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Gay activists bully business that did nothing, now they've shut their doors

April 02, 2015
Staff

WRITER

A local news reporter went trolling businesses in small town Indiana and chose to enter a small pizza shop, Memories Pizza. She asked the store owners what they thought of the RFRA bill. When they said that they believe anyone has a right to believe whatever they want, but they were a Christian establishment and wouldn't be catering gay weddings, well...let's just say the liberal media made the story go viral in the worst possible way. Now they've been forced to close their doors amidst a series of threats from the tolerant left.

ABC57 reported:

So, when Governor Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law, the family was not disappointed.

“We definitely agree with the bill,” says O'Connor.

When ABC 57 asked O'Connor about the negative backlash the bill has been getting for being a discriminatory piece of legislation, she says that's simply not true.

“I do not think it's targeting gays. I don't think it's discrimination,” says O'Connor. “It's supposed to help people that have a religious belief.”

After receiving threats for simply stating their beliefs, they've been forced to close their doors.

In response to the story, Dana Loesch and her team set up a GoFundMe page for the pizza joint last night. By this morning, it had raised over $60,000. And as of publication, people have donated over $210,000.

On radio this morning, Glenn interviewed Memories Pizza owner Kevin O'Connor.

Below is a rush transcript of the full interview:

GLENN: We have a great show for you today. Mark Levin will be on with us in just a few minutes. Top of hour two. Kevin O'Connor is with us now. He is the owner of Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana. He was on Dana's show last night trying to explain himself, if he was on other networks. That's exactly what they would approach him with. I want to find out how he's doing and how his business is doing today. His daughter Crystal was quoted on local television saying if a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, I guess we would have to say no. We're not discriminating against anyone. That's just our belief and anyone has a right to believe in anything. I don't think it's targeting gays. I don't think it's discrimination. It's supposed to help people that have a religious belief. Let's go to Kevin now. Hello, Kevin, how are you?

KEVIN: Hi, Glenn. Fine, thank you.

GLENN: How are you holding up, and how is the family? How is your daughter?

KEVIN: We're holding up. Emotions are pretty raw. But we're starting to get so much support other than all the first explosion of negative stuff. So that's helping a lot. People have been really great.

PAT: Are you guys closed for today, or are you going to open the shop?

KEVIN: I think we're going to be closed today. We were closed yesterday. And I think we'll be closed today too.

PAT: And that's because of the -- of the backlash of hatred you got. Right?

And threats?

KEVIN: Yeah. Yeah.

GLENN: Kevin --

KEVIN: The phone at the store, just it was constant ring. I don't think there was a two-minute break between -- that was probably the longest break of the whole time. It just was constantly ringing. So there was no way we could do business that way. So we're going to probably keep it closed a couple of days here, and Crystal is a little afraid. So I'll give her some time to get herself back together and work up the courage to go back in and get it rolling again.

GLENN: So, Kevin, you are -- you're a local pizza place.

KEVIN: Right.

GLENN: You've never had a problem with anybody before, I take it.

KEVIN: No. No.

GLENN: How and why did this local television station decide to target you?

KEVIN: The reporter that came in said they wanted to talk to the people out in small towns. And I asked, well, how did you pick us? And she said, well, I just Googled, and your pizza place came up first and that's -- so that's where I came. And that's where it all began.

GLENN: But I find that hard to believe because I know how slimy these reporters are. And this reporter might have been fine. But you do have religious paraphernalia you -- I assume that you have pictures or something, it just says that you're a restaurant that is festooned with Christian paraphernalia. So I don't know what kind of slam that is supposed to be. But I imagine --

KEVIN: We have a piano in there, an old upright piano. And Crystal had decorated that for Easter. And then we have a sign up there --

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

KEVIN: -- that we do prayers, and that's it.

PAT: Oh, no. Oh, my gosh. So that's festooned.

GLENN: That's festooned. Easter decorations up. Okay. So I find it hard to believe that you weren't targeted because you had something about prayer up in your pizza place.

KEVIN: Oh. I have no way of knowing that.

GLENN: You're a better man than I am. You are a better man than I am. Have you -- I mean, if a gay person comes into your establishment, you don't turn them away, do you?

KEVIN: No. No. We've never turned anyone away.

GLENN: Okay.

PAT: So you don't ask anybody that comes in the door, excuse me, are you gay? Are you heterosexual? Are you atheist?

GLENN: Are you Muslim?

STU: You don't have certain toppings for each sexual preference?

KEVIN: No. We don't do any of that, no.

STU: But --

GLENN: So your daughter was just answering the question of, you being asked -- and I've never been to a wedding where a pizza place served. I find it amazing that she was going to -- just by random, just Googling, I'm looking for a small town pizza place, and she found you. Because when I think of someone catering a wedding, I immediately think of my local pizza shop.

STU: Have you ever catered a wedding, gay or straight?

KEVIN: No, we've never catered --

GLENN: Anything?

KEVIN: No. It was just a metaphor --

PAT: A hypothetical.

KEVIN: -- on Crystal's, part.

GLENN: So I want to make it clear. You've never catered anything, let alone a wedding.

KEVIN: Well, we have done for the school. They do a festival, and we run pizzas down to them.

PAT: Did you make sure there weren't any gays in the school before you catered to them? So stupid.

GLENN: Kevin --

PAT: This is so ridiculous.

GLENN: Kevin, can I ask you, because you must have thought of this in the last 24 hours, can you believe this is America? Can you believe this is the United States of America the way you're being treated?

KEVIN: No. And I thought of that before. I just -- it's hard to believe the way things have gone in such a short time.

GLENN: Can you tell us just so -- because we have people who listen to us on the left and they're not crazy, and I think what's happened is, they have turned a blind eye, all the normal friends who are Democrats and everything else, they've turned a blind eye to who is really running the show here. And they are -- they are really dangerous people. Just like if the right would just shut their mouth and turn a blind eye to dangerous fringe people on the right. What are the -- what are the kind of responses? I saw a teacher in Indiana, a high school teacher said, who will join me tonight to go to Memories Pizza to burn it down.

KEVIN: Yeah, I seen that. That's -- I don't -- I don't know what to say about it. I don't know what to think about it. It's just -- I can't believe the anger. The anger -- I don't think the anger is placed so much at us, but we became a place to vent.

GLENN: Are you getting death threats?

KEVIN: I haven't seen any. I've heard. But I haven't seen. And to be honest with you, I really got off the social internet here for the last day or two.

STU: That's a good idea. Although, there are some places that are nice on the internet right about now. Dana, on the Dana Show on this network, created a GoFundMe page for Memories Pizza that has $63,000 in it. You don't have to give us all the business details. But how many weeks of profit is $63,000 for a small pizza place?

KEVIN: Several.

GLENN: Yeah. Right. Kevin, we feel for you. We want you to know that our families are praying for you.

KEVIN: That's more important than anything.

GLENN: Well, we feel for you. And my father ran a small bakery. And I know what shutting a small bakery down for two days would mean. And you may be closed longer than that. And I just want you to know that there are millions of people who are hearing you right now who will include you in their with the families at night.

KEVIN: Well, I covet those prayers. That's the strength. So --

GLENN: Listen to this guy. He's coveting. That's against a commandment. These Christians. Oh. Kevin, God bless you, sir, we wish you all the blessings that you and your family stand in need of.

KEVIN: Thank you.

GLENN: You're welcome. Thank you.

STU: The address is GoFundMe.com/MemoriesPizza.

PAT: What a nice guy. They just don't deserve it. You just can't make a comment at all anymore.

GLENN: We're not these people. We're not these people. And we can't be mad about it. If we respond in anger, we lose. We must listen to him. Listen to him. We have to respond in kindness, in gentleness, because when you put good versus evil side by side, if we're screaming and we're saying the same things that they're saying, kill them, burn them down, if we approach this with anger, we lose. We lose. We have to follow the teachings of our master. It's the only way to win.

[Music playing]

GLENN: Wow. Listen -- listen to the mocking.

PAT: No. What? That's reinforcement, my friend.

GLENN: I will let God be your judge on that one. Back in just a second.

'Sanctuary city' Democrats upset over (a few 1000) migrants, meanwhile here's what's happening in border towns

(Left) Photo by Bill O'Leary - Pool/Getty Images/ (Right) Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) are in an uproar now over a few thousand illegal immigrants coming to their cities — even though both places claim to be "sanctuary cities" for illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, the number of illegal immigrants coming into border towns is expected to exceed 6 MILLION by the end of Biden's term if things continue at the current rate.

As the Democrats ask the Biden administration to declare a federal emergency, Glenn Beck took a few moments on the radio program to compare their immigration problems to the massive influx of illegal immigrants flooding our border towns.

Watch the video clip below to hear more from Glenn. Can't watch? Download the podcast here.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Even CNN called BS on these OUTRAGEOUS lies about Rep. Lauren Boebert

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) has come a long way since she told then-2020 presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke "Hell, no, you’re not" taking her guns in response to O'Rourke's viral "hell yes" comment about proposed firearm confiscation plans.

Now, we find out that Boebert was a stripper and a paid escort, had a "meth drug problem," nearly "killed her sister-in-law during a drunk driving" accident, and somehow had an abortion five or so months before giving birth to her son. Oh, wait, no. Those were all lies, and the guy who peddled them — American Muckrakers PAC co-founder David Wheeler — admitted to CNN that his "bombshell" exposé on Rep. Boebert was chock full of "inaccuracies."

Wheeler also offered to apologize to Boebert, but on "The Glenn Beck Program" Thursday, the Republican congresswoman told Glenn that it looks like that was a lie too.

"I don't really mind that they hate me," Boebert said of her left-wing defamers. "It actually lets me know that I'm on the right track, because they cannot stand the truth ... [and] they hate anything that is good about America. So, whenever they come after me, I'm like, 'alright, we're doing good.'"

Asked by Glenn about Wheeler's absolutely outrageous lies, many of which went viral on Twitter last month, Boebert said, "They cannot attack me personally enough ... they've always stretched it too far and now they just completely make it up. They completely fabricate it. There were lies saying [she had] two terminated pregnancies, I was an escort, a stripper, an addict, all sorts of things. And, you know, people get tired of it ... it really discredits anything they're trying to do because it's so out of touch. But that's all right. We'll have my lawyers handle that one."

After CNN called the Democratic super PAC co-founder out on his "inaccuracies," Wheeler "conceded:

[T]he super PAC was wrong when it insisted a photo of another woman posing on a bed is a photo of Boebert, was wrong when it claimed Boebert initially failed to disclose a campaign contribution from Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, was wrong to suggest Cruz had made big contributions to Boebert's campaign immediately after she started running in her first primary, was wrong about the date of a Boebert vehicle accident, and was wrong when it published a claim that Boebert had an abortion "in the fall of 2004'"- at most six months before she gave birth to a son in March 2005.

Wheeler also told CNN that he would be willing to apologize, but according to Boebert, "he doubles down on a daily basis."

"[Wheeler] stands by his claims [and] stands by his anonymous sources," she said. "This is not something that he's backing down from, and frankly, neither am I."

Watch the video clip below to catch more of the conversation. Can't watch? Download the podcast here.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

CEO says TWO-THIRDS of ammunition deliveries have gone MISSING with UPS

Photo by Barbara Alper/Getty Images

Patrick Collins, CEO of TheGunFood.com, says he's "lost" thousands of dollars worth of ammunition. Why? Because customers’ orders don’t always seem to make it to their doors — especially when delivering with UPS. In fact, he says out of 18,000 rounds of ammunition shipped through UPS, only a third were actually delivered. That's a lot of ammo to go missing. So, where is it?

Collins joined Glenn Beck on the radio program to detail the issue, the lengths his company has gone to work with the delivery service, and the lack of detailed response or explanation from UPS.

Collins said UPS blames the packaging even though his company has always "met and exceeded" all available packaging protocols.

"I have pictures of how the packages are packed (and) within the packages," he explained. "And I have all of that information. In fact, we changed our protocol here at TheGunFood.com to have our drivers, when they drop off the packages at the centers, they have to actually take a picture of it on the conveyor belt when UPS takes possession of our packages."

Collins also told Glenn his company isn't the only one to have ammunition go missing during delivery. "I know quite a few other folks, that have had well over $300,000 of ammunition gone missing. And it's really changed the way we have to do our business," he said.

"The Glenn Beck Program" reached out to UPS to ask why ammunition and gun sellers might be having these issues, but the shipping company didn't exactly answer the question.

"Dear Glenn Beck Program ... Regarding your question about shipping ammunition, as a common carrier, UPS transports ammunition that constitutes cartridges and small arms as defined in federal regulations. UPS has safety protocols to help ensure the safe transport of ammunition in our network. We work with our customers to address their concerns including those with packaging. You can find out more about how to ship your ammunition on UPS.com," Glenn read.

"To [UPS], it's just a write-off. However, it's becoming a very expensive write-off. I would like to thank you for bringing a lot of attention to this because it really is a big deal," Collins said to Glenn. "It impacts people on multiple levels, more than your average citizen would think. Imagine if the police department doesn't receive the ammunition that they need to serve their civic duties."

"Well, imagine if you got sloppy with ammunition and you were just kind of losing some from time to time. What would they accuse you of?" Glenn replied. "There's no excuse. It's either theft from their own employees or it is part of a hidden policy that is disrupting the flow of ammunition ... and their stonewalling here bothers me, because there should be an answer. What happened to it?"

Watch the video clip below to hear more from Glenn. Can't watch? Download the podcast here.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Disneyland is now cancelling Walt Disney — here's why that should be a WARNING for America

Photo by Barry King/WireImage

For the first time in its 67-year history, Disneyland omitted Walt Disney's iconic opening day speech from its anniversary celebration, leaving fans to wonder how the company could have gone so "woke" that they would even erase Walt Disney from Disneyland.

But Glenn Beck thinks the reason is actually easy to spot if you listen carefully to what Walt Disney was really saying back in 1955:

To all who come to this happy place: Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world. Thank you.

"Do you hear what they deleted? And can you understand why they deleted it? To all those who enter here, greetings. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, and the hard facts, that created America. To send them fourth as a source of courage and inspiration throughout the world [...] They're not only cutting Walt, the founder, out of Disney, but they're also cutting America out," said Glenn on "The Glenn Beck Program" Tuesday.

"The America that we all grew up in, the America that we thought we knew, is gone. But it's only on hold. And it's on hold, because it is in each of us — those of us who lived it, who know its truth, who know its promise, who have received its inspiration — it should now give us courage to continue to stand up, because we know what it was. Our kids don't. But I want you to know that it has only been put in a closet for a while, and it is our job to open that door and take it back out of the closet. It's only on hiatus if we choose, otherwise it is gone," he warned.

Glenn said he believes Walt Disney created Disneyland to be the exact opposite of what Disney now is. The original mission statement was about who we are as Americans, and who we can still be. But we must recognize that times have changed. We're not living in the same country anymore, and we're not playing by the same rules.

Watch the video clip below to hear more from Glenn. Can't watch? Download the podcast here.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.