Posted on 06/03/2010 7:04:35 PM PDT by MovementConservative
In mid-May, Portland police Officer James Crooker went to Southeast Portland on a patrol call. With a few minutes to spare, he decided to get a coffee.
So, he popped into the Red & Black cafe on Southeast 12th Avenue near Oak Street, bought a coffee and was heading out when a customer approached him, saying she appreciates the hard job that police officers do every day in Portland.
One of the co-owners of the cafe, John Langley, has another point of view. While the officer and customer were chatting, he walked up and asked Crooker to leave, saying he felt uncomfortable having a uniformed officer in the vegan cafe.
The incident, which was brief, speaks volumes about the tensions between Portland police and some members of the community who are more worried about police shootings than protection.
Crooker said he was surprised to be shown the door but left immediately. He said this marked a first during his nine-year in law enforcement, two in Portland and seven in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
"The places that I've been kicked out of before have been places like the methadone clinic," he said. "I've never been kicked out of a regular cafe."
But the 36-year-old officer, who was born and raised in Portland, said it's all part of working this city's streets in a uniform.
"We have a unique relationship with the community," he said. "You're there to protect them but on the other hand they don't know what that involves. Being gracious is part of it."
A former Marine who served in Iraq, Crooker didn't take the incident to heart.
"It was not personal," he said. "He was being hostile to my uniform," he said.
Langley, who did not raise his voice during the encounter, agreed.
"It's not about the police," Langley said. "It's about what the police represent to many people who frequent the cafe.
The cafe draws vegans -- of course -- along with homeless people and animal-rights and environmental activists who Langley said have been targets of police abuse and harassment.
But the cafe also draws customers like Cornelia Seigneur, who blogged about the incident on her website.
Seigneur, who is a freelancer for The Oregonian, was enjoying lunch with her daughter on May 18 when Crooker came in, was the one who approached him.
"There have been some unfortunate situations recently," Seigneur said. "But overall the police are out there day in and day out protecting us."
She said she struck up a conversation with Crooker to show her support for police, who she said saved the life of a friend after he was shot by gang members.
When Langley asked Crooker to leave, she was startled.
"It was shocking," Seigneur said. "Everyone deserves to have a coffee, and he was served a coffee. It was humiliating."
She said there were only about three other people in the cafe and that no else seemed to notice the officer.
But the incident has fired a reaction, with dozens of comments pouring into Seigneur's website.
It's been so overwhelming that she took the blog post down but put it back up Thursday afternoon.
The cafe, too, has received a deluge of calls, with about half supporting the cafe and the rest expressing anger.
"We've received threats," Langley said. "People have threatened to attack us and break our windows."
Still, he has no regrets.
"I never expected an police officer to come into the space," he said. "If it happened again, I wouldn't serve him."
-- Lynne Terry
the obama mentality in action...
Portland: Red & Black Cafe. Read as Communist and Anarchist Cafe.
I suspect that they next time the cafe is robbed or burgled, there will be a breakdown in police response communications.
Langley. Wonder if he was one of Jane Fonda’s friends back in the good old days. Anyone know about him?
John Langley will be the first one to call for the cops at the first sign of trouble. What a dumb a$$.
Harrassed? These Libtards are the first to pucker when something happens, loser Commies, throwbacks from the lost 1960’s.
The thing about coffee is while some brands tastes better than others, the gas station brand and the hippie-served brand both accomplish the same goal, having a desirable physical effect on the consumer. So save yourself a buck, drink some gas-station swill, and help put a pretentious beatnik out of a job. You’ll still get the buzz.
Sounds like a good place to rob. I guess he’ll call PeTA for protection.
Mark
Armed robbers, take note.
And how can the cafe owner refuse service to any member of the public under current law?
There is a war coming for the nation, Libs v. Cons.
“I never expected an police officer to come into the space,” he said. “If it happened again, I wouldn’t serve him.”
— Lynne Terry
Now imagine if the guy was a black gang banger...how fast would reverend Al make tracks to get there?
Police to Cafe Owner: If your burglar alarm goes off, don’t expect us to show up.
Note of rfile: Portland,OR should never appear on a conservative’s bucket list.
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Yep - just like Bill Ayers, who as part of the Weather Underground, tried to kill police officers, now calling the police to protect his sorry a** when he felt “threatened” by a reporter :-(
Just ask that moron Michael Steele and the rest of the imbeciles at the RNC.
And for the rest of the story? There has to be more to this John Langley, criminal history maybe?
Well now that all of the criminals in Portland know where the police won’t be.....I will LMAO if he is held up in the next few weeks.
- Eric Cartman
Saw a segment about this on the late news and Cornelia Seigneur was interviewed. She was genuinely shocked and rightly so, it’s sad that a businessman would treat a police officer this way. The officer acted the gentleman and left when asked to.
At some time in the future John Langley may need the help of a LEO and he will be afforded it, I’m sure.
That thought crossed my mind as well. The police aren't welcome there for coffee. Why bother going for any other reason? Let the jackasses solve the problem themselves.
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