This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A misunderstanding over a magnet that held up an American flag turned into what a Java Cow store manager describes as racially charged harassment.
Park City police are investigating the incident last Saturday at the coffee and ice cream shop and have requested surveillance video, according to a statement from the department.
Store manager Rebecca Williams said a group of men and women in their 50s yelled at a teenage Hispanic employee after the magnet slipped, apparently flipping the flag upside down without the teen realizing.
After telling the teen that his family should be deported and making other, similar remarks, one of the men pushed the manager on duty and threw ice cream on him, Williams said. The employees asked the group to leave multiple times and said they would call the police, according to Williams, and members of the group said they were police officers.
The employees interact with Park City police officers regularly and didn't recognize any of the people in the group, Williams said. They think the men and women were either visiting officers, or were not officers, she said.
"Regardless of any of that, nobody should ever say any of that to anyone, let alone a young kid, first job, who's the hardest worker I know, and the sweetest guy who was trying to fix the whole situation and got wrapped up in the middle of it," Williams said. The teen was born and raised in Park City, she said.