a nearby community center.
“The kids from the camps, we walk them over here to support this business and to post that immature, ignorant, dark mess on the page to hurt our community who has put our dollars in here, we are shutting it down,” Bailey said, according to WYFF.
The comments surfaced at a time when protesters across the country have organized in response to George Floyd’s death.
Floyd, a black man, died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes. That officer and three others have been charged in the incident.
As Monday’s protest was held outside the Greenville restaurant, some participants said an SUV tried to hit them, WSPA reported. Police told the TV station they are investigating the allegation.
Tanner’s Big Orange, which is named after its orange drinks, has been open for almost 80 years, according to its website.
A representative of the eatery could not be reached for comment by McClatchy News on Monday night.
Zeller closed the restaurant on Monday, multiple news outlets reported. He also has taken down his Facebook page, where he made the posts that sparked the backlash, according to WNHS.
This story was originally published June 8, 2020 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Protest, boycott erupt at SC restaurant over owner’s posts on race, Black Lives Matter."
