DC restaurant apologizes after hosting dinner where guests performed Nazi salute
Facebook/Maggiano's Little Italy
An Italian restaurant in Washington, DC, is pledging to donate $10,000 to the Anti-Defamation League after hosting an event where guests performed a Nazi salute.
On Friday, the National Policy Institute, an anti-Semitic white-nationalist group, hosted a dinner at Maggiano's following a conference where the group's president, Richard Spencer, quoted Nazi propaganda.
At the dinner, former reality-TV star Tila Tequila posted a photograph of herself and two attendees performing a Nazi salute.
NPI has been classified as a hate group by the nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center. The conference was condemned by the Holocaust Museum.
On Monday, Maggiano's apologized for the incident on Facebook. According to the restaurant, it was unaware that the NPI was dining at the restaurant because the group had made its reservation under a different name.
"This expression of support of Hitler is extremely offensive to us, as our restaurant is home to Teammates and Guests of every race, religion and cultural background," Maggiano's Facebook post reads. "We want to sincerely apologize to the community of Friendship Heights for inadvertently hosting this meeting, which resulted in hateful sentiment."
In an effort to make amends, Maggiano's is donating Friday's restaurant sales profits, which add up to $10,000, to the DC office of the Anti-Defamation League, which aims to stop anti-Semitism.
Here's Maggiano's full statement:
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