Unvaccinated Sit-In Shuts Down Panera in NYC

Activist July Maury tells about discrimination against the disabled and the unvaccinated:

“I fought to get more access for people with disabilities in this city…this Panera is one of the few places I can get into (with my wheelchair)… I don’t have the vaccine card so now even the places I can get into I can’t get into. I’m thirsty, I’m hungry and I can’t participate, I can’t give them my money. I want to give them my money and I can’t. This doesn’t make sense. This is a civil rights issue, a human rights issue.”

by Michael Kane

12-2-21

Unvaccinated NYC activists forced a Panera Bread in Manhattan to shut down yesterday when they demanded the restaurant serve them and allow them to sit and eat in the establishment. At least 50 police officers descended on the Panera bread but ultimately did nothing as the owners of the establishment made the decision to shut it down before 6pm when they regularly stay open till 10pm.

Many police came on scooters. One individual told us they believe the outpouring of police could have been to provide an escort for activists if they chose to march after the sit-in. I can’t confirm this to be true or not, but I can confirm many NYPD officers are extremely supportive of NY Freedom Rally, TEACHERS FOR CHOICE and the anti-mandate movement in general.

The entire action was live streamed by CHD.tv and can be viewed in full here, filmed by Stephanie Edmonds who runs the platform TEACHING LIBERTY on Instagram. After the activists shut down the establishment, Edmonds stuck around to document that the store actually remained closed, live-streaming the pad-locked empty Panera being mopped up with dozens of police hanging around the establishment long after the action was complete. You can view that footage on Istagram here.

The protest was the brain-child of activist Ari Hasanaj who is also the founder of http://www.projectstandtogether.com. You can find him on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ari.hasanaj/

The sit-in was also covered by Cafecito Break and you can watch their coverage on Instagram here. They were able to get some good footage of the dozens of NYPD Officers who came to the Panera:

It appears that the manager of the establishment chose not to arrest anyone because they did not want to arrest activist July Maury who is in a wheelchair. Maury stated she used to be a regular customer of this Panera Bread restaurant she was now banned from eating in. This leads me to believe that Maury was a well-known frequent customer of this Panera Bread until Mayor de Blasio’s vaccine passport requirement came into effect.