Well, that backfired for the police.
In Glasgow, Scotland, a new café called the Pink Peacock is getting ready to open. The “queer, Yiddish, anarchist vegan community café” is preparing for a “pay-what-you-can” structure. Though, as the Glasgow Times points out, that structure is already in place with the business’s online store. There, customers can choose to pay the suggested retail price of merchandise or pay more/less than that recommended number.
One such item on the online store is a tote bag with the caption “f**k the police” printed on its front. And recently, that bag became the source of aggression from the local government.
The inside of the soon-to-open Pink Peacock includes a Palestinian flag, the slogan “Jews and Queers for a Free Palestine,” handwriting saying “Queer Jews are not afraid of the coward who smashed our window,” and more liberal/queer items. But, it’s the before-mentioned tote bag placed on the store’s front window that got the attention of the police.
if you too want to disturb the peace with an offensive, alarming and distressing tote bag, you can get yours here 💋https://t.co/w54F2QJzbb pic.twitter.com/vkciEfKP4r
— די ראָזעווע פּאַװע pink peacock (@dirozevepave) June 15, 2021
(part 2) pic.twitter.com/SjX78Dnwgq
— די ראָזעווע פּאַװע pink peacock (@dirozevepave) June 15, 2021
On Monday, June 14, Glasgow police charged 32-year-old Morgan Holleb, who is non-binary and uses he/him pronouns, for breach of the peace. Two police officers also entered the café and demanded the removal of the bag with the claim that it was evidence.
After the incident, a Police spokesman said: “Police in Glasgow received complaints from the public regarding an item displaying offensive language in the window of premises in the Victoria Road area of Govanhill. We can confirm that a 32-year-old man has been charged in connection with a breach of the peace and the item has been removed from the premises.”
But according to the Jerusalem Post, Joe Issaac, another co-founder of the establishment, recorded the whole moment. He then posted the video online with the statement that the incident was “an obvious attempt to intimidate us.”
But, according to the owners, the intimidation tactic “won’t work.” In fact, Isaac’s video shows Holleb immediately replacing the tote bag with another one that reads in Yiddish, “daloy polizei.” When translated in English, the phrase reads, “Down with the police.”
So, it seems the Pink Peacock is not taking this intimidation tactic lying down.
Source: The Jerusalem Post, Glasgow Times,
