Last week, Towleroad was first to report that Dunkin Donuts announced a mask requirement for customers after right-wing pastor Greg Locke admitted in a viral video he made a violent threat toward a manager at one of the company’s stores.
In a dispute that stemmed from Locke’s refusal to wear a mask, the rabidly anti-gay pastor said he told the employee he would “take these work boots” and “kick your teeth down your throat.”
On Wednesday, Locke issued a fake apology for the incident during a live-streamed sermon at his Global Vision Church in Tennessee.
Locke told the congregation he regretted making the violent threat, but accused the media of taking the incident out of context — even though Towleroad’s story and others were based on the pastor’s own words. Locke also claimed the Dunkin Donuts manager has been reassigned as a result of the incident, while Locke is apparently facing no consequences. At the very least, Dunkin Donuts should have banned Locke from its stores. Better yet, the company could have pressed charges against him in Florida, where the incident apparently occurred, for simple assault. Then again, there’s white privilege (coincidentally, Locke manages to mock the Black Lives Matter movement during his pseudo-apology).
More from Herman Mehta at the Friendly Atheist: I’m not posting a transcript because it goes on for a good 15 minutes, but this segment opens up with, “You know, I’m a very passionate person…” Which is just part of the standard abuser’s playbook. … [Locke] doesn’t apologize for whining about the mask mandate. He doesn’t apologize for taking a stand against whatever the hell he’s mad about all the time. … Here’s a theory: Locke says in the video that his daughter works at Dunkin’ and “they let my daughter work again at Dunkin’ Donuts even after the media fiasco.” So maybe all of this stems from him jeopardizing her job. Or maybe he worried that Dunkin’ would ban him from their stores, thus preventing him from his daily ritual of getting multiple cups of coffee which he very clearly can’t function without.
Watch Locke’s BS apology as well as his original video below.
