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NYC bartender caught on video kicking out patron for his pro-Trump visor. Bartender now paying for 'political' move.
Image source: Facebook video screenshot

NYC bartender caught on video kicking out patron for his pro-Trump visor. Bartender now paying for 'political' move.

'We contemplated firing him but didn't think it warranted that'

A New York City bartender was caught on video kicking out a customer for wearing a red visor displaying the phrase "Make America Great Again" — President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign slogan — and that bartender just got handed a two-week suspension for his "political" actions, Gothamist reported.

The visor-wearing patron was 50-year-old Dion Cini, the outlet said. You might remember Cini as the conservative activist who got kicked out of Disney World for unfurling a Trump 2020 banner on Splash Mountain late last year.

Cini told Gothamist he was eating at Jake's Dilemma last Wednesday when he was told to leave — and he captured a good bit of the confrontation on video.

Cini is heard on the clip calling the bartender in question "soy boy" and asking him if he hates America. He also argues with a security guard, who tells Cini he was asked to take off his visor and was told to leave after he refused. Cini told Gothamist he's contemplating legal action against Jake's Dilemma.

Here's the clip. (Content warning: Profanity):

What does an owner of the bar have to say?

Jake's Dilemma posted a Facebook message Saturday saying the bartender "took it upon himself to wrongly promote his political views. We can assure everyone that this employee has been disciplined and will be retrained before being allowed to serve" at the establishment.

"We contemplated firing him but didn't think it warranted that," Mitch Banchik, a co-owner of Jake's Dilemma, told Gothamist, adding that the bartender got a two-week suspension.

More from the outlet:

Still, the owner freely admits that his employee did not do much wrong, and that the fallout from the incident was likely exactly what Cini had wanted. "The guy was actually being really obnoxious before the bartender did anything, and was given several warnings," said Banchik. "He instigated it and said it was because of his hat...he was looking for this sort of scenario."

Asked what prompted the suspension, the owner said the bar was "being unfairly treated" by the public, adding that the employee shouldn't have made any comment about the man's hat. In the video, the bartender can be heard saying, "I don't like red hats, I only like green ones"—an apparent reference to his own Jets cap.

After Cini refused to leave the pub on his own, he demanded the bar staff call the 20th precinct—"I know them very well," he said—which the bartender did. Police arrived shortly after and, Cini claims, offered him a solidarity handshake.

Gothamist reported that the bar owner said Cini is "welcome back any time, as long as he behaves himself."

What else did Cini say?

"They weren't happy about what happened at the bar," Cini told Gothamist of the police. "They shook my hand and sent me on my way. I know a lot of police officers in the 20th precinct; they follow me on Facebook because of all the Trump stuff I do. It's friendly."

The list of MAGA-related carnage grows longer every day

As you're no doubt aware, the Jake's Dilemma incident is far from the first time folks have lost it after coming in contact with MAGA clothing or Trump campaign imagery.

A handful of recent examples:

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