Around 30 people went to the Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Queens, reportedly skipping the line and refusing to check in at the host stand, where they would have been required to show their vaccination cards under New York City's vaccine requirements.
After refusing to leave at the manager's request, who reportedly said they would not be served, according to video of the incident obtained by Patriot Takes, the police were called.
The police attempted to explain what was going to happen, stating that those who did not leave once the police requested it, they would be arrested for criminal trespassing.
People associated with the sit in argued with the officers, comparing them to Nazis, and questioning why they would be arrested for trespassing.
"It's not criminal trespass," one man argued. He stated that they were there during normal business hours, and they are not committing a crime. "We are here to eat."
Four people were reportedly arrested after refusing to leave the premise. While being taken out of the restaurant, one person filming stated: "segregation by medical status. We must all stand up."
Another person stated that "we're going to sue every last one of these motherf-ckers," referring to the police.
In one video, a person tells her viewers to flood Cheesecake Factories across the country with reservations to stall the business. The group reportedly has a protest planned for Wednesday evening at the same Cheesecake Factory filmed at on Tuesday.
"This was an unfortunate incident," Alethea Rowe, senior director of public relations for Cheesecake Factory said in a statement regarding the Dec. 14 event, according to Bloomberg. "The company is simply complying with the local ordinance concerning Covid-19 vaccine requirements."
"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," the representative said.
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