Protesters rallied outside a Brooklyn coffee shop after a Jewish congressman was targeted in a social media post over his support for Israel.
Poetica coffee, owned by Parviz Mukhamadkulov, an Uzbek immigrant, is currently under investigation by the Justice Department, which stated that federal law prohibits public accommodations from discriminating against patrons based on race, religion, or national origin.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) said he had a pleasant interaction with a barista at Poetica Coffee. But after his visit, the coffee shop publicly criticized Goldman for coming in. The since-deleted Instagram post includes a surveillance photo of Goldman and a long message saying they don’t want the congressman’s money, according to News12bx journalist Heather Fordham.
“Hey, Congressman Dan Goldman, we see that you stopped by our shop today for a coffee. Do you see how it doesn’t taste like genocide juice? Or are you still having a hard time telling the difference?“ read the post. “We don’t need your money (it’s probably coming from AIPAC anyways).”
Pro-Israel activists voiced concerns over antisemitism and accused the shop of illegally discriminating against Jews. Other protestors rallied in defense of the coffee shop and Palestinians on Wednesday morning.
In response to the incident, New York State Assemblyman Michael Novakhov filmed himself entering the coffee shop. There, he asked a barista if they would serve a “proud Jewish Zionist” in a Tuesday post on X.
“Do you still sell coffee to Zionists, to Jews, to pro-Israel?” he said.
“To everyone,” responded the barista.
“They learned their lesson because they refused to sell it to Dan Goldman, and now there’s a Department of Justice investigation against this store,” responded Novakhov.
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Novakhov concluded by sharing a flyer for the protest, which accused the coffee shop of discriminating against Jews and linked the incident to rhetoric associated with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Goldman, however, has said himself he does not believe the coffee shop’s post rises to the level of a civil rights violation. He argued that he thinks the department should instead focus on investigating cases involving less public figures.