Chik-Fil-A serves BLM protesters outside one of their TN restaurants

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On Saturday, BLM organizers in Tennessee held a protest in front of a Johnson City Chick-fil-A. They claimed to be protesting the restaurant “openly supporting the Blue Lives Matter movement,” WJHL reports.

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Prior to the rally, organizers told local media that they view Blue Lives Matter — which stands in support of law enforcement — as “a way to silence the Black Lives Matter movement.”

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To learn more about the situation, Independent Journal Review reached out to Chick-fil-A manager Darrell Fowler, who explained what sparked the protest:

“The day after the terrible killings in Dallas, we fed all law enforcement officers a free meal.

And I think that offended them because they tied that…to the Blue Lives Matter movement.”
As the protesters began to gather, however, Fowler met with organizer Michelle Horton to explain that Chick-fil-A had, in fact, “never officially backed” Blue Lives Matter

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As Fowler says:

“We’re not a religious organization, we’re not a political organization.

We want to serve everybody with honor, dignity, and respect.”

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Knowing how rough a hot, rainy July day in the American South can be, the Chick-fil-A staff walked out among the protesters, passing out lemonade to everyone gathered there:

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What do you do when they're protesting in front of your business? You serve them lemonade of course! You're a class act Darrell Fowler! That's how we roll here in ?#?JohnsonCityTN?

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Though Fowler says that there were a few who didn’t want to partake in the act of kindness, he noted that it was “well received” for the most part, adding:

“It’s my job in the hospitality business to make everyone comfortable, even if they’re not comfortable with me.”
For Fowler and his staff, the protest became an opportunity “to reach out in love and kindness” to their community.

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