Community Corner
New Details Emerge In Racism Incident At Buffalo Wild Wings
Police reportedly began looking into the incident after Buffalo Wild Wings received threatening phone calls.
NAPERVILLE, IL — New details have emerged surrounding the reported incident of racism experienced by a multi-racial party of 18 people at Buffalo Wild Wings in Naperville. The new information, which comes from a police report obtained by Daily Herald, states that a white couple at the center of the controversy made "comments in the past at Buffalo Wild Wings that would be considered inappropriate or racist."
The party of 18 included adults and children who were identified in a social media post by one of the group members, Mary Vahl, as "mostly consisting of African-Americans." Vahl wrote that her group had been told they would have to sit elsewhere because of customers at the restaurant who were "racist."
Vahl and her party were later told the seats they were being sat in had been previously reserved for another party of 18. Vahl and her group ultimately left the restaurant, which they had formerly frequented.
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According to Daily Herald, the police report, which is partially redacted, does not name the couple that the restaurant employees said were racist, but includes employee statements from police interviews that start to provide additional information.
The pair reportedly told police that, though they had made racist comments before, they did not on Oct. 26 when incident took place. They added that the restaurant "took it upon themselves" to move the party of 18.
Find out what's happening in Napervillefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Since the incident, Vahl's husband, Justin, and basketball coach Marcus Riley, who was also present during the incident, have held a press conference with an attorney challenging Buffalo Wild Wings to work with them to retrain employees and institute a zero tolerance policy for racism from employees.
Related: 'Acknowledge This Happened:'Attorney To Buffalo Wild Wings
Buffalo Wild Wings subsequently fired the two employees involved in the incident.
Vahl and Riley were joined by Reverend Jesse Jackson in Chicago recently to discuss the incident and try to work with Buffalo Wild Wings toward change as a national boycott looms, ABC reports.
After an investigation, Naperville police said there was no evidence of a hate crime having been committed during the incident.
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