Kanye West MAGA hat
photo via @kanyewest

Bartender suspended from NYC bar for kicking out man wearing a Trump visor

A bartender at Upper West Side bar Jake’s Dilemma was suspended after kicking out a Trump supporter wearing a “Make America Great Again” visor, Gothamist reports. The bar’s owner and management posted to Facebook about the incident, saying, “we strive to remain completely apolitical and welcome customers with all beliefs and affiliations with the same first-rate level of customer service. Jake’s Dilemma is not a place promoting any specific political ideology.”

The ownership and management of Jake’s Dilemma would like to directly address an incident which occurred at the bar this past week and has been making its way around social media. We would like everyone to know that we strive to remain completely apolitical and welcome customers with all beliefs and affiliations with the same first-rate level of customer service. Jake’s Dilemma is not a place promoting any specific political ideology nor a place where we want anyone to feel unwelcome. Rather, we encourage all to eat, drink, socialize and enjoy themselves at our bar. Our staff and management team include people from all walks of life and beliefs. There is no singular or any defining character of Jake’s Dilemma. With all this in mind, we do fully acknowledge that one of our employees took it upon himself to wrongly promote his political views. We can assure everyone that this employee has been disciplined and will be retrained before being allowed to serve at Jake’s Dilemma. We hope to see you at Jake’s Dilemma next time you are in the neighborhood.

Speaking to Gothamist, Jake’s Dilemma co-owner Mitch Banchik admitted that the MAGA visor-wearing customer “was actually being really obnoxious before the bartender did anything, and was given several warnings. He instigated it and said it was because of his hat…he was looking for this sort of scenario.”

The Trump supporter in question is 50-year-old Dion Cini, a former Marine whose previous stunts include showing Trump banners at Disney World, Yankee Stadium, and outside a Broadway production of Frozen. He taped the incident, and can be seen calling the bartender a “soy boy,” insisting he “didn’t do anything wrong,” and refusing to leave.

https://www.facebook.com/dioncini/videos/10157860267159587/

Cini told Gothamist that he’d spoken to lawyers and was considering suing, but last year, an NYC judge tossed a case where a MAGA hat-wearing man sued West Village bar The Happiest Hour for refusing to serve him.