Alabama Waiter Disputes Claim that He Didn’t Serve MLB Anthem Kneeler Bruce Maxwell Over Anthem Protest

A waiter from an Alabama restaurant has come forward to dispute the claim of Oakland Athletics catcher Bruce Maxwell who made national news on Wednesday saying the waiter refused to serve him because he took a knee during the national anthem.

The waiter, Matthew Henry, adamantly denied Maxwell’s claims. In an interview with Huntsville’s WZDX, the waiter said Maxwell’s story “is an absolute lie.”

On Wednesday, Maxwell, who became the first Major League Baseball player to take a knee during the anthem, told TMZ Sports that he was denied service because of his protests on the field.

“I got racially profiled in my hometown the day I got home,” Maxwell insisted. “I wasn’t even home four hours, and I got denied service at lunch with our city councilman who is also an African American guy I went to high school with because the dude recognized me as the guy who took a knee and he voted for Trump and was at that Trump rally in Huntsville, Alabama.”

But the waiter who Maxwell claims discriminated against him is now speaking out to dispute Maxwell’s tale.

“I never mentioned President Trump. I never mentioned kneeling,” Henry told WZDX. “I had no idea who he was until his friend told me halfway through the lunch.”

The waiter said that the only problem Maxwell’s dining party faced was that one diner didn’t have a proper ID and was refused alcohol.

Mr. Henry also bristled at the Oakland As player’s attack on Huntsville as a racist or discriminatory place.

“When I first read the report about what he said Huntsville’s like and that’s what it’s like where he’s from,” the waiter added. “I am absolutely offended by that and I’m hurt that he would think I would treat somebody like that, anybody.”

The aggrieved waiter concluded by demanding an apology from the MLB player.

“I would like a public apology from Mr. Bruce Maxwell,” Henry insisted. “And I would like one for all the folks I worked with. He represents Huntsville, Alabama, whether he likes it or not and we’re not the kind of people who would do that kind of thing.”

Huntsville Councilman Devyn Keith, who was one of Maxwell’s party, apologized for calling the waiter “an idiot,” and noted that he was not at the table when the initial confrontation according to Maxwell took place. But he also insisted that Maxwell’s version of the story was accurate.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.