SAN FRANCISCO—A bakery in San Francisco announced that they refuse to serve police in uniform sparking outrage among the San Francisco Officer’s Union.
Reem’s California, a local Arab street food restaurant and bakery chain, made a post on X August 24, announcing that they will be enforcing a policy not to serve anyone with a weapon including officers.
The Police’s union urged the bakery to post signage about its policy after denying service to an officer in uniform at its Mission neighborhood store. In a follow-up tweet the union wrote, “We are not asking Reem’s or any business with a bigoted policy to serve our officers. We’re asking them to own their discriminatory policy and put up a sign so we know not to spend money in your establishment – on or off duty.”
“Reem’s confirms that they will not serve anyone armed and in uniform. Presumably, this includes members of the US Military,” San Francisco POA reported on X.
The bakery which was founded by Reem Assil shortly after the pandemic hit, wrote a statement regarding the matter on Instagram which read:
“Reem’s has a deep commitment to uplifting social and racial justice in our communities. This includes fostering an environment of safety for our staff and customers. In a time of increased gun violence – particularly impacting people of color, youth, and queer people – we believe that maintaining a strict policy of prohibiting guns in our restaurant keeps us safer.”
The post continued, “Many members of our community have been impacted by gun violence, whether that be experience on the streets of San Francisco, having come from war or occupation, or having increased fears due to a growing climate of political extremism. All too often, Black and brown people, and poor people are the victims of this violence. At Reems, we aim to provide a space where people can eat delicious Arab food and work together to strengthen our community, without fear of violence or harassment. We invite our community to step up and join us in creating that culture of care and resilience.”
Many members of the San Francisco community shared the same sentiment as the police force stating below the company’s post: “I hope your business fails miserably for your racist views towards our heroes in blue!” which was posted by someone with the handle dlesh3.
“You just lost a customer and please don’t put out words like Arab and wars and occupied! I am Arab and coming from occupied land and feel more safe here seeing police on streets than a thug walking into a business with hidden gun in their pants,” wrote maisoon1970.
Reem’s is the latest San Francisco restaurant to deny service to police officers. In 2021, all-day brunch received backlash for asking three uniformed officers to leave. Hilda and Jesse who are the owners of the company made an apology for denying service.
Earlier this year a cashier working for Pizza Squared was fired after he hold police officers that they were not welcome.
