Business as usual at Smithfield’s after ‘F--- the police’ controversy

Trucks filled the parking lot and people were enjoying their barbecue sandwiches, coleslaw and hush puppies inside the Smithfield’s Chicken ’N Bar-B-Q on Jones Sausage Road on Thursday.

It was business as usual at the restaurant nearly a week after a viral Facebook post claimed that employees were singing “F--- the police” to Raleigh officers. The Raleigh police chief and the restaurant’s owner both said Wednesday that the incident did not occur.

If it weren’t for the cameras and news reporters roaming around the restaurant Thursday, people might not have known about the controversy.

Manager Willie McKennies, who was manning a cash register at lunchtime, said things were pretty normal.

“This is about how many people we usually have,” McKennies, also known as “Mr. Mac” said, adding that the restaurant hadn’t seen a significant increase or decrease in customers.

The Raleigh Police Protective Association wrote a Facebook post Friday sarcastically thanking the restaurant for its “class and professionalism as you sang ‘F- the police’ as my brothers at Raleigh Police Department attempted to eat at your restaurant. The manager sang along as well. Do you really feel that was appropriate?”

After looking at video, no one could find evidence that employees were singing at the police or even speaking with them during the nearly half-hour they were in the restaurant.

A new Facebook post on the Raleigh Police Protective Association’s page went up Wednesday acknowledging the mistake and encouraging officers to continue dining at Smithfield’s.

Since the incident, the restaurant has been inundated with phone calls, McKennies said.

“We’ve gotten a lot of negative calls,” he said. “But anyone who comes in (and wants to talk about it), we just try to divert it. We’re not really commenting on it.”

The staff has seen some support, though.

“We’ve had a few people call and leave cards or a letter,” McKennies said. “It hasn’t been all bad. There’s been some good.”

This story was originally published May 4, 2017 at 2:59 PM with the headline "Business as usual at Smithfield’s after ‘F--- the police’ controversy."