A boba tea shop in Las Vegas became the target of threats for their political beliefs last week.
Milk+T, which also runs stores in Los Angeles and Beaverton, Oregon, received calls from a man furious about Pride and Biden-Harris flags they had displayed at the branch.
Store Manager Caroline Sadorra answered the phone and recorded their exchange on Thursday afternoon.
Before the recording, the man allegedly asked who the store manager was and demanded to speak to them — or they would “lose their job.”
In their exchange, Sadorra can be heard explaining that the displays are a matter of personal preference, but the man simply refuses to acknowledge.
“I’m wondering why a f***ing company have a f***ing f***ot sign outside your store. You have a candidate that’s running for the New World Order,” he told Sadorra. “What’s wrong with you?”
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Five minutes later, the man called for a second time and asked for the company’s owner. After being denied, he threatened to blow up the store.
“Anti-American owner, where is it? Who’s the owner?” the man asked. “You’re a scumbag. I’m gonna blow up your f***ing store!”
Milk+T is co-owned by Sadorra’s girlfriend, Beyah del Mundo. The company took to social media to share the calls the next day, stressing that hate and bigotry will not be tolerated.
“Expressing your political beliefs is an American right, but disrespecting another for their belief crosses the line,” Milk+T said. “This man felt the need to call us and threaten us twice without us doing anything to him, other than simply displaying our beliefs proudly outside of our shop — a Pride flag and a Biden-Harris flag.”
The Pride flag has always been on display at the store. The Biden-Harris flag, however, was left just days earlier from a campaign event for State Rep. Susie Lee.
Del Mundo thought of taking it down but eventually decided against the idea. “Right now is not the time to be silent and to be shy about what you stand for,” she told KSNV.
Milk+T has since traced the man’s number and his identity. Sadorra immediately called 911 after the exchange but a dispatcher told her it was not an emergency. Del Mundo managed to report the incident on Saturday morning.
The company received an outpouring of support from the local community. In a follow-up post, Del Mundo and Sadorra shared that some voluntarily spent hours at the shop “just in case.”
Sadorra wants the caller to face consequences, but she also suspects that he may be “going through a hard time.”
“I just hope that he finds peace, that he doesn’t do this anymore,” she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Feature Image via @milkandt
