Reem’s California, a restaurant located in the Mission District of San Francisco, has enforced a policy that prohibits armed police officers from entering its premises, according to a post made by the business on Instagram on Friday. The restaurant explained the decision as part of its “deep commitment to uplifting social and racial justice in our communities.”
“In a time of increased gun violence — particularly impacting people of color, youth, and queer people — we believe that maintaining a strict policy of prohibiting guns in our restaurant keeps us safer,” Reem’s wrote on social media.
The San Francisco Police Officers Association (SFPOA) called out the restaurant on social media, stating that one of their uniformed officers was denied service at the restaurant the previous weekend.
Reem’s clarified their stand, stating that they do not refuse service to police officers in general, but only when they are in uniform and armed.
“We are not asking Reem’s or any business with a bigoted policy to serve our officers,” SFPOA said. “We’re asking them to own their discriminatory policy & and put up a sign so we know not to spend money in your establishment—on or off duty. We took the liberty of designing one for them.”
The SFPOA accused Reem’s of practicing “anti-police bigotry” as a long-standing policy.
As of Friday, Reem’s Mission District location was “temporarily closed,” according to the restaurant’s website, with no specified reopening date.
The police union has not tweeted anything about Reem’s since Thursday afternoon. Reem’s last posted about the matter on Friday afternoon.