The Red Hen restaurant reopened in Lexington, Virginia, Thursday evening, after closing for two weeks after refusing to serve White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on June 22, USA Today reported.
The reopening, amid a national debate on social civility and decency, was marked by protesters still angry about the Sanders snub and those who wanted to support the small establishment in the heart of Lexington, the newspaper said.
"If they want to serve up politics rather than Southern fried chicken, then they are setting up their own demise as a restaurant," Jeff Hulbert, founder of Patriot Picket, a group of demonstrators who focus on the Second Amendment, told USA Today.
Members of the Patriot Picket carried signs that drew comparisons between the present moment and the civil rights era, according to the newspaper.
"They were getting kicked out of places for the color of their skin; now we have people getting kicked out of restaurants for their political persuasion," Paul Brockman, another member of Patriot Picket, told USA Today.
Travelers like Don Mandelkorn, said he stayed the night in Lexington on his way to Vermont just to eat at the Red Hen, according to the Roanoke Times.
"I thought it was very brave what the owner did," Mandelkorn told the Times. "It probably didn't come easy. It was probably a difficult decision, but we wanted to support what she did, the actions she took."
Local resident Arlene White said she wanted to support the restaurant because it was her favorite and did not want to be deterred from eating there by the protesters, the Times said.
"It's our neighborhood restaurant, and it's the best food in town," White said to the newspaper.
Protester Butch Barley said that no one should be denied service because of their political views.
"What happened to that lady — and I mean lady — should never happen to any human being," Barley told USA Today. "You can only take so much, and I’ve gotten to that point. You back up, you back up, you back up, eventually you’re against a wall."
Marty Barlow, who drove to Lexington from Harrisonburg, Virginia, to eat at the restaurant, said she believed owner Stephanie Wilkinson showed "courage" by her actions.
"People need to stand up for what they believe in, and when people do it, it’s bad to let them hang," Barlow told the Times. "We've got to have the courage to stand with people who have the courage to do what they believe in."
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