A California pizza shop employee was fired after he told police officers they were not welcome at the restaurant, according to San Francisco Police Officer’s Association.
The San Francisco Police Officer’s Association said the “shameful” exchange happened when several officers arrived at Pizza Squared on Jan. 29
San Francisco officers frequently ate at the pizza spot but never faced any mistreatment in the past, SFPOA President Tracy McCray told KTVU.
Police said the rude employee refused to serve them on Jan. 29 — two days removed from when the brutal footage of Tyre Nichols getting beaten by Memphis police was released, prompting nationwide protests.
Pizza Squared later fired the rogue employee, who the restaurant said was a trainee only on his third day of work.
“When our shift manager told us about the incident after it happened, we expressly told him we didn’t share his views & that he was out of line. He was fired at the end of the day,” Pizza Squared said on Twitter.
Today, a @pizzasquaredsf employee told several of our officers that they were not welcome in the restaurant. The SFPOA notified the owners of the restaurant of the shameful and hateful actions of one of their employees. We appreciate the owners' swift apology…(Tweet 1 of 2) pic.twitter.com/U5Kkk84meS
— San Francisco POA (@SanFranciscoPOA) January 30, 2023
Police said the restaurant has apologized for the incident and called the worker’s actions “shameful and hateful.”
Pizza Squared has faced backlash since the incident.
“Why do you hate cops? What is wrong with you, Who do you think you are? Never doing business with this company,” one Yelp review said.
McCray said SFPOA was “pleased to receive an immediate response from the owners and a sincere apology for their employee’s actions,” in a statement sent to FOX San Francisco.
