A Portland food cart owner may have lost several potential customers after a social media post accused him of racially discriminated against a buyer on Wednesday.
Kevin Raysor was forced to leave a food cart and had the police called on him for “loitering.” His friend Jason Keebler shared his friend’s horrible experience with the “Chicken and Guns” cart co-owner, Dustin Knox, on Facebook.
(photo credit: Chicken and Guns Instagram)
Raysor said he “was asked to leave for no reason.” Knox accused the man of being “homeless and loitering” and then waved an officer down to escort the customer from the site, the Eater reported.
“What I was doing was waiting for [Chicken & Guns] to open so I could eat before my final [exam]s,” the customer explained. He added in the comment section that the cop was “polite.”
Bystander Gina Carlton said she witnessed “a man of color” being harassed by Knox. She wrote, “Dustin started yelling at him, ‘if you don’t get out of here, I will snap your dog’s neck’.”
The social media post showed Knox dialing 911, but authorities have no record of a phone call being placed from the food cart that night. However, Sergeant Peter Simpson said a direct mobile phone number would be needed to trace a call.
Others claim they’ve also experienced racial discrimination at “Chicken and Guns.” Social media user Alex Williams accused the chicken cart of being racially biased towards his girlfriend.
“My girlfriend, who is Asian, was hanging out there one night this past winter,” he writes. “She was approached by the owner, who immediately asked if she was homeless, then told her to leave,” the person added.
The original post of the entire incident was set to private by Keebler later that evening. Raysor reportedly asked his friend to private the post.
“Earlier I had a post up about a food cart that hassled my friend Kevin Raysor. He’s asked me to take it down so I have privated the post,” he writes. “I know this will disappoint some people.. but (sic) The same friend that I put it up to support asked me to take it down,” Keebler noted.
“Chicken and Guns” says they plan on releasing a statement through their consultant agency Title Bout. The food cart has since deleted their Facebook Page.
