Diners caught off guard as a GOP group aired footage relating to Breonna Taylor's death at a KY rest

[Nevilledog]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/footage-breonna-taylors-shooting-shown-kentucky-restaurant-rcna66748

Diners at a Greek restaurant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on Tuesday night were subjected to police body camera footage from the night Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her Louisville apartment in 2020, according to the local NAACP and restaurant patrons.

The Republican Women’s Club of South Central Kentucky scrambled to find a new venue for an event featuring former-Louisville-police-officer-turned-conservative-author-and-pundit John Mattingly after the initial location for its dinner, the Bowling Green Country Club, said it would no longer host the group. Additionally, gubernatorial candidate and Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles backed out of the event because of the mounting controversy around Mattingly’s attendance, according to Spectrum News in Louisville.

Mattingly was one of the three police officers who raided Taylor's home and fired shots while searching her apartment for her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover. He was not in the apartment at the time. Glover was handed a five-year probation sentence in 2021 after he accepted a plea deal from prosecutors for charges related to narcotics.

The Tuesday night event took place in the balcony of Anna's Greek Restaurant, while it was still open to patrons unaffiliated with the event. According to the Bowling Green-Warren County NAACP and restaurant patrons' accounts online, the lights went dark, as patrons unaffiliated with the event heard and saw graphic descriptions of the incident that killed Taylor. The audio from that night could be heard throughout the restaurant, through its speaker system.

*snip*

[Historic NY]

1. Lots of former patrons...

[3Hotdogs]

2. Was that connected to the Bowling Green Massacre?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. Fucking ghouls.

“These events may be controversial, however, we believe Sgt. Mattingly has the right to share his experience,” the group said in a statement to Spectrum News in Louisville earlier this week. “Other individuals with firsthand experience relating to this case are welcome to request an opportunity to speak to our organization as well.”

[Nevilledog]

4. Kentucky GOP Club Blares Footage of Breonna Taylor's Death to People Innocently Eating Their Dinner

https://newrepublic.com/post/170116/kentucky-gop-club-john-mattingly-breonna-taylor-restaurant

No paywall
https://archive.ph/xA83Y

The Republican Women’s Club of South Central Kentucky held an event this week honoring one of the cops in the raid that killed Breonna Taylor.

The event took place on Tuesday at Anna’s Greek Restaurant, a well-known local restaurant in Bowling Green, with a dining area and second-floor space where events can be held. There, former Louisville Metro Police Department Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly, one of the officers who conducted the no-knock warrant and raid that killed Taylor in March 2020, reportedly shared photos and blared video footage with gunshot noises.

Meanwhile, the restaurant was open to the public at the time of the event. Guests, some of whom had made reservations, were not informed by management about the last-minute event happening upstairs. Guests, including people of color, there for their own dinner plans were then shocked by what appeared to be a bustling event celebrating an officer who was part of the raid that killed a Black woman in her own home.

Cayce Johnson, a guest at the restaurant that night, told The New Republic that the lights dimmed in the middle of their meal. “The woman comes back on and introduces Jonathan Mattingly, and everyone just roared upstairs—applause, cheers, and our mouths just dropped.” Sound carried throughout Anna’s, a retro-fitted old church.

Johnson said Mattingly took the audience “back to March 2020” before going through the presentation with photos and video footage with the sound of gunshots. “One of the members of our group was a war veteran and he has PTSD, so we were just in extreme shock.”

*snip*

[Hekate]

12. That is one of the most disgusting things I've ever read

Looks to me like the restaurant owner doesn’t give a damn if he drives away everyone but raving bigots. Quote

After realizing the event included Mattingly, Johnson and her friends sought out the restaurant owner, Vilson Qehaja. Qehaja responded to the group’s concerns by literally shrugging his shoulders, according to video footage. “I have no idea what’s happening, so,” he said as the group complained about the presentation on Taylor. “I have nothing to do with that, so.”

One of Johnson’s friends said “Do you realize who that is? They killed somebody, a cop. He’s a cop…I made reservations, I came from Kansas City.”
“You’re being served, right?” Qehaja responded.

Guests say Qehaja later simply turned up the music.

[Gore1FL]

5. I doubt I'll ever be in Bowling Green.

Should the unlikely happen, I know what Greek restaurant to avoid if they remain open after this.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

6. event featuring a felon? still on probation

[liberalmuse]

7. The entire GOP is absolutely vile, probably beyond redemption.

I can't believe what I just read. JFC. This cannot become the new normal. All decent people need to actively keep pushing back against this unacceptable behavior.

[2naSalit]

8. +1

[electric_blue68]

9. (phonetically) Ah, stu-vee-av-valoo!* Greek for *Go to the Devil!

The only curse I ever heard my 1st Gen Greek-American mom say!


Beyond disgusting!

[ornotna]

11. I remember that one

Learned it when living in Greece for a couple of years as a child.

[electric_blue68]

10. (phonetically) Ah, stu-vee-av-valoo!* Greek for *Go to the Devil!

The only curse I ever heard my 1st Gen Greek-American mom say!


Beyond disgusting!

[Midnight Writer]

13. GOP porn.

[niyad]

14. Yelp, anyone?

[Takket]

16. from yelp....

"This business recently received increased public attention resulting in an influx of people posting their views to this page, so we have temporarily disabled the ability to post here as we work to investigate the content. While racism has no place on Yelp and we unequivocally reject racism or discrimination in any form, all reviews on Yelp must reflect an actual first-hand consumer experience (even if that means disabling the ability for users to express points of view we might agree with). Learn more on Yelp Support.

If you’re here to leave a review based on a first-hand experience with the business, please check back at a later date."

"This business is being monitored by Yelp's Support team for content related to media reports."

but some reviews have gone through.........

"A restaurant that allows a cop and his GOP Klanfolk to play aloud the audio and video of Breonna Taylor's murder should not be in operation. Sickening."

"You all allowed the video of Breonna Taylor to be shown. The raid where she was murdered by police! Explain yourselves!"

etc etc..........

https://www.yelp.com/biz/annas-restaurant-bowling-green-2?sort_by=date_desc

[niyad]

19. Thank you.

[wnylib]

17. So how many patrons walked out without waiting for their order?

Or without paying? Guaranteed that I would have.

[Hekate]

24. I would have. Everyone close to me would have. What they did was beyond the limits of decency.nt

[TNNurse]

18. Truly sick and why did these perverts have access to this???

[niyad]

20. For those who wish to express their views:

Anna's Greek Restaurant
270-846-2662

[intheflow]

22. It wasn't Anna's Greek Restaurant that's the problem.

They responded appropriately (after the fact) by refusing the group to meet in their restaurant ever gain. Anna's did not plan, promote, or participate in anyway with this literal horror show. They just rented a room to a group - as per their regular "private dining rooms: policy, as far as I can tell.

It's the Republican Women of South Central Kentucky that organized the event, brought in Mattingly, and cranked the sound up so high that diners on the first floor could hear gun shots from that room on the second floor. I really don't think calling the restaurant will do anything except allow outraged people to rant at them while continually saying, "Yes, we agree, these was reprehensible and will not be tolerated back on our premises."

[niyad]

23. Rezd post 12. The owner did not give a fuck.

[lostnfound]

21. I genuinely am struggling to comprehend this.

It can’t possibly be what I think you are saying. Maybe I’ve had a stroke, or maybe I died and went to hell.