Last Friday, a D.C. area Maggiano’s Italian restaurant unknowingly held a white nationalist dinner for the “National Policy Institute” and locals are not happy about it! Protests broke out once pictures of the dinner hit the internet as attendees stretched their arms out in the infamous Nazi salute. Former reality star Tila Tequila was there and she actually shared a photo of her and two men doing the Nazi salute and captioned the picture: “Sieg Heil.” This phrase is in direct support of Adolf Hitler and White supremacy.
It turns out that the NPI fiercely supported Donald Trump during his candidacy and upon realizing who was dining at the restaurant, Maggiano’s issued an apology with the quickness. They explained that the reservation for the party had been booked under a different name and that they had no idea of what the group represented in the first place. So, to make up for the confusion, they are donating $10,000 to the DC office of the Anti-Defamation league.
Via Maggiano’s Little Italy Facebook:
“On Friday night, Maggiano’s in Friendship Heights was the inadvertent site of a protest that caused us to close our restaurant to protect the safety of our Teammates and Guests.
The protesters were upset because of a banquet we were hosting for a group called the National Policy Institute (NPI). This was a last minute booking made Friday afternoon, and the reservation was made under a different name, therefore we were not aware that NPI was dining with us or what the group represents. After the event, an attendee sent a tweet in which she made a “Sieg Heil salute” in support of Hitler and white supremacy. This expression of support of Hitler is extremely offensive to us, as our restaurant is home to Teammates and Guests of every race, religion and cultural background.
We want to sincerely apologize to the community of Friendship Heights for inadvertently hosting this meeting, which resulted in hateful sentiment. We want you to know that at the suggestion of one of our Guests, we are donating the profits from our restaurant sales on Friday, $10,000, to the DC office of the Anti-Defamation League, which for decades has been working to bring people together in peace and understanding.”
Yikes!! Roommates, do you think that Maggiano’s handled this situation correctly?
TSR STAFF: Talia O. @theclosetratchet on Instagram & @tallyohhh on Twitter!
