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Chicago Deli Owner Dons 'I Can Breathe' T-Shirt, Then Apologizes After Torrent of Nasty Online Messages
Mike Itta. Image via Yelp

Chicago Deli Owner Dons 'I Can Breathe' T-Shirt, Then Apologizes After Torrent of Nasty Online Messages

“It's ok I don't like racism on my sandwich.”

The owner of a Chicago deli knew something was awry when his Yelp reviews turned to nasty hate messages.

Last week, Mike Itta, owner of Piatto Pronto Deli, donned a black t-shirt with the words “I can breathe” in large white font, and “I obey the law” in small white font.

The shirt was referring to the 2014 arrest and death of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black man who was killed when a New York City police officer put him in a chokehold. Recordings of Garner’s last moments reveal that he repeatedly told police, “I can’t breathe,” words that have since been invoked by Black Lives Matter activists in major cities nationwide.

Patrons of the Andersonville deli were appalled by Itta’s mocking shirt. One customer posted a photo of Garner in the shirt on the popular review website Yelp, and others soon followed, reposting the same picture with their own captions.

“Racist fashion to garnish your terrible dining experience,” one Yelp user wrote.

Mike Itta (Image source: Yelp)

“This guy works behind the counter and mixes reactionary politics with Italian fare. Enjoy, Andersonville!” wrote another.

“This business recently made waves in the news, which often means that people come to this page to post their views on the news,” Yelp said in an Active Cleanup Alert message on Piatto Pronto’s page. “While we don’t take a stand one way or the other when it comes to these news events, we do work to remove both positive and negative posts that appear to be motivated more by the news coverage itself than the reviewer’s personal consumer experience with the business.”

But plenty of comments still remain on the site. Here are a few:

“I loved this place until I recently came across this. Never again.”

“The owner, proudly wearing a t-shirt supporting the police who killed Eric Garner.”

“It's ok I don't like racism on my sandwich.”

Itta, who was also wearing a Chicago Police Department hat the day the photo was taken, seemed genuinely surprised with the reactions he'd received from angry customers.

“If I offended anybody — anybody — I’m really sorry,” he told WBBM-TV. “I’m not a racist. Did you people, before you put those nasty words, did you call me and ask me to hear my side of the story? No, because you’ve never been in here. You’ve never seen my face. You don’t know me.”

Itta claimed ignorance, saying he had no idea what the shirt meant, and even if he did, he should have the right to wear anything he wants.

The Chicago Police Department  has been facing its own police brutality charges. Just last week a senior attorney in Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration resigned after a judge ruled he concealed crucial evidence in a fatal police shooting. A week before that, Mayor Emanuel announced new reforms in police training that he hopes will reduce police brutality.

According to WBBM-TV, Itta has since burned the controversial shirt.

(H/T: WBBM-TV)

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