MAGA activists are angry and calling for consumers to boycott Starbucks. The calls come after baristas stopped working to protest the Trump administration’s ICE “kidnapping” of their coworkers. The protest took place at the beginning of this month but went viral after a video of the protest was uploaded to social media. The protest video went viral on X, angering Trump supporters. #BoycottStarbucks quickly became popular on X.
Baristas Deliver Message
“We are stopping work for a few minutes to read a statement in protest of actions against our fellow workers,” Starbucks employees at the Ellicott City location in Maryland said in a statement they read on April 1. The video quickly went viral when uploaded to X.
The baristas went on to call out the Ice detention of their coworkers Rümeysa Öztürk and Lewelyn Dixon. They also protested the detention of other students and activists “kidnapped” due to the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, as well as Palestine solidarity activism.
Student Arrested
Öztürk is a Tufts University PhD student. She is also a member of SEIU Local 509. The 30-year-old student was arrested after publishing an article that criticized the Trump administration’s response to calls for divestment in Israel. ICE officers arrested her and physically restrained her.
64-Year-Old Had Green Card
Dixon, a UW Medicine lab technician, was detained last month in Washington. At 64, she has lived in the United States for over five decades and has a green card. “We have a message for Starbucks, ICE, and the Trump administration: if you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us,” Iowa City baristas said in a message.
Union Sued
In 2023, Starbucks and its union sued each other over posts on the Israel-Hamas war that were shared on social media. Back on October 9, just days after Hamas rampaged through communities in southern Israel, baristas posted, “Solidarity with Palestine!” on X. The union claimed the post was put up by workers without getting the approval of the union. The post was deleted while having only been posted for approximately 40 minutes.
Calls To Boycott Walmart Too
As #BoycottStarbucks trends the calls to boycott Walmart continue. The People’s Union USA has dubbed the calls the “Economic Blackout Tour.” Earlier this week the calls to boycott Walmart began in response to the company rolling back on its diversity, equality, and inclusion initiatives.
Social Media Users Respond
One X user responded to the calls for a boycott with, “Well, maybe MAGA can respond by boycotting Starbucks?? OR is it too hard to give up that overpriced coffee to support @POTUS??” Another user wrote, “Removing my app and done with Starbucks @Starbucks Calling all veterans…17 million of us..let’s make this viral and stop going to Starbucks in honor of all our veterans and POTUS.”
“Boycott Starbucks” [clap emojis] for Starbucks employees for fighting for democracy. DTs a pos.” Another user wrote, “Boycott Starbucks …. nope. I love my Matcha Frappuccino, and protesting human rights is not wrong. Only bigots and Nazis are against people having human rights,” one supporter of the boycott wrote.
