Chipotle apologizes, says single employee made 'hands up, don't shoot' gesture to police officers

Mexican food chain Chipotle found itself dealing with a public relations nightmare yesterday when word spread on social media that employees at a Brooklyn restaurant greeted a group of police officers with a “hands up, don’t shoot” gesture and refused them service.

.@ChipotleTweets Are you folks going to address this story about your employees insulting cops at a store in Brooklyn?

— Neal Boortz (@Talkmaster) December 28, 2014

Snopes.com looked into the alleged incident and, after speaking with the company’s communications director, determined that the narrative making the rounds was “mostly false.”

Did a @ChipotleTweets restaurant really refuse to serve #NYPD officers? (No.)http://t.co/CL57ZctTmY pic.twitter.com/Lk0EMSL3Y5

— snopes.com (@snopes) December 29, 2014

According to Chipotle, security camera footage shows that it was a single employee who put up her hands “in what appears to have been a spontaneous, unplanned gesture of protest directed at the police. The group of officers then left without ordering food.” The communications director added that the company has apologized to the officers involved and “taken appropriate actions with regard to the employee involved, and reiterated to our operations teams the importance of making all of our customers feel welcome in our restaurants. No exceptions.”

What’s not certain is the definition of “appropriate actions.”

So @ChipotleTweets, your statement confirms at least one employee did "hands up, don't shoot" to NYPD; has that person been fired???

— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) December 29, 2014

Chipotle apologizes, says single employee made &#039;hands up, don&#039;t shoot&#039; gesture to police officers

Recommended

Chipotle apologizes, says single employee made 'hands up, don't shoot' gesture to police officers