Wal-Mart employees in McDonough, Georgia, reportedly refused to make a Blue Lives Matter cake for a police officer’s retirement party because they felt it was “racist.”
The story went viral after Taylor Wilkies, a local officer, wrote about it on Facebook.
“My buddy’s sister went to Walmart in McDonough, GA to have a cake made for their father’s retirement party,” Wilkies wrote.
“She asked Walmart to make a ‘thin blue line’ cake to commemorate his extensive and honorable service as a dedicated police officer. Walmart refused to honor her request due to it being ‘racist’. To me, this is appalling. People CHOOSE to make EVERYTHING about race. I’m so tired of it. It’s literally exhausting for me to think about now.”
Conservative host Todd Starnes heard about the incident and spoke to the daughter of the officer, revealing her thoughts on the incident on his website.
“I was so shocked,” she told Starnes. “I didn’t know what to do or say or anything. I was trying not to lose my temper or make a scene.”
“I was disappointed,” she said. “I go to Walmart all the time — at least once a week spend hundreds of dollars. I just wanted to make my dad a cake to show how much i appreciated him.”
A Walmart spokesperson told Starnes that they apologized to the family, offered to make the cake for free and gave them a gift card.
“Our goal is to always take care of customers,” the spokesperson said. “But, sometimes we misstep. We’re glad we were able to connect with the family to apologize and make this right.”
Reaction to the incident was intense, with many blasting the store for their actions. One social media user, however, said he called and asked about the incident, and that an employee familiar with the claim denied that it took place.
“She was very polite, was familiar with the story, and denied that any of this was true,” the man wrote, Daily Mail reported.
“I asked her if I wanted to have the bakery decorate a cake depicting the thin blue line would they do it, and she said that they would be more than glad to, that it’s ridiculous for anyone to make this claim, and that she doesn’t understand why someone would make it. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt at this point.”
Sources: Daily Mail, Todd Starnes / Photo credit: Daily Mail
