A Jewish man from Oakland is claiming he was kicked out of a local coffee shop over the weekend for wearing a Star of David hat.
Jonathan Hirsch said he had just purchased a latte at the Jerusalem Coffee House in Oakland when the owner came out and requested he leave because of his baseball cap.
"This is [a] violent hat. You need to leave," the owner said in a video provided to NBC Bay Area by Hirsch.
Hirsch said he was playing chess with his five-year-old son in the back of the coffee shop.
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"He comes back with another guy who grabs me by the shoulder and puts his hand on my back…they tell me I'm trespassing, and I say I'm absolutely not trespassing. This guy just said I can't be here for wearing the Jewish star," Hirsch said.
Other patrons called the police to the coffee shop as Hirsch and the owner went back and forth.
However, when officers arrived, Hirsch said he felt they didn't do much to de-escalate the situation.
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"We then stepped further down the street, he followed us and continued berating us…and the cops kept acting the whole time like there was some mutual disagreement here," Hirsch said.
The Oakland Police Department confirmed to NBC Bay Area that officers arrived at the coffee shop on Saturday but that the incident is under investigation.
"Officers responded to the scene and are looking into the incident to determine if it meets the criteria of a hate incident," OPD said.
The owner of Jerusalem Coffee House declined NBC Bay Area's request for comment.
Hirsch said he still can't believe the incident occurred in the city his family calls home.
"I feel like in the 80s and 90s in America, this was kind of a laughable idea that kind of thing could happen here," he said. "I don't understand how the discourse has changed."
