About a month ago, both Terry and I published posts on a U.S. soldier being denied service at a Muslim-owned Texaco gas station on Highway 10 in Bogalusa, Louisiana. (See my post, here).
Due to YouTube repeatedly taking down the video we posted, showing patriots protesting in front of the station, some commenters on Fellowship of the Minds expressed disbelief that the incident ever occurred. So I went on the net to see if I can find any follow-up to this story. Here’s what I found:
According to Tania Dall of WWLTV, June 7, 2012, the refusal of service was witnessed by Christopher Carnegie “a few days ago.” Carnegie said he saw a National Guardsman walk into the gas station store “and got in line and the clerk told him they didn’t serve his kind and pointed at the door for him to leave. I left my stuff and walked out behind him.”
Carnegie’s wife posted the incident on the couple’s Facebook page, which quickly went viral.
John Jones posted on his Facebook that he would put an American flag on his Harley and go to the gas station to protest. In this manner, Jones became the organizer of an impromptu protest on June 7, calling for a boycott of the business.
The owners of the gas station — who identified themselves as originally of Indian descent — did not want to be interviewed on-camera, but insisted the incident was “a misunderstanding” and that they never refuse service to customers.
WWL-TV tried to track down the National Guardsman at the center of this controversy, but have not been able to identify him.
(Click here for TV news video)
On June 8, 2012, WDSU TV reports that the gas station owner formally apologized. Standing in front of the station and the TV camera, the owner (a short dark-haired Asian Indian woman) and her English-speaking manager (a dyed-blonde Hispanic woman) held a large green poster with this hand-lettered apology:
To all of our Military & those who serve
We are so so SORRY for all this misunderstanding & choice of words
PLEASE forgive
The owner did not explain exactly what the “misunderstanding” was. The gas station held a party the next day for its customers, beginning at 11 am.
Click here to watch the WDSU news video and see the poster for yourself.
~Eowyn
The PC period, and American’s tolerance has been our own demise. These beings will lie,cheat and kill to the end of the earth. They want to make nice? Then pack up and leave while you still can. All of you.
I heard the newsguy say we heard the “Heartfelt” apology….I guess I missed it. Along with the explanation as you pointed out. I would NEVER go there again even if it meant going way out of my way to another station or risking my life in a Chevy Volt!! The only thing they are sorry about was that it actually had a backlash. MORE!!! Demand what is right!!
What is wrong with a Chevy Volt? My buddy has one and loves it.
A broken, and contrite heart my God will not dispise. All should seek peace even as the woman that apologized. When all are humble apologizing like that woman with that green poster war will cease.
This war will end only when the 7th Century, illiterate, ass-backward, camel-washer barbarians are no-longer able to wage it.
Not before.
-Dave
I think the owner is truly sorry and probably believes the story
the manager came up with…or else the manager would be a
former employee. Sometimes it’s hard to forgive your enemies
because you just can’t trust them.
Hey, left/libtards… great job with the “sounds made up like a Southern racist said it” narrative– NOT!
You were the one who FIRST posted about this!
How about the same raise I’d offered before: from $0 to $000? ASCAOTS!
You’re definitely worth it!
Be careful or you’re gonna end up as one of those over-taxed 1%-ers…he’s gonna gitchoo!!
And Snopes says this is probably false… Go figure. Snopes has been protecting anything like that for years….they must me liberal based.
..Just search for anything about Obummer on there. Once again, Obummer is always above the law when it comes to Snopes.
You are correct, Snopes is liberal owned and run. I don’t trust anything they say when it comes politics and standing behind our country or that,
. . . . . . in the whitehouse. They are definitely in the pocket of the elite!
Oh, by the way, if it is supposed to be “probably false”, explain this:
http://freevideocoding.com/flvplayer.swf?file=http%3A%2F%2Fedge.ebaumsworld.com%2FmediaFiles%2Fvideo%2F2197455%2F82596709.mp4&autostart=true
How is that any proof? It’s just a foul-mouthed, ignorant bigot repeating the rumor – there’s no proof of any kind that the Soldier was refused service. Anybody can make a video claiming anything, it isn’t proof.
I did 21 years in the National Guard, so if you’re thinking of attacking my patriotism for not believing this fool’s baseless video, forget it.
So, you swallow hook, line, and sinker a story that ONE guy puts up on the internet – with NO proof that it ever happened – and no one can find the Soldier that it supposedly involved – and I’m the one who’s gullible? Ooooh-kay then.
Yo Dumbass bigoted Grouchy, you did read where the store owner is INDIAN not Muslim…… didnt you? Im assuming you CAN read and comprehend printed text…….
I’m assuming you CAN’T comprehend printed text. Bet Eowyn’s response even confuses you…
Uhhh Kodiax to correct YOUR dumbassery, many, MANY “Indians” are Muslim! Like, ya know, about half or more of them??? Do a little research before you pop off at the many *educated* regular posters here. They’ve been following this story for a while now! I happen to think Grouchy has hit it on the nose! I bet the military WOULD give him at least an Article 15 for “causing a racial ruckus” even tho he’s prolly 14 states away by now! Possibly already overseas as we speak! They ARE that “PC”. (And scared spitless of their own reflections, not the soldiers, but the brass sure are!) And it only TAKES “one person” to break a story. Do you think ALL the media is fulla fools that require a mob to make a story valid? Go Occupy something and get off Dr. Eowyn’s page until you can learn to be A) Respectful, B) Educated and C) Learn whom to piss off and whom to piss on. I vote to “piss on” you. And BTW, DON’T piss off Grouchy, ‘k? He’s got A LOOOOT of friends here, besides, it’s a losing battle for those w/ minds as small as yours.
Actually, only about 13% of the people in India are Muslim. Most of the rest are Hindus, but there are a small number (about 2%) of Christians, as well as small numbers of Sikhs, Jews, Jains, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, etc. Pakistan and Bangladesh, on the other hand, are about 98% Muslim. (One clue as to how intolerant Muslims are – when they are the majority, they quickly become the only religion because everyone else flees the country. In Hindu majority India, Muslims, Christians, etc., live and worship but in Muslim-majority Pakistan non-Muslims left.)
Hindu Indians have lots of problems with Muslims for centuries – Muslims conquered much of India and massacred the local population. Many Hindu Indians, if you get them talking honestly, will tell you they don’t trust Muslims. Interestingly, when you look at immigrants from India in the UK (Great Britain), you’ll find that Hindu immigrants have largely assimilated and have high levels of education and income but Muslim immigrants often have not assimilated and have higher levels of crime, lower levels of income and education, etc.
After 9/11, a Sikh family near where I live was targeted by racists which upset me because Sikhs are known in India for being honorable, plus they are NOT Muslims and have often fought against Muslims in India. Also, even if the family had been Muslim, that’s no reason to target them. The actual terrorists need to be hunted down, not random Muslims who had nothing to do with 9/11.
Which doesn’t mean this Indian lady wasn’t a Muslim – she might have been. But it’s only about a 1/8 chance given the statistics…
There’s still NO evidence that it ever happened. This woman was blackmailed into apologizing for something that never happened, to keep from being driven out of business by idiots who believe everything they see on the internet – especially if it supports their ignorant bigotry.
As much as I despise Muslims and their crazy totalitarian ideology, I must agree this is like a game of telephone. There’s a good chance the lady behind the counter(whose English is probably bad and accented) told the guardsman “We don’t serve THAT kind(In reference to a PRODUCT)”, maybe even pointing down the road to ANOTHER store and saying “try there”. Some clown in the back of the line heard “we don’t serve…”, flipped out, got all patriotic and posted something stupid. Next thing ya know, voila, a protest that does nothing but give the libs more ammo, e.g. “Look/listen to these dumb racist rednecks”. Folks like us on the watch for Muslim extremist actors and advocates of Shariah law need to be more careful than this. This completely destroys any credibility we may have politically, and makes us look like a bunch of xenophobic, ass backward fools.
I am just soooo impressed by your divination ability, Ugly Mike. Somehow, you know the truth of what actually happened at that gas station. You really must tell us your special crystal-ball-gazing method, so we stupid patriots won’t get snookered in the future.
My experience with Indians from India that run businesses is that the pinch every penny and so I find it hard to believe that they would be turning down business regardless of who the customer was. And furthermore I find it unbelievable that they would intentionally disrespect someone in the military.
I agree with you on that. They do pinch every penny so hard you can hear it say ouch when it hits their hands
My parents were from India, and they WERE very frugal, though not business owners. My Mom clipped coupons, etc. But so do other very successful groups – the Jews, Scots, Japanese. I attended a Dave Ramsey course last year, a lot of what he taught was stuff my parents did and which lots of Americans did 50 years ago. Don’t go into debt. Live within your means. Budget. My parents were able to send two children to Ivy League colleges on a lower middle-class income because of their habits. Right now, with the way our Congress is spending money and the average American has way too much debt – more Americans should become penny pinchers! There is no reason for a country this blessed to be so deep in debt!
BTW, pinching pennies does not mean being stingy. My Mom used to grow her own vegetables (in a NYC back yard!) – and she always gave away some of her tomatoes to neighbors. My Dad sent money every year to help 4 needy children in India go to school (he paid for their school fees, books, clothes and food). Any school friends of mine who looked hungry got fed when they came over, and my parents were always willing to help friends who were in trouble, or donate a few bucks to the Salvation Army bucket, etc. Some Indians (and Americans) are stingy, and that’s not right. There’s a difference between being frugal and being a Scrooge.
Maybe do they have a bottle return law in La.? Maybe he was trying to return a bottle they didn’t sell. I have had that happen to me before. I’m not saying that is what happened but it is possible.
another kneejerk MORON who didnt bother to read… the store owner is INDIAN…. NOT MUSLIM you ignorant dirtbag
Kodiax,
You’re the idiot because you can’t even distinguish between an ethnicity (Asian Indian) from a religion (Muslim). FYI, many Indians are Muslims. In fact, the Hindu-Muslim rift is so bitter that after India gained independence from Great Britain, there was a great migration of Muslims from India to form their own separate state of Pakistan. Despite the great migration, many Muslims remain in India.
I was only suggesting another scenario. I have no divination ability, nor do I own a crystal ball. What I do have is healthy suspicion of rumors like this being anything but what they usually are; a crock. I have been involved with ACT! for America since it began, have been active in protesting CAIR and ISNA’s involvement with Hamas, protested showings of the film “What One Billion Muslims think”(now THERE was a crock! total propaganda) and communicating with my congressman and other elected officials concerning Shariah law infiltrating our court system, and yes, have been escorted off the premises by the Orlando FL police with my ACT colleagues for “public disturbance”(we were questioning people at a CAIR picnic and taking pix of anti-Semitic and anti Christian literature on sale there). I consider myself a patriot, and what I do is patriotic. Standing outside a gas station and bullying some “raghead” because someone”overheard…”, I don’t know what the hell that is.
Apparently there’s no room for discussion or different viewpoints on this site, I see you have blocked my previous reply, it’s your right as an American to be an intellectual chickenshit. Good day, sir!
Michael McCabe, aka Ugly Mike:
What a fine person you’ve proven yourself to be, calling me “an intellectual chickenshit”. As the owner of this blog, I have every right to decide whose comments get published — a prerogative exercised by EVERY blog and website. I blocked you because you are rude, arrogant, contemptuous, and insulting — and with this comment, you’ve just demonstrated that, once again, for all to see.
I’m ashamed that you call yourself a patriot. Your ploy to have your comment appear will end with this one. I have infinite patience when it comes to unwelcome obnoxious Orcs like you.
To Dr. Eowyn and Ugly Mike, Don’t you see the plan of turning us against each other is to distract us fro standing together? Try to reason together, I think we all three agree we need to stand against this enemy invading our country, so for two to agree yet turn on each other is to make them think they are succeeding. God Bless you both I stand with you to defend our country, we all love it and ask God’s Hand and wisdom as to the next task at hand to do so.
To Janell Coker:
I do not tolerate rudeness and insults on my blog. Please refrain from your facile moral equivalence and try to see the distinction.
God bless.
To “Ugly Mike” and “sierraseven,”
I was one of those wondering when this story broke if it actually happened, or had been a misunderstanding. I’m a liberal with many Muslim friends. My questioning was based on the *local* news outfit not being able to corroborate the story. When the locals can’t sniff it out, you have to wonder.
This new evidence, between the apology and Mr. Carnegie’s eyewitness description, is compelling enough to at least cause one to reconsider the whole matter. Sierra, your hypothesis comes with no evidence, so it can’t even be called a theory. Even though I sincerely hope it really was a misunderstanding, I recognize that right now, that is just unsupported wishful thinking.
Furthermore, and this is my main point so pay attention, if you look closely at Dr. Eowyn’s presentation here, you’ll notice that AT NO POINT has she TOLD YOU what to think. She presented the evidence she found, including **emphasized in red print** that the soldier involved has not yet been identified. She herself offered NO absolute conclusion. It was a very reasoned and balanced approach that let US look at it for ourselves and make up our own minds.
Mike, although you MIGHT have presented your view on its merits and nothing else, and let us decide for ourselves, you instead degenerated into lecturing and then into vulgarity. The only one who lost credibility here was you. All WE lost was the time it took to read your posts, which we deserve back.
~ed
Thank you, Edward. There may yet be hope for our country if you and I can agree on something!
I apologize for degenerating into vulgarity. It was rude and uncalled for. But I stand by everything else I said.
The preponderance of the substantial evidence reflects that the incident did happen pursuant to the testimony of an eyewitness and pursuant to the apology rendered for ths behavior. And Ugly Mike, I am extremely happy that you apologized. However, you should apologize to Dr. Eowyn personally for your rude insult to her. She has more brilliance, insight and intelligence in her little fingernail than you have in your entire persona, as evidenced by your presumptions, assumptions, generalizations and insulting behavior. The evidence speaks. Dr. Eowyn performed further research as set out above. She presented the facts. You are generalizing the behavior of Muslim people, even though inappropriate behavior is not governed by race, creed, heritage or color. Because you are familiar with Muslim culture or what Muslims most probably should say holds no weight if the facts do not support it. Knowing Dr. Eowyn as I do, and the good and wonderful person that she is, it pains her soul to have to post these horrible facts. But she is dedicated to the truth and will find it out tirelessly and with great determnination and fortitude.
Thank you, dearest Joan, for your kind and too-generous words. Most of my posts on FOTM are just straight reporting. In the case of this gas station incident, I do NOT know what really happened although, as you astutely point out, using your training and experience as an administrative law judge, the preponderance of whatever evidence we have is that the incident did occur, otherwise why would the owner make a public apology with the words “So so so sorry”? The owner could have denied the incident ever happened. Instead, she issued a half-apology (“it was a misunderstanding!”).
Regardless, what we have here is hearsay after hearsay. What we most definitely don’t need are commenters coming here to deposit their own mental baggage of assumptions and prejudices, generalizing about all Muslims or all southerners or all conservatives. Then, to top it off, if I question how they know “the truth,” then I’m called names like “chickenshit” and “nasty”! The Internet seems to bring out the worst in people.
Hey, Doc, the name is not fictitious
Ditto Steve! Once again, the evidence has spoken!
First timer, but here, this link to THE ACTUAL PROTEST VIDEO at the gas station:
http://freevideocoding.com/flvplayer.swf?file=http://edge.ebaumsworld.com/mediaFiles/video/2197455/82596709.mp4&autostart=true
PS
Sierra and Ugly Mike? How do you manage in life?
stupid tootheless ignorant rednecks.. pathetic
Your name calling is pathetic.
maybe he was asking the clerk if they had any kiddie porn?
Hey, “cleetus”, who just posted a comment as “wilbur” — Yes, the same “wilbur” who called us “stupid tootheless [sic] ignorant rednecks”:
Do you really think we’ll be fooled by your giving yourself a second alias of “cleetus”, so as to pretend you’re a different commenter? Cleetus and wilbur both have the same IP address in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. Then, to top it off, you actually gave the same email address for both: stoopidrednecks89@….!
Who’s the stupid toothless ignorant redneck now? You’re pathetic.
army should make it a firing spot. call in the hells angles they will help too. fire in the whole
Because a person is incensed when a foreigner refused service to a US soldier and he is from a small town in the south does not mean he is a toothless redneck or that they are biggoted. Just they are angry.
I for one live in a northern city and am very proud to call myself a redneck. A person who works outside and gets his neck sunburned is not more likely to be stupid than a New England snob. But then again most people who actually check out the information on this incident will conclude it did actually happen.
Furthermore it has happened in other places.
Well said, ponchatoula!
Terry,
I have not been in that area unfortunately. I took the name off of the ship (AO-158) I loved and served on while in the USN. Thank you for your support.
Dr. Eowyn,
Thank you,, it is a genuine honor to get a “well said” from you.
I stumbled on your site while investigating the Texaco vs US Soldier story. I hope that your site continues to grow and continues to inform, educate and influence our fellow citizens.
A very warm WELCOME to Fellowship of the Minds, ponchatoula!
It would be interesting to see what the security camera would show.
Thank you so much for posting this. Anyone who doesn’t believe it happened is either brain dead or in denial. It’s great people like you that keep the American spirit alive! We should never stand by while someone who fought for our freedom is denied service!
This has already been debunked:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/bogalusa.asp
You really do have problems with reading and you are also prone to exaggeration. The dictionary defines “debunk” as to expose or excoriate a claim or assertion as being false. The word “false” means not true.
Even the Snopes article begins with these two words: “Probably false”
In other words, Snopes doesn’t really know, which means this story has NOT been “debunked.”
I’m of a Libertarian bent, so even though I find it offensive, I think a business owner should have the right to deny service – so if the gas station had denied service to a military member – OK. However, in a similar vein, whites have the right to deny service to blacks, straights to gays, etc. You can’t say it’s OK for some groups but not others, if you do that you get the “all of us are equal but some are more equal than others” situation… not cool.
There are a lot of situations in this country where it seems whites, Christians and straights are discriminated against and that’s not right. I believe in equal rights for everyone so I hate racism against blacks, etc., but that doesn’t mean I want to see racism against whites. Instead of trying to protect minorities by protecting groups like blacks, we should just focus on protecting the rights of individuals – white straight Christian men deserve the same protection as black gay atheist women, to use an extreme example.