Confused Pro-Trump protestors go after the wrong Red Hen restaurant

A bad protest gets worse.
 By 
Marcus Gilmer
 on 
Confused Pro-Trump protestors go after the wrong Red Hen restaurant
Do you even know which Red Hen this is??? Credit: Daniel Lin/AP/REX/Shutterstock

As soon as the story broke that a Virginia restaurant refused service to White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, you knew the blowback was coming.

But some of the Trump administration supporters fighting back with nastiness are getting a bit confused, mistaking other restaurants for the one Sanders attempted to dine at on Friday.

The Red Hen restaurant that booted Sanders over the weekend is located in Lexington, Virginia, and it's certainly faced the wrath of those who back President Donald Trump and think a business shouldn't refuse service to anyone because of their political views (unless, of course, you're a gay couple looking for a wedding cake).

Whatever your thoughts on the actions of the Virginia Red Hen owner Stephanie Wilkinson -- and there is a constructive debate to be had on the topic -- that those who oppose her decision would stoop to threats of violence and harm is unconscionable.

To make matters worse, some angry MAGA-hat avatars haven't bothered to read deep enough into the story (or Sanders' original tweet which, hey, may have violated ethics laws) to keep straight which restaurant was involved.

Now a different Red Hen restaurant in Washington, D.C. with no connection to the Virginia location has been the subject of threats and various acts of menace over the Sanders imbroglio.

The D.C. Red Hen also noted on Twitter that it's not allowed to refuse service to someone because of his or her political affiliation, since the restaurant is located in a federal district.

What's more, the same thing is happening to another unrelated restaurant named Red Hen in New Jersey. And, yes, the comments on their Facebook post are collectively a tire fire.

As for the Virginia-based Red Hen, the abhorrent attacks on that restaurant and its owner continue unabated, egged on by the president himself, because I reckon when you're already in hell, why even bother looking for the high road?

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Marcus Gilmer

Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.

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