On Mother’s Day, employees at a Cheesecake Factory in Miami, Florida, verbally attacked and made threatening gestures toward a black man who dined with his girlfriend’s family simply because he was wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, according to multiple witnesses interviewed by The Daily Wire.
The Sunday incident allegedly began at the Cheesecake Factory located inside Dadeland Mall when 22-year-old Eugenior Joseph was seated while wearing his MAGA hat.
According to multiple witnesses and Joseph’s own account, a woman who worked at the restaurant walked up to him and started pointing at his hat, signaling for the other employees to come over.
“Her finger was literally on top of his head, we were all looking at her like ‘what is happening?'” one witness told The Daily Wire. “She was pointing at him, calling her other coworkers, telling them to look at this guy wearing a Make America Great Again hat.”
At that point, approximately a dozen or so employees approached the table and began making comments about the hat, with some saying they wanted to punch Joseph in the face. Witnesses also allege that some of the employees also referred to him as a “n**ger” in their conversations among each other.
“So then all the employees started standing there, saying things out loud, like, ‘I’m going to knock his head in so hard his hat’s going to come off,” the witness continued.
One of the employees gave Joseph intimidating looks, clenching his fists and making hand gestures that appeared to indicate that he was ready to engage in a fistfight.
“He got behind me and another coworker came by and they were staring at each other and he fist bumped him and then he started looking at me, balling his fists, smacking his fists, trying to scare me,” Joseph told The Daily Wire.
Another witness told The Daily Wire that the group of employees looked like a lynch mob and they couldn’t stand to see a black man wearing a hat that showed support for the president.
Employees at the restaurant continued to mock and intimidate Joseph after he got up to use the restroom.
“I got up and went to the restroom, my girlfriend followed me, and as we were walking back, a group of [the employees] came out from the back and they just started clapping and yelling, and just screaming things at me,” Joseph says.
Another witness verified the claims, saying that the employees in the kitchen were booing Joseph loudly as he walked by.
One of the witnesses said that the event was so traumatic and threatening that an elderly woman who was present had to take medication to calm herself down.
Multiple witnesses said that as the family exited the restaurant the manager followed them out and told them that some of the employees admitted to their actions and that one of the employees had been sent home.
As the family left the restaurant they ran into police that had been called to the scene who documented the incident in the police report but supposedly did not file any charges, according to multiple witnesses.
The Daily Wire contacted the Cheesecake Factory where the alleged incident took place and spoke to a manager who refused to answer any questions and instead recorded this reporter’s contact information and had a public relations firm representing the Cheesecake Factory reach out to this reporter. When this reporter brought up the incident and asked whether or not he could confirm that it took place in the restaurant, the manager’s tone became slightly hostile as he reiterated: “I’m going to have someone get in touch with you.”
The Daily Wire viewed multiple video clips and photos that validate the claims made by the witnesses about the number of employees appearing to stand around the table. One of the photos showed one of the men described by the witnesses as being the one who made the threatening hand gestures, making the fist bump with another employee, which was described by at least three witnesses.
Another video reviewed by The Daily Wire showed a young girl crying at the table, afraid of the hostile environment created by The Cheesecake Factory employees.
Another video showed the family leaving the restaurant and speaking to multiple law enforcement officials who arrived on scene. The video shows Joseph in a state of disbelief over what had just unfolded as other witnesses were visibly angry over the way he had been treated.
Joseph says that he has not heard from anyone at The Cheesecake Factory about what he experienced inside their restaurant.
Despite being new to politics, Joseph says that he wears the hat because he thinks Trump “is a really good president,” adding that he is disappointed that a black man can’t wear a hat to support the president without being attacked.
UPDATE: The Cheesecake Factory has responded to the allegations in this report in a statement that can be viewed here.