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Threats after Nazi uniform controversy forces Massachusetts restaurant to close temporarily
HUDSON – A restaurant in Massachusetts was forced to close temporarily after threats were made against its workers. The messages came days after the staff served World War II reenactors who were in the restaurant wearing Nazi uniforms.
A group of historians from the American Heritage Museum went to the Kith and Kin in Hudson to have dinner Saturday night. The restaurant said four were dressed as American soldiers, one as a military nurse and two were dressed as SS soldiers.
Kith and Kin restaurant apology
The restaurant owners apologized on their Facebook page Sunday.
“In hindsight, they should have been asked to change before being seated. Even though we knew they were living historians, at a time when acts of anti-Semitic violence continue to rise, we should have realized other diners might not be aware of the local WWII re-enactment,” the statement said.
“We would never intentionally do anything to offend or hurt anyone in the community. If we truly thought these individuals held anti-Semitic beliefs, we would never have allowed them to step foot in the restaurant. As a small, family-owned business, we strive every day to do our best and are continuing to learn and grow. Last night we fell short, and we deeply apologize.”
Restaurant threatened
Despite the apology, the restaurant was forced to shut down temporarily Tuesday because, they say, of threats.
“After last night’s news airings, our restaurant has been the target of increased harassment and threats. Therefore, for the safety of our staff, we will unfortunately be closed today, Tuesday, October 15,” the owners said in another Facebook post.
The museum, which is also based in Hudson, said it’s not appropriate to wear the uniforms outside of an historical or educational context.
“Beyond thoughtless”
“Let’s put that in context. It’s at a time when acts of antisemitic violence are on the rise, when neo-Nazis have taken to the streets, a Holocaust continues to be denied. So wearing German uniforms in a public space, that’s beyond thoughtless. That’s repugnant,” American Heritage Museum Trustee Gary Lewi told WBZ-TV.
Lewi said the museum doesn’t even allow costumes with SS collars on their property.
“It does not exist off the field, which is why there are strict protocols that the American Heritage Museum has regarding what to wear, when to wear it, how to wear it and clearly that protocol was violated,” he said.
Lewi added, “It’s not a hate crime. It’s stupidity.”
The museum said it would tighten costume protocols and consequences.
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McDonald’s investing $100 million to lure customers back to the fast food giant after E. coli outbreak
McDonald’s is investing $100 million to bring customers back to stores after an outbreak of E. coli food poisoning tied to onions on the fast-food giant’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers.
The investments include $65 million that will go directly to the hardest-hit franchises, the company said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that slivered onions on the Quarter Pounders were the likely source of the E. coli. Taylor Farms in California recalled onions potentially linked to the outbreak.
The E. coli outbreak has sickened 104 people in 14 states, federal health officials said in an update on Wednesday.
At least 34 people have been hospitalized, and four developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious condition that can cause kidney failure. An 88-year-old man who resided in Grand Junction, Colorado, died, as previously reported. The illnesses began at the end of September, and the most recent onset of illness occurred as of Oct. 21, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The Food and Drug Administration has said that “there does not appear to be a continued food safety concern related to this outbreak at McDonald’s restaurants.”
However, the outbreak hurt the company’s sales.
Quarter Pounders were removed from menus in several states in the early days of the outbreak.
In a statement Wednesday obtained by CBS News, McDonald’s said it had found an “alternate supplier” for the approximately 900 restaurants that had temporarily stopped serving Quarter Pounders with slivered onions.
“Over the past week, these restaurants resumed the sale of Quarter Pounder burgers with slivered onions,” McDonald’s said.
CBS News reached out to McDonald’s on Saturday for a statement regarding the reported investment.
Health officials said Saturday they have confirmed the first U.S. case of a new form of mpox that was first seen in eastern Congo.
The person had traveled to eastern Africa and was treated in Northern California upon return, according to the California Department of Public Health. Symptoms are improving and the risk to the public is low.
Mpox is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that’s in the same family as the one that causes smallpox. It is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals.
Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of mpox in Africa that was spread through close contact including through sex.
More than 3,100 confirmed cases have been reported just since late September, according to the World Health Organization. The vast majority of them have been in three African countries – Burundi, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Since then, cases of travelers with the new mpox form have been reported in Germany, India, Kenya, Sweden, Thailand, Zimbabwe, and the United Kingdom.
Health officials earlier this month said the situation in Congo appears to be stabilizing. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated Congo needs at least 3 million mpox vaccines to stop the spread, and another 7 million vaccines for the rest of Africa.
The current outbreak is different from the 2022 global outbreak of mpox where gay and bisexual men made up the vast majority of cases.
