Illinois Daily Queen owner Jim Crichton unapologetically drops racist remarks, now store shut down, BLM protesting
Free speech has a price and the penalty does NOT need to come from the government. The free market dealt swiftly with a Dairy Queen in Zion, Illinois as store owner Jim Crichton insulted a black patron, even calling her the N-word and telling police that he was “sick of black people,” when they investigated the incident.
Dairy Queen initially said Crichton would undergo sensitivity training, but amid protests at the restaurant by Black Lives Matter, Dairy Queen closed the location and said it would not reopen unless a new owner took control.
“The recent actions of this franchisee are inexcusable, reprehensible, unacceptable and do not represent the values of the Dairy Queen family, our employees, fans and other independent franchisees around the world,” the company said in a statement.
The story made headlines as Deianeira Ford had asked for a refund from Crichton over a mixed up order made at the drive-thru window. Crichton gave Ford $5 and called her and her children “n—–s,” according to the police report. When Ford asked him his name, Crichton told her his name was “Bill Clinton.”
Ford’s 3-year-old child asked what the N-word meant.
The police report adds that Crichton “proudly admitted” to making the slur to Ford and the woman was “visibly upset and crying.”
“I asked him what happened with Ford and told him she was so disturbed by his behavior she was willing to sign a complaint against him,” the police report read. “(He) boastfully told me he would be happy to go to jail over the issue and proudly admitted to calling Ford a slur. He added that he is ‘fed up with black people.'”
However, the store owner told police later that same day that nothing racial took place, according to the police report.
He “continued to contradict his story about (Wednesday) morning to me several more times and was becoming angered that I did not believe him,” the report read.
Zion Police Chief Stephen Dumyahn told the News-Sun he was “disgusted and discouraged” by the man’s comments. “I reached out to Miss Ford to tell her that this does not represent the diverse community of Zion,” he told the newspaper.
In a statement obtained by the Daily News on Friday, Crichton apologized for his “recent words and actions.”
“As the owner of this restaurant, I should be a model for others,” he said in the statement. “My actions were inexcusable and unacceptable.”
Crichton was not hit with any charges.
“While this alleged activity is deplorable, it is not criminal,” Zion cops said in a press release. “One of the foundational rights we have under the U.S. Constitution is the freedom of speech. The Zion Police Department is committed to upholding the rights of all citizens, even when we find it morally reprehensible.”
Clyde McLemore of Black Lives Matter in Lake County went to the Dairy Queen and confronted the owner, according to the police report. He departed when police asked him to leave.
A Black Lives Matter protest at the Dairy Queen is planned for Saturday.
Free speech leaves the door open to hurt feelings, but the truth is that we now KNOW the heart of Mr. Crichton and no apology can change his character and the unacceptable language used to insult this woman, made even worse since it was in front of her child.
