The United States government has initiated an investigation into a New York coffee chain following its decision to ban a pro-Israel Democratic lawmaker from its premises.
A top civil rights prosecutor, Dhillon, announced the probe after Poetica Coffee stated it would no longer serve Representative Dan Goldman. Dhillon, an appointee of US President Donald Trump, characterised the establishment’s actions as “reprehensible” and “potentially illegal” in a statement shared on the social media platform X.
The dispute intensified when Poetica Coffee declared, “See, here at Poetica, we don’t serve racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers, or anyone in between”, reports Al Jazeera.
The chain, founded by Parviz Mukhamadkulov, added that it had refunded a $9.82 payment made by Goldman and instructed him never to return to the branch. In an interview with CNN, Goldman expressed regret over the incident, stating that society has lost “perspective on decorum and appropriateness and just decency and conversation”. Despite the ban, the New York congressman argued against the government investigation.
He said he would prefer authorities to spend their “time and resources investigating anti-Semitism against people who do not have a platform that I do, who are not elected officials”. It remains unclear on what legal basis the Justice Department might take enforcement action.
While US federal and New York state laws prohibit businesses from refusing service based on protected characteristics such as race, religion, and national origin, these protections do not currently extend to political belief or ideology.
Poetica Coffee and Mukhamadkulov did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the investigation.
