TGI Friday's in Tennessee is receiving hostile response from the public after they have refused to serve on-duty officers earlier this week citing the restaurant's gun policy.
As reported in Eater, three parole officers were asked to leave TGI Friday's chain in Tennessee because they were armed. Allegedly, the manager told the parole officers they were not allowed to have guns in the restaurant. The parole officers were identified by the Tennessee Department of Corrections to be on duty and were even carrying state-issued law enforcement identification.
One of the parole officers involved in the situation expressed his disappointment in Facebook. He wrote a post about the incident on law enforcement community on his page. The officer said that he and his co-workers were thrown out in TGI Friday's in Franklin Tennessee because law enforcement is not welcome adding that "It's so nice to be treated like crap when [I am] just trying to take my lunch hour."
President of the Tennessee Fraternal Order of Police, Johny Cumby, said "The officers are out there to protect the public. If somebody comes in while someone is on their lunch break, they are not off-duty. They are still an officer."
After the incident, the official Facebook page of the restaurant were rated with negative one star reviews, many calling for a boycott of the chain and calling for the manager's termination. There were also screenshots of responses made by the manager to the angry messages. They were reported to be taken down as of now.
TGI Friday's manager has posted their apology in response to the backlash of the public. They stated that the uniform of the parole officers were not recognizable and offered to rectify the situation. The message also stated that they are trying to avoid any public shootings. This was later taken down saying that the manager clearly misunderstood the restaurant's gun policy.
In a statement released by the restaurant Tuesday evening, TGI Friday's said that while customers are banned from carrying guns, law enforcement officers are able to eat while armed. The manager was said to be properly coached with this now. The restaurant also added that, "We have reached out to the officers to personally apologize for the unfortunate misunderstanding, and we've invited them back in to join us for a free lunch."
What do you think of TGI Friday's obvious ignorance? Will you boycott the food chain? Share us your thoughts.
