WATCH: Anti-Vaxx Group Arrested After Staging ‘Sit-In’ at a Cheesecake Factory
A group of anti-vaccine protesters was arrested Tuesday night after attempting to stage a “sit-in” at a Cheesecake Factory in Queens, New York.
According to Insider, which obtained a statement from the NYPD, a group of people entered the Cheesecake Factory on Tuesday night and declined to show proof of vaccination despite New York City requirements. The city currently requires vaccination to dine inside and to enter gyms and other indoor businesses.
Video of the incident, which shows a group of anti-vaxxers arguing with officers, was posted to Twitter by the account Patriot Takes:
One of the people arrested compared the police to Nazis. An antivaxxer responds, “we’re going to sue every last one of these MFers.” Others claim this is “discrimination” and “segregation” as the trespassers are loaded into an NYPD vehicle. pic.twitter.com/vkp6w34VLA
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) December 15, 2021
In the video, a protester can be heard comparing the police to Nazis, prompting another to say, “We’re going to sue every last one of these MFers.”
The protest seems to have been organized by a group called New York Freedom Rally, which posted a flyer inviting followers to join their “sit-in” on Tuesday:
View this post on Instagram
New York Freedom Rally also posted an hour-long video of the protest, including their confrontation with NYPD officers, to their Instagram account, tagging the Cheesecake Factory:
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“The manager has now asked you to leave,” an officer can be heard saying roughly 20 minutes into the video, later adding, “If you guys refuse to leave [and] we’re going to give you every opportunity to leave, but if you eventually refuse to leave when we tell you to leave, we will be arresting you for criminal trespassing.”
A protester responded by claiming that they are simply there to “access the business during normal business hours,” which is not “committing a crime.”
“I got to let you know, because if you falsely arrest any of us you will be held liable,” the protester added, going on to explain the concept of privately owned public spaces.
Despite the valiant effort, at about 9:45 p.m., the NYPD arrested Eric Bascon, 38; Mitchell Bosch, 42; Graig Young, 37; Raymond Velez, 36; Augusto Alarcon, 39; and Steven Wavra, according to HuffPost.
“This was an unfortunate incident,” Alethea Rowe, senior director of public relations for Cheesecake Factory said in a statement. “The company is simply complying with the local ordinance concerning Covid-19 vaccine requirements.”
“We would like to thank our restaurant managers and staff for remaining focused on providing our guests with delicious, memorable food, and would like to thank local law enforcement for their support during this time,” the representative added.
Despite the arrests, the group organized a second protest at the same Queens mall on Wednesday night.
#BreakingNews multiple protesters against mandates were just arrested at Applebee’s in queens NY for trying to order food at a vaxed only restaurants pic.twitter.com/adZ0qJybwC
— Leeroy Johnson (@LeeroyPress) December 16, 2021
Independent photographer and Twitter user Leeroy Johnson captured footage of the arrests, telling Insider that the group visited several establishments at the mall, including an Applebee’s, where four protesters were arrested.
