Restaurant employees did not sing ‘F--- the Police’ to officers, investigation now finds

No employees were singing “F--- The Police” to Raleigh officers while they ate at Smithfield’s Chicken ’n Bar-B-Q on Friday, despite claims by an organization that represents Raleigh police officers, the restaurant owner and his attorney said at a press conference Wednesday.

Raleigh Police Department Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown also released a statement Wednesday concurring with the owner, David Harris, and his attorney Mark O’Mara.

Harris and O’Mara spoke at a press conference at the restaurant at 4000 Jones Sausage Road. The conflict was sparked Friday after the Raleigh Police Protective Association wrote a Facebook post 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?”

On Wednesday, Deck-Brown said that two officers witnessed one employee make eye contact with them and mouth the words “F--- the Police.”

“There was no singing. There were no other employees involved,” Deck-Brown said. “Because of the subtle nature of this act, it was not witnessed by anyone else in the store.”

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

O’Mara said the officers in the restaurant contacted a friend who then posted what turned out to be an incorrect account of what happened to Facebook.

“Now 400,000 hits later, we are the company who hates cops,” O’Mara said.

In an interview Saturday, Raleigh Police Protective Association President Matthew Cooper, who shared the Facebook post, said, “This is something that, unfortunately, officers have to deal with now on a regular basis.”

The association’s post went up at 8:33 p.m. on Friday. Within three hours Harris posted an apology. He promised to investigate and “terminate anyone employed that doesn’t share our RESPECT of ALL law enforcement.” He said Wednesday that one employee who was asked about his involvement in the incident has quit.

Cooper said there were a couple of officers in the restaurant when employees started to sing the song from the late 1980s, though he would not give the exact number. He said the police association spoke with Harris and accepted the store owner’s apology.

Harris has worked for Smithfield’s for 24 years and owned the restaurant on Jones Sausage for more than 17 years with co-franchisee Willie McKennies, who has been the store’s general manager since it opened. The restaurant has a Garner address but is in Raleigh city limits.

Since news broke on the issue, Harris said he has been deeply hurt by the portrayal of his restaurant.

“I’m very frustrated by the way we were cast,” he said.

Harris said he has a long-standing relationship with the police department and hopes it will continue.

The original story is posted below

GARNER, N.C. The owner of a Smithfield’s Chicken ’n Bar-B-Q restaurant in Garner has apologized for the way his employees treated Raleigh Police Department officers.

The apology came after a post on Facebook was spread far and wide by officers who said the store’s employees sang NWA’s song “F--- The Police” as they ate.

The post, written on the Raleigh Police Protective Association’s page, thanked 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?”

The post went up at 8:33 p.m. on Friday. Within three hours, David Harris, the store’s owner, posted an apology. He promised to investigate and “terminate anyone employed that doesn’t share our RESPECT of ALL law enforcement.”

In an interview Saturday, Raleigh Police Protective Association President Matthew Cooper, who shared the Facebook post, said, “This is something that, unfortunately, officers have to deal with now on a regular basis.”

Cooper said there were a couple of officers in the restaurant when employees started to sing the song from the late 1980s, though he would not give the exact number. He said the police association spoke with Harris and accepted the store owner’s apology for Friday’s incident.

Harris, in a Facebook post, said, “Willie McKennies is my partner and has been the General Manager since we the store opened over 17 years ago. We have had a long standing relationship with Raleigh Police Department,” Harris wrote. “We respect law enforcement, we have called upon them in the past for assistance, we take utmost seriousness of this issue.”

The police association’s page thanked Harris for his, “quick and heartfelt response to this matter. We truly believe that the actions of these employees do not share your values,” the poster said.

This story was originally published April 29, 2017 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Restaurant employees did not sing ‘F--- the Police’ to officers, investigation now finds."