Coffee Shop Owner Sparks Debate After Incident With Customers

By
Mark Stevens
-

A gathering of pro-life activists at an Idaho coffee shop turned confrontational when the establishment’s owner told the group to leave, reportedly comparing its beliefs to those of the Ku Klux Klan.

The incident occurred at a coffee shop in Driggs, Idaho, where members of the pro-life organization Students for Life had gathered after purchasing food. According to the group’s account, those present included Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins’ 16-year-old son and other young activists.

They said they were not staging a demonstration inside the business. Instead, they described themselves as sitting together and discussing their work supporting pregnant women and opposing abortion.

That was apparently enough to produce a dispute with the owner.


Students for Life said the proprietor confronted the group over its pro-life position and ultimately ordered its members to leave. During the encounter, he reportedly compared allowing the group to gather at his business to permitting the KKK to meet there.

The comparison transformed what had been an ordinary gathering into a much larger argument over political disagreement, private businesses and tolerance.

“We were simply sitting together having a peaceful conversation,” Students for Life said afterward.

“We were kicked out because we’re pro-life and work to protect babies. But we aren’t backing down.”

The organization added that its members intended to continue their activism despite the confrontation.

“The backlash only reminds us that we’re making an impact,” the group said. “We will keep showing up. We will keep speaking the truth. And we will keep fighting for Life.”

There is an obvious distinction between refusing service because of a person’s protected characteristics and a private business owner objecting to political advocacy or conduct on the premises. The precise legal questions can also depend on state and local law and on exactly what occurred during the confrontation.


But the cultural argument is considerably easier to understand.

The group says its members had purchased food, were sitting peacefully and were not disrupting other customers. If that account is accurate, the dispute was not triggered by shouting, picketing or interfering with the coffee shop’s operations. It arose because of what the group believed and was discussing.

The KKK comparison made the disagreement even sharper.

Whatever someone thinks about abortion, equating peaceful pro-life activists — including teenagers — with one of America’s most notorious white supremacist organizations is an extraordinary characterization. Opposition to abortion is a mainstream political and religious position held by millions of Americans, including people who support pregnancy centers, adoption programs and other services for women facing unplanned pregnancies.


The coffee shop owner, meanwhile, has rights of his own. A privately owned establishment is not a public town square, and business owners generally retain significant authority over what happens on their property, subject to applicable anti-discrimination and public-accommodation laws.

That freedom cuts both ways.

Customers who object to how the Students for Life group was treated can decide not to patronize the establishment. They can criticize the owner’s decision publicly. They can organize peaceful protests or support competing businesses.

What they cannot reasonably claim is that political tolerance requires everyone to agree.

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