ORIGINAL STORY, published April 29: In response to a controversial incident at an Alabama Waffle House, a coalition of local activist groups are planning a protest Monday at the restaurant chain's metro Atlanta headquarters and calling for a national boycott.
A flier making the rounds on social media this weekend calls for a nationwide boycott of Waffle House on May 4, nearly two weeks after the arrest of 25-year-old Chikesia Clemons at a restaurant in Saraland, Alabama. Video of the April 22 incident shows Clemons, who is black, being thrown to the ground and having her breasts exposed during a scuffle with several police officers.
According to Alabama news website AL.com, the incident arose after Clemons refused to pay extra for plastic utensils. Police have since said they believe Clemons’ arrest was justified.
African-American activist groups and others, meanwhile, have expressed outrage. Shaun King, an activist and writer with a sizable social media following, called for a boycott, as have others.
That may take a more tangible form on Monday, when representatives from several local groups plan to hold a press conference to present their “demands” to the restaurant chain. Local attorney and activist Gerald Griggs said a coalition including March for Our Lives, the Georgia Alliance for Social Justice and the NAACP is organizing the event.
The press conference is scheduled to be held at Waffle House’s corporate headquarters in Norcross.
It was not immediately clear what the groups’ demands might be.
The protest will also come a few days after Waffle House confirmed it was investigating the circumstances surrounding a separate incident at a location in Pinson, Alabama, where a black woman says she was denied service because of her race.
Waffle House’s corporate office was closed Sunday, and representatives could not immediately be reached by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The restaurant has previously defended police intervention in the Clemons incident.
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