Four people protesting New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine restaurant mandate were arrested at an Applebee’s in Queens, according to police.
The group of anti-vaccine protesters visited several dining establishments at the Queens Center Mall on Wednesday. They staged a small protest outside the Queen’s Center Mall Cheesecake Factory, where the six were arrested the previous night, before ending up at the Applebee’s.
In a video going viral on Twitter, you can see a black woman who was trying to purchase a meal at a Queen’s Applebee’s. She was arrested
by New York City Police, and her crime was that she was unvaccinated. Police reminded the woman, “It’s the law.”
“Can’t work, can’t eat,” she said as police were slapping on the cuffs. “I want to eat. You guys are busting me over this bullshit.”
The woman claims to have also lost her job in the New York City school system for being unvaccinated.
Another white male asked, “What happened to the Constitution? What happened to free speech?” as he was pulled out of the restaurant in handcuffs.
A crowd of protesters shouted, “No more mandates!” as police cuffed the protesters one by one and arrested.
You can watch the video below:
Mitchell Bosch, a retired United States Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, was one of the men arrested at the Cheesecake Factory.
The six men were part of a sit-in in defiance of the unprecedented “Key to NYC” Vaccine Passport Program.
“This is the civil rights movement all over again,” said Derrick Gibson, one of the men participating in the sit-in. “We are doing a sit-in at the Cheesecake Factory patiently asking to be served like everyone else in the restaurant and we are not moving until we are served. We are tired of living in New York City and being discriminated against.”
New York City currently requires people to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in order to patronize dining establishments, gyms, and other indoor businesses. The enforcement of mask mandates and the checking of vaccine cards, however, has largely been left to the discretion of retail and hospitality workers.
