About a month ago, both Terry and I published posts on a U.S. soldier being denied service at a Muslim-owned Texaco gas station on Highway 10 in Bogalusa, Louisiana. (See my post, here).
Due to YouTube repeatedly taking down the video we posted, showing patriots protesting in front of the station, some commenters on Fellowship of the Minds expressed disbelief that the incident ever occurred. So I went on the net to see if I can find any follow-up to this story. Here's what I found:
According to Tania Dall of WWLTV, June 7, 2012, the refusal of service was witnessed by Christopher Carnegie "a few days ago." Carnegie said he saw a National Guardsman walk into the gas station store "and got in line and the clerk told him they didn't serve his kind and pointed at the door for him to leave. I left my stuff and walked out behind him."
Carnegie's wife posted the incident on the couple's Facebook page, which quickly went viral.
John Jones posted on his Facebook that he put an American flag on his Harley and go to the gas station to protest. In this manner, Jones became the organizer of an impromptu protest on June 7, calling for a boycott of the business.
The owners of the gas station --- who identified themselves as originally of Indian descent --- did not want to be interviewed on-camera, but insisted the incident was "a misunderstanding" and that they never refuse service to customers.
WWL-TV tried to track down the National Guardsman at the center of this controversy, but have not been able to identify him.
(Click here for TV news video)
On June 8, 2012, WDSU TV reports that the gas station owner formally apologized. Standing in front of the station and the TV camera, the owner (a short dark-haired Asian Indian woman) and her English-speaking manager (a dyed-blonde Hispanic woman), the two held a large green poster with this hand-lettered apology:
To all of our Military & those who serve
We are so so SORRY for all this misunderstanding & choice of words
PLEASE forgive
The owner did not explain exactly what the "misunderstanding" was. The gas station held a party the next day for its customers, beginning at 11 am.
Click here to watch the WDSU news video and see the poster for yourself.
~Eowyn
WordPress.com
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