Abraham ‘Avrumy’ Knofler caught on video harassing Bed-stuy Burly Coffee barista over Black Matters alive sign, accusing it of being racist. Repeat offender.
Here we go again. A ‘white man’ who champions himself as pro Trump and believes the coronavirus is ‘fake news’ has been filmed harassing a Bedford Stuyvesant coffee shop barista Thursday morning over their Black Lives Matter sign in the window.
Notice of the unfolding calamity involving troll du jour, Abraham ‘Avrumy’ Knofler came courtesy of Bed-stuy local, Rohan Singh who was making his way to the Burly Coffee/Better Read Than Dead, located on Koscuizsko Street, just after 9:30 a.m.
‘This is offensive and I want you to take off this sign.’
‘So, this was my morning,’ Singh posted on Twitter. ‘I just wanted to get some coffee. But this racist asshole decided it’s time to educate us and ‘make a protest’ about how ‘all lives matter.”
‘From what the barista told me, the man specifically walked up to complain about either the sign and/or the mask policy,’ Singh told via Gothamist. ‘The barista was already trying to get the man to leave when I arrived. I stepped up and harshly told him to leave as well, but he wouldn’t. So then I just started filming.’
In the video (see directly below) which was first posted on Reddit, Abraham Knofler can be heard arguing with an employee, pointing at the sign and saying, ‘This is the most racist thing out there, I’m not a racist…This is offensive and I want you to take off this sign.’
So, this was my morning. I just wanted to get some coffee. But this racist asshole decided it’s time to educate us and “make a protest” about how “all lives matter”. https://t.co/Z1LbyBPO52
— Rohan Singh (@rohansingh) June 18, 2020
‘The sign is causing the problem, not me.’
While several onlookers gathered and pleaded with Knofler to leave the female employee alone, who’d insisted Knofler wear a mask, Knofler refused, continuing instead to harass the hapless female barista.
‘This sign caused the whole problem,’ an adamant Knofler continued to repeat. ‘The sign is causing the problem, not me.’
‘I don’t understand why this is so offensive to you, to see something saying that ‘Black Lives Matter,” the store’s employee tried to explain to Knofler. ‘It’s not saying that all lives don’t matter, it’s just saying that Black lives matter because they haven’t mattered in this country ever.’
The obvious point was lost to Knofler who refused to relent, instead bringing up conservative talking points, including that Republicans freed the slaves.
But there’s more.
At some point, Knofler started to complain why he even had to wear a mask, while starting to chant ‘all lives matter’ and insisting he was simply protesting.
Earlier in the argument, Knofler could be heard saying, ‘the pandemic is a hoax, only sheep like you wear the mask, because you’ve been told whatever you’ve been told, but you don’t use your head, because you’re stupid.’
YankeesChannel: pro Trump, coronavirus just a hoax
‘I was making a protest—all lives matter,’ Knofler explained via Gothamist.
‘They don’t have to take it down, I just wanted to defend all lives matter,’ the Brooklyn native claimed.
A regard of Knofler’s Twitter page, YankeesChannel (since deleted – can you guess why?) reveals him being fiercely pro-Trump, with lots of RTs of conservative figures and posts while also referring to coronavirus as a hoax (“#covidBS”).
Singh posted onTwitter that while Knofler was nonviolent, ‘it was a horrible situation for the barista who was trapped there. I feel really bad for her.’
But there’s still more.
Burly Coffee following Thursday morning’s shit fest revealed it wasn’t the first run-in they’ve had with Knofler.
‘We strongly stand with Black Lives Matter and applaud our staff for standing up to the blinding hate that has appeared at our door. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident with this person and our priority continues to be the safety and well-being of our staff,’ Burly Coffee posted on Instagram. ‘We are overwhelmed by the generous support of our staff via our Venmo Tip Jar. The baristas that experienced this hatred will receive the tips directly. Burly will be making a contribution in support of the community we love and are thankful to be a part of.’
