Seattle chocolate shop owner meets with officers who were denied service to apologize after store and staffer ‘part ways’

The Post Millennial reported Tuesday that a Seattle police officer and a trainee walked into Chocolati on N. 45th Street in the Wallingford neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon. The officer was ignored by a white female employee with green streaks in her hair. When the officer got her attention, he asked for a box of chocolates and the employee said, "No, I won’t serve you."

After The Post Millennial exposed the volatile incident, the employee’s decision to refuse service backfired and individuals took to social media to slam Chocolati and show their overwhelming support for the Seattle Police Department.

Following the story breaking, other officers contacted The Post Millennial with more stories of poor treatment at other locations in the chain.

Following publication of The Post Millennial article, Washingtonians from all over the Greater Seattle area began buying chocolates and dropping them off at local police precincts to show their support for SPD. According to one source at SPD a “sh**-ton” of chocolates were delivered to local precincts.

After the intense social media backlash, Christian Wong, owner of Chocolati, posted a lengthy apology on Friday night. "I was shocked and disappointed to learn that one of our employees had refused to serve a Seattle Police Department officer at one of our cafes. We work to advance diversity and inclusion at our business, and for our team members to follow their passions and to be engaged in the critical issues we face as a city, and a nation. However, our team members cannot decide which customers to serve based on their own personal political beliefs. This simply is not an acceptable practice at our business."

Wong added, that the employee who refused service to the officer and his trainee was no longer employed by the establishment. "That is why as soon as I learned of this incident, we worked to understand the facts of what took place, and we spoke directly with the team member involved. We also spoke with the Sergeant of our local SPD precinct. After fully understanding the facts of this incident, we came to the mutual conclusion that it was in the best interest of both parties to part ways with the team member involved in this incident. We also continue to communicate with our employees about our values and how we serve our customers to ensure an incident like this does not happen again. We will do better."

On Sunday, Wong met with the officer, the trainee and Seattle Police Officer Guild President Mike Solan to apologize. Solan told The Post Millennial that the meting was very productive and was a great step towards "building bridges for the future."

Solan will be detailing his impressions of the meeting as well as the community response to the incident in his podcast Hold The Line on Monday.