A controversial Popeye’s restaurant sign in Lake St. Louis, Missouri, began making the rounds of social media in the last couple of weeks, claiming that the fried chicken business “reserved the right” to refuse service to white customers starting in June.
The sign, which was placed on a drive-thru speaker, also alleged that the restaurant was under new management and would be responsible for the new rule.
According to KMOV, it read, “Effective 6-1-21, this restaurant is under new management and will reserve the right to refuse service to white people. We apologize for any inconvenience. Signed, general manager, Mason.”
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But the fast-food restaurant’s actual manager asserts that it wasn’t them or any other employee who put up the sign. According to KMOV, the unnamed Popeye’s manager claims that surveillance video footage confirms that a non-employee was responsible.
Lake St. Louis Police Department’s Chief Chris DiGiuseppi confirmed to USA TODAY that those who posted the sign didn’t work at the Popeye’s location, saying, “The manager’ did NOT post this sign. The business is NOT ‘under new management’ as alleged per our investigation.”
Police now believe the controversial sign was all a bad prank, KMOV reported. Lake St. Louis police are also looking into a possible connection to an act of vandalism at the fast-food restaurant last month when multiple food menus were destroyed with spray paint.
Due to the shared images of the sign going viral on social media and following backlash, the Lake St. Louis Popeye’s was forced to close last Wednesday, May 26. According to KMOV, cars piled into the drive-thru to get a glimpse of the sign, causing even more of a stir.
“That’s good for the Popeyes. They didn’t do that. But a community, you shouldn’t do anything like that. That’s going to stir up more problems,” a nearby resident told KMOV after traveling over to see the sign.
