A radical left café owner in Driggs, Idaho, is facing fierce criticism after throwing pro life conservatives out of his business and comparing their activism to the Ku Klux Klan.
The confrontation was captured on video and quickly drew outrage online.
Pro life activist Kristan Hawkins was visiting Wydaho Roasters Coffee House on Monday with her son, Bear, and members of Campaign for Abortion Free Cities.
The group had purchased food and was gathering inside the establishment when owner Jim Sheehan approached.
Bear founded the local group as part of an effort to defeat a late term abortion referendum scheduled to appear before Idaho voters on November 3.
Their peaceful presence apparently proved too much for the supposedly tolerant café owner.
Sheehan, an outspoken abortion supporter, demanded that Hawkins and the others leave his business.
Hawkins objected, noting that the group had already purchased food and had previously visited the café without such an ugly confrontation.
The owner insisted that the gathering was unwelcome because he and his wife disagreed with its mission.
In other words, diversity of thought was not on the menu at this particular Idaho coffee shop.
SHEEHAN: “I said everybody here is welcome, but I don’t want this group meeting here.”
HAWKINS: “Sir, we’re just meeting for the first meeting…”
SHEEHAN: “I don’t care. Go to the public library! This is my place of business!”
Hawkins explained that the group regularly visited the café and had already paid for its purchases.
Sheehan responded, “I have made it very clear that I did not want you here.”
Sheehan then revealed his personal involvement in the political fight surrounding the proposed abortion amendment.
He said, “I did a lot of work to get people on the ballot so women would have the right to choose in the state of Idaho, and this is something I do not support, nor does my wife, and it’s our business, so we have that choice.”
Hawkins pressed him to confirm whether he was actually expelling her, Bear, and the rest of the group.
Rather than lower the temperature, Sheehan reached for one of the left’s favorite tactics, smearing political opponents with the most inflammatory comparison available.
“It’s like, if the KKK asked to meet here, I would say no,” Sheehan declared.
Hawkins, visibly stunned, asked, “So you think pro lifers are like the KKK?”
“In my world, it’s the same sort of concept,” Sheehan replied.
That answer made clear that the comparison was not a slip of the tongue or a poorly worded moment of frustration.
Hawkins fired back that those defending the dignity of human life, including children in the womb, were nothing like a racist terror organization.
Sheehan refused to reconsider and said, “I’ve made my point clear. I asked you guys not to meet here.”
WATCH:
The café owner’s standard appears highly selective.
While pro life Christians were shown the door, the establishment has reportedly been willing to host an event called Queer Coffee Hour, making the ideological double standard rather difficult to miss.
Apparently, politically approved activism receives the welcome mat, while conservative customers who have already spent money receive a lecture and an outrageous historical smear.
That is a curious version of inclusion, though it is increasingly familiar wherever leftist politics takes priority over ordinary decency.
After the incident, Hawkins wrote on X that Sheehan’s decision should settle another long running dispute involving religious business owners.
If café owners may refuse gatherings based on deeply held beliefs, Christians should not be forced to create expressive products celebrating ceremonies that violate their faith.
Her comment appeared to reference the 2018 Supreme Court ruling involving Colorado baker Jack Phillips.
In that case, the justices ruled 7 to 2 for Phillips after he declined to design a wedding cake for a same sex couple because doing so conflicted with his religious convictions.
The contrast is glaring.
The left routinely celebrates private business choices when conservatives are excluded, yet cries discrimination when Christian owners seek narrow protections for conscience and religious expression.
Sheehan may have the power to decide what happens inside his café, but customers also have the power to decide where their money goes.
Comparing peaceful pro life activists to the KKK tells Idaho residents plenty about the contempt lurking behind the left’s endless sermons about tolerance.
The group had purchased food and was gathering inside the establishment when owner Jim Sheehan approached.
Did Ms. Hawkins get her money refunded? If not, she could have called the police and pressed charges for THEFT! That, along with the grief, distress, and anguish she felt (in court) would have made an interesting case for an ambulance-chasing attorney.