A group dressed in Nazi clothing put anti-Semitic material on scores of cars at Fort Worth Botanic Garden on Sunday, the same day people wearing similar paraphernalia were videoed eating at a Torchy’s Tacos.
The Botanic Garden’s CEO and the Austin-based restaurant chain both denounced the incidents on Tuesday. It is unclear whether the same people were involved at the two locations.
[UPDATE: Neo Nazis also showed up at Fort Worth gun show]
A video of the group eating in Torchy’s went viral after it was posted on TikTok on Sunday. The group was eating inside the Torchy’s in Fort Worth’s Medical District, at West Rosedale Street and Forest Park Boulevard. In the TikTok video, one man in the group can be seen wearing a swastika armband over a tan uniform. Another in the group can be seen wearing a sweatshirt with an image of a skull on it and the slogan “Gott Mit Uns,” or “God With Us,” both of which were used in Nazi Germany. The video also shows a swastika patch on that man’s backpack.
The woman who posted the Torchy’s video, Jessica Gregorio, told the Star-Telegram that the group of about 10 people was already sitting down and had finished eating when she walked in. She initially thought they were in costume. Their blatant Nazi paraphernalia, plus the fact that they’d been served food and seemed to feel comfortable sitting in public, made Gregorio extremely uncomfortable, she said.
@dropdeadgorjessx ♬ Oh No - Kreepa
Gregorio, who was eating with her mom, said that she was staring at the group and talking about them with her mom. Then, one of the men in the group walked by Gregorio, who is Jewish, and said “white power.” That kicked off a verbal altercation, Gregorio said.
“I just felt like, silence is compliance, and I can’t sit and watch these people in public comfortably,” she said. “Because I’m uncomfortable, so if I’m going to feel uncomfortable.”
After the verbal fight, the group left, Gregorio said. When a couple of the men then returned to order more food, Gregorio said, the staff at the Torchy’s denied them service.
Gregorio said that she spoke with a local Torchy’s employee immediately after the incident, and that employee indicated that the restaurant had called a regional manager who had instructed staff to serve the group and get them out of the restaurant as quickly as possible.
Austin-based Torchy’s Tacos sent a statement to the Star-Telegram on Tuesday afternoon, acknowledging the incident and denouncing the Nazi group.
“Let us be clear, we do not stand for hate and do not support this group or any hate group,” the statement said. “In a difficult situation, our team acted to first ensure the safety of the other guests and our team members.”
The statement also said that Torchy’s will work with “local authorities” and is “taking this matter extremely seriously.” The statement ended with, “(EXPLETIVE) HATE.”
Torchy’s posted the same statement on its social media accounts around noon Tuesday, after the initial Star-Telegram story was posted.
Gregorio also said that someone at Torchy’s headquarters called her and told her they would be retraining staff on how to deal with situations like this. The Torchy’s representative indicated that they would deny service to hate groups in the future.
Gregorio said that she was most upset with how the restaurant handled the situation, and that she was also disappointed that no other customers said anything to the group or the restaurant.
“I see all these comments on TikTok with people who say, ‘Oh, if I was there I would have stood up,’” Gregorio said. “But, you know, there were other people in the restaurant and nobody stood up. Nobody said anything.”
Incidents at Fort Worth Botanic Garden, elsewhere
A group of about six people dressed in similar Nazi paraphernalia was seen in the parking lot of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden on Sunday afternoon, according to garden CEO Patrick Newman.
Newman said the group left about 250 fliers containing anti-Semitic material on cars. When visitors alerted staff to the group’s presence, staff removed the fliers from the vehicles. By the time garden staff found out about the group’s presence, Newman said, the group had already left.
Newman emphasized that the group was not welcome on the property, and that staff would call 911 if a similar incident occurred again. He also said that no one matching the description of the group members was admitted to the garden itself on Sunday.
“Let me be absolutely clear: The Fort Worth Botanic Garden is a garden for all and we have a zero-tolerance policy for the spread of hate speech in any form,” Newman said. “We regret that it happened, and we will certainly be more vigilant.”
Also on that same Sunday, in the morning, a group of people dressed in similar Nazi gear protested outside of a church in Dallas, according to social media posts and a post by LGBTQ+ media outlet Dallas Voice.
Additionally, on Friday, two days before the protests and Gregorio’s encounter, well-known white supremacist Nick Fuentes visited the Fort Worth headquarters of a right-wing consulting group, the Texas Tribune reported. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan and others have condemned the head of that consulting group, Jonathan Stickland, who is also a major Republican donor.
This story has been updated.
This story was originally published October 10, 2023 10:23 AM.
