The Marxist-based cancel culture was on the move again, this time blindly causing the closure of a popular campus coffee shop that provided 20 students with employment simply because the shop’s owner openly supported law enforcement.
The Big City Coffee recently opened a second location in Boise, Idaho, located in Albertsons Library on the campus of Boise State University. But last Thursday, woke student government activists bullied the small business into shutting its doors because they didn’t execute due diligence to fully understand the owners’ support for law enforcement. As a result, more than 20 female students who were employed by Big City Coffee found themselves without jobs.
Sarah Fendley, the owner of Big City Coffee, is the fiancé of former Boise Police Corporal Kevin Holtry, who was shot five times while on duty in November 2016. Holtry and his fellow officers, including a police dog named Jardo, were pursuing an armed and dangerous fugitive who had been involved in a shooting and carjacking on November 11, 2016. Holtry and his partner found and engaged the suspect.
The City of Boise Police Department describes Holtry’s engagement:
“Once found by Corporals Holtry and Davis, the fugitive opened fire in an attempt to kill the officers. During the ensuing gunfight, Corporal Holtry was shot and left paralyzed and defenseless on the ground. Corporal Davis sustained a gunshot wound to his upper leg and K9 Jardo sustained mortal gunshot wounds.”
Holtry survived his injuries but lost his leg in the firefight. He is now in a wheelchair.
Ryann Banks, part of the student government on campus and vice president of inclusive excellence for the Associated Students of BSU, is on record as assuming Fendley’s support of law enforcement was in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, proving as much with a statement ignorant of the facts.
“This company is going to encourage this type of behavior on campus and attract those types of people to our campus,” Banks ranted at a student government meeting. “It should not be up to marginalized students to fix this. It is up to the administrators to fix this and allow for students to have a voice. We have known for half a decade that they [the coffee shop] support Thin Blue Line and this is unacceptable and should have never happened.”
Amanda Hawks, another ASBSU member, said in another student government meeting, “With Chick-Fil-A, BPD, and now Big City Coffee, [BSU] has sent a message that the campus does not support Black Lives Matter. If there is a way to reverse this decision it should be done. If they come to campus it is sending a very harmful message.”
And Francisco Salinas, assistant to the vice president for equity initiatives, said, “This could be the beginning of a revolution where we say that we have a standard for corporate partnerships that we have,” adding, “I believe we should have a standard that says we will not accept companies who act in certain ways because that will have a more lasting impact to protect students. It may be difficult, but I think we should explore it.”
Dustin Hurst, writing for the Idaho Freedom Foundation observed, “It’s unclear why Salinas believes students need protection from vendors who sell coffee and chicken sandwiches.”
After spending tens of thousands of dollars prepping the new location, Fendley has been forced to shutter the location for good. It is unclear whether Boise State University – or the Associated Students of BSU – intend to compensate her for her costs. Former Officer Holtry is still in a wheelchair and will be for life.
