A White Dairy Queen franchise store owner in Zion allegedly called a Blackwoman racial slurs in front of her children Wednesday afternoon, authorities said, sparking calls for a weekend protest of the fast-food restaurant.
The incident gained traction on social media after the Blackwoman, Deianeira Ford of Tinley Park, posted an account on Facebook, describing her version of the verbal exchange and subsequent interaction with police.
Ford, who is biracial, said she did not receive her full order and asked for a refund after she was told she could not get the rest of it. The 21-year-old Ford alleged that when she asked for a refund of her $5, the store owner, who is White, called her and her children "racial slurs". (Note; No need to tell Us what were the racial slurs, We're just supposed to use Our Imagination and fill in the blank)
In a report the Zion Police Department released Thursday, the responding officer wrote that the White store owner, who corporate officials later identified as a franchisee, "proudly admitted" to calling the Blackwoman and her children the racial slurs and said he "would be happy go to jail over the issue."
The store owner denied the accusations when contacted Thursday afternoon by the News-Sun.
"It's 99 percent lies. This is blown so far out of proportion it's stupid. Her order was confusing, and I told her, 'Here's your money back,'" he said. "This is so far blown out of proportion."
The experience was "embarrassing, and it was in front of my children," Ford said in a telephone interview. "That was the hardest thing. He did it with my children in the back."
On Facebook, Ford wrote that at one point her daughter asked what the racial slur meant. Her post also said that when she asked the owner his name, he first said it was "'Bill Clinton'" and then said, "'better yet, I'm Donald Trump,' and told me to go back where I came from."
According to the police report, the officer responded to the restaurant at 1215 21st St., near the intersection of Sheridan Road and Route 173, at 11:31 a.m. Wednesday and found Ford "visibly upset and crying." Ford told the officer the complaint stemmed from an order placed at the drive-through window, according to the report.
After hearing Ford's story, the officer approached the man, who appeared "angry and was pacing continually back and forth 180 degrees around me. He was also slightly shaking."
"I asked him what happened with Ford and told him she was so disturbed by his behavior she was willing to sign a complaint against him," the officer wrote. "(He) boastfully told me he would be happy to go to jail over the issue and proudly admitted to calling Ford a slur. He added that he is 'fed up with black people,'" according to the officer's report.
The owner then described how the night before, two "of them" were in his restaurant squirting ketchup all over the floor, the officer wrote. The store owner used slurs "freely to describe black people," the report said.
Police Chief Stephen Dumyahn said Thursday that he was disturbed when he read his police officer's case report.
"I'm disgusted and discouraged by the comments made by this business owner. I reached out to Miss Ford to tell her that this does not represent the diverse community of Zion," he said.
The store owner was not charged with any wrongdoing.
Ford later updated her Facebook posting, saying both the police chief and mayor of Zion had contacted her.
"It's great to see Zion has great people in charge," she wrote.
Ford said she is in the process of moving from Tinley Park to Zion with her 2-year-old daughter and 5-month-old son. She said she's a full-time college student and recently resigned from a job at a south suburban police department to make the move.
On Thursday afternoon, Dumyahn released a statement on the city's behalf.
"Although we recognize the rights of business owners and managers to operate their business as they choose, under the law, we do not condone the inflammatory language that was used or the way this customer was treated. "
Social media reacted swiftly following Ford's post.
Clyde McLemore, of Lake County Black Lives Matter, went to the Dairy Queen Wednesday afternoon to talk to the owner, the police report said.
The owner called police because of the harassing telephone calls he was getting from people alerted to the incident on social media, and McLemore was there challenging him about racial issues, according to the Zion police report.
The same police officer responded to that incident and wrote that McLemore left when the officer asked him to, the report said. The officer added that the store owner said there was an incident earlier with a woman and an officer had shown up "and that nothing racial took place," the officer wrote in the case report.
The owner, "did not recognize me as the officer who spoke to him (Wednesday) morning and I reminded him that he already admitted to me what he did and I was on the scene to handle the current complaint," the officer wrote in the report. "He continued to contradict his story about (Wednesday) morning to me several more times and was becoming angered that I did not believe him."
McLemore said Thursday that Lake County Black Lives Matter is planning a protest starting at noon Saturday at the Dairy Queen.
Another posting suggested a different group was attempting trying to arrange a meeting between the owner and Black Lives Matter, and is seeking an apology to the family and the black community.
McLemore called for the protest on Facebook and said he was asking "everyone Whites, black and brown to stand (with) this family. We will be peaceful but we will stomp out racism in Zion."
Dean Peters, director of communications for Dairy Queen's corporate headquarters, confirmed Thursday that the Zion location is not corporate owned, and the man involved was a franchise owner operator.
"On behalf of the hardworking DQ franchisees and employees around the world, we apologize for the inappropriate actions of this franchisee in Zion," Peters' statement on the company's behalf said. "... It is not what our brand stands for and is not representative of American Dairy Queen Corporation or its franchisee community.
"We expect our franchisees and their employees to treat every single person who walks through their doors with the utmost dignity and respect. Nothing less is acceptable," the statement added. "Nearly all DQ restaurants are run by individual owners. Nevertheless, it is vital that they understand the importance of treating all of our fans with great respect."
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