In the early morning hours after Friday’s senseless shooting at the Century 16 Theaters, the Chick-fil-A restaurant inside the Aurora mall opened its doors to police who had been working on the grisly crime scene for hours and offered them support in the form of food and comfort. However, even as the horror is still fresh, some people seem unable to put politics aside because of Chick-fil-A’s stand on gay marriage.
It was reported that one of the people killed was an active duty sailor, but so far police have not confirmed the indentity of any victims.
The notice went out over the police radio at 4:45am Mountain Time that the restaurant had opened its doors to police and emergency workers to get a meal and use the facilities. Some double checked to see if the the restaurant was offering free food and that was confirmed.
Chick-fil-A has become a punching bag for liberals of late on the issue of samge-sex marriage. As the Washington Post reported yesterday:
It’s not every day that the leader of a big business steps into a national debate that has the potential to offend many of its customers.
But Dan Cathy, president of the popular fast food chain Chick-fil-A, has done just that, saying on a radio show that “we’re inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage. And I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude that thinks we have the audacity to redefine what marriage is all about.”
Following backlash after those remarks, Cathy then told the Baptist Press in an article posted July 16 that he is “guilty as charged” and is very “supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit.”
Reaction has been fierce and swift. Bloggers sounded off. Celebrities promised to boycott Chick-fil-A. Fans of the company reacted on Twitter and Facebook with everything from support to disgust.
Immediate reaction on Twitter to mentioning that Chick-fil-A had helped out Aurora police working on a grisly case with a hot meal was mainly positive but still took time to lash out at the company.
Twitter user @AkbarKhan said “$3M to fight marriage equality, but it’s ok cuz they gave cops some chicken tenders and waffle fries?” while @MaxGraham said the mention was “insulting to the victims to see someone try to push that chick fil a deserves a moment of credit. BARF”
It’s heartwarming to see that people can put aside political differences in a time of tragedy.