A group of protesters that included two people who were arrested at Waffle House restaurants and a former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star marched to the 24-hour breakfast chain’s headquarters in Norcross on Friday.
The protesters chanted, “No justice, no profit. No eggs, bacon or sausage,” as they made their way to Waffle House headquarters, demanding an apology from the Gwinnett County-based restaurant group and that all criminal charges be dropped in connection with a handful of recent arrests at Waffle House locations that the protesters say were racially motivated.
In April, Chikesia Clemons was arrested in a Waffle House in Saraland, Alabama. Clemons said a Waffle House employee escalated a situation when she tried to make Clemons pay for plastic utensils.
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Cell phone video from the incident shows two police officers throwing the woman on the ground and one telling her, “I’m about to break your arm.” Her breasts were also exposed in the process of her arrest.
Channel 2 Action News spoke with Clemons at the protest on Friday. Anthony Hall, who police put into a chokehold outside of a Warsaw, North Carolina Waffle House after taking his sister to prom in May, was also at the protest.
"Give us a public apology because we were humiliated all over the world," Clemons said. "We're just trying to come here and get what we deserve."
Hall said the officer in his case choked him and threw him to the ground. “(The police officer) put me in a car with a K-9 dog. I asked several times for a supervisor to come out,” he said.
Phaedra Parks, an attorney and former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star, helped lead the charge at the protest.
"When I saw both videos, I was very shocked," Parks said. "There have been numerous incidents with Waffle House. To see a woman — and being a mother and a woman — I cannot imagine being violated like this and it was horrific."
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In April, activists from different advocacy groups in Atlanta protested at Waffle House's headquarters, calling for accountability in the incident involving Clemons. Waffle House officials invited those activists into their headquarters for a question-and-answer session that did not go smoothly.
Earlier this week, police in Fort Walton Beach, Florida released body cam footage from a May 2 arrest at a Waffle House that shows an officer pointing a stun gun at man who was disputing his bill. The incident began when a Waffle House employee and a couple disagreed over the price of orange juice, according to the New York Times.
Waffle House released a statement Friday, saying it believed its employees in Saraland, Alabama and Warsaw, North Carolina “made the right decision to contact the police in light of safety concerns for the customers and themselves.” Waffle House said it is still reviewing the Fort Walton Beach, Florida incident, but that “both sides could have handled this situation better.”
Among the activist groups at the Waffle House protest Friday were the Women’s March, the National Black Justice Coalition, Georgia Alliance for Social Justice, Alliance for Black Lives and the Rally for Black Lives.
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