Anti-Vaxxers Protest Queens Cheesecake Factory; NYPD Arrests 6
ELMHURST, QUEENS — A group of six protesters were arrested on Tuesday night after refusing to leave a Cheesecake Factory in Queens, according to the NYPD.
Police were called to the Queens Center Cheesecake Factory, located at 90-15 Queens Boulevard, around 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday night in response to a 911 call for criminal trespassing.
Once they arrived at the restaurant, the officers saw a "large group" of people at the location; the person who called said that the group walked into the restaurant and asked to be seated, at which point she requested that they show proof of vaccination, per NYC's indoor dining mandate.
The group, however, refused, and then barged into the restaurant, sitting down at several tables, videos show. They still refused to leave after being asked several times, according to the NYPD.
A group of 30 + antivaxxers claiming to be doing a “sit in” refused to check in at the host stand, skipped waiting customers, and sat themselves across multiple tables in a Cheesecake Factory in NYC.They are now arguing with police. One antivaxxer compared the police to Nazis. pic.twitter.com/elFKOoTZ98
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) December 15, 2021
"The manger is asking you to leave, that's their decision. If you guys refuse to leave we're going to give you every opportunity to leave but if you eventually refuse to leave when we tell you to leave we will be arresting you," one officer told group members in a video of the incident.
One of the protesters responded by saying that the group was not trespassing but just trying to "access the business and the services" of the Cheesecake Factory.
After some back and forth, police began escorting protesters who refused to leave out of the restaurant, as people shouted that the police were "Nazis" and that they were enforcing "segregation;" the protest had been called a "sit-in," in reference to civil rights protest in the 1960s.
Police did not respond to Patch's inquiry regarding how the agency responds to the comparison between officers and Nazis, or the comparison of the protest to civil rights sit-ins.
The NYPD said that they arrested six people at 9:45 p.m. after they refused to "comply to a lawful order," including Eric Bascon, 38, Mitchell Bosch, 42, Augusto Alarcon, 39, Steven Wavra, 67, Graig Young, 37, and Raymond Velez, 36. Both Young and Velez are Queens residents, records show.
As some protesters were loaded into a police car, dozens gathered outside chanting "let them go." Others called the people getting arrested "f****** heroes," promising that they were going to "sue every last one of these mother f******" (referring to the police officers).
The Cheesecake Factory described the situation as an "unfortunate incident. The company is simply complying with the local ordinance concerning Covid-19 vaccine requirements," a spokesperson said in a written statement to Patch.
"We would like to thank our restaurant managers and staff for remaining focused on providing our guests with delicious, memorable food, and would like to thank local law enforcement for their support during this time," they added.
This article originally appeared on the Jackson Heights-Elmhurst Patch
