On Monday, John Valko, of Reefpoint Brew House in Racine, Wisconsin, posted on the eatery’s Facebook page describing what he thought needed to happen to the athletes
A popular Wisconsin restaurant came under a lot of fire after one of its co-owners responded to the NFL’s #TakeAKnee protest by telling players to die.
On Monday, John Valko, of Reefpoint Brew House in Racine, Wisconsin, posted on the eatery’s Facebook page describing what he thought needed to happen to the athletes. And it was quite different than firing them, like Trump suggested.
‘Kill the idiot players. Execute them,’ he said in post now deleted.
‘They are nothing but garbage. The league is screwed up if they think it is their right. It is their duty to respect our country and our flag.
‘They should go kneel in front of a freight train. Shame on these stupid misfits of society. They need to die.’
The initial post was deleted but the damage was already done with the other three co-owners having to issue a statement saying that his remarks were not reflective of their establishment.
‘Kill the idiot players. Execute them,’ he said in post now deleted. ‘They are nothing but garbage. The league is screwed up if they think it is their right. It is their duty to respect our country and our flag. They should go kneel in front of a freight train. Shame on these stupid misfits of society. They need to die’
‘We Co-owners of Reefpoint Brew House do NOT support John Valko’s statements and comments made by him on his personal page or pages of others,’ said Tom Landreman, Patti Landreman, Meagan Bennett on a Facebook post, Thursday.
‘He is not the voice of Reefpoint Brew House or us. We are working hard internally to move forward and protect our selves, our business, and most importantly the 80+ staff members and their families livelihood.’
On Thursday, Valko issued an apology as it was announced that he would be ‘stepping aside’ from the restaurant.
Co-owners Tom Landreman, Patti Landreman, Meagan Bennett posted a news story and a statement saying they did not condone his statements on Thursday
‘Today, I offer up my sincerest apology to every person, near and far, my wife, my family, my friends, Tom Landreman, Patti Landreman, Meagan Bennett and all the employees of the restaurant that have been hurt by words I used,’ Valko said.
‘Those words should be condemned. I apologize to every person of every race, religion, creed, etc. that I have insulted, upset, ticked off or hurt because of the words I choose to use in this Facebook Post.’
But Valko asserted that his words had nothing to do with race.
On Thursday, Valko issued an apology as it was announced that he would be ‘stepping aside’ from the restaurant. In it he asserted his comments had nothing to do with race and that he would be seeking counseling for his statements
‘Many are suggesting the comments were directed at people of color,’ he added.
‘Be assured that is absolutely and positively not true. I accept responsibility for these comments. I was wrong to have even let a thought such as this be put into text and I am ashamed.’
While he made a point to state that he was not asking for forgiveness in the post, Valko was adamant on his apology and added that he was going to seek ‘counselling for whatever may have triggered this outburst or behavior.’
The other owners have made it a point to completely distance themselves from Valko, even going as far to delete their original statements and amending them.