A vape shop in Georgia fired an employee after the worker refused to serve a customer who was wearing a shirt supporting President Donald Trump.
The customer recorded footage or the irate employee at Xhale City in Tucker, metro Atlanta, and uploaded it online on Dec. 28, 2018. It received millions of views as of Monday.
(The video can be seen below, but it contains a significant amount foul language):
The customer is seen in the video asking the clerk about purchasing some vape juice for his wife’s e-cigarettes, but the clerk tells the man he won’t serve anyone who supports the president.
The openly hostile display of discrimination is made despite the clerk being aware that the customer was filming.
At one point, the clerk screams at the customer at the top of his lungs.
“[Expletive] your capitalism,” the clerk said in the video. “[Expletive] your president. He’s a racist, stupid piece of [expletive]. You’re a racist, stupid piece of [expletive].”
Xhale City announced the clerk’s termination hours after the footage was published.
“Tonight, we had an employee act improperly toward a customer. Xhale City does not tolerate this kind of behavior from its employees. When we identified the employee at fault, we fired him immediately,” the company stated.
“We’ve also spoken to the customer and apologized. We value our clients and treat them with respect and dignity, regardless of their political views.”
To our friends and customers,Tonight, we had an employee act improperly toward a customer. Xhale City does not…
由 Xhale City 发布于 2018年12月28日周五
The customer who recorded the video, identified as Ian Fergeson, returned to Xhale City, recording a selfie video while standing with two employees and chiding people who were leaving negative comments on the company’s social media pages and vowing a boycott.
“You can’t boycott this place. It’s not their fault. All these people have bills and family just like I do,” Fergeson said.
“Find that guy, make his life hell, leave XHale vapes alone,” he added, laughing, as one employee said, “Don’t do that, don’t do that.”
Fergeson added, “God Bless America, Trump 2020.” The video was posted to XHale City’s Facebook by the company on Dec. 30, 2018.
Texas Man Accused of Stealing Teen's 'MAGA' Hat Indicted by Grand Jury https://t.co/K8wARdEEPw #MAGA #GrandJury
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) August 31, 2018
Trump Supporters Face Abuse
Trump supporters have at times faced virulent opposition when they don pro-Trump gear in public.
In May 2018, employees at a Cheesecake Factory surrounded a black Trump supporter and threatened him while verbally abusing him. Multiple witnesses recorded video footage of the scene.
In July 2018, a man wearing a “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) hat was forced to leave a restaurant in Canada before a manager stepped in and fired the employee who was discriminating against the Trump supporter.
In August 2018, a California student was facing assault charges after knocking a “MAGA” hat off the head of a classmate and later slapping a teacher who intervened in the altercation.
Video footage of the altercation was captured at a high school in El Dorado.
In the same month, a 30-year-old man who was seen on video knocking off a “MAGA” hat from a teenager’s head and then letting loose with a string of expletives was indicted by a grand jury.
In September, a small Virginia town struggled to regain its reputation after the manager of a restaurant there kicked out White House press secretary Sarah Saunders and her family.
