The menu, shared on social media, described it as having "white American cheese, onion ring layers of truth, resilience pickles, freedom fries, cancel culture coleslaw and liberty sauce. The burger was announced days after President Donald Trump issued pardons for all of those convicted in the Jan. The Proud Boys are a right-wing extremist group with a history of violence and promoting a range of hate ideologies including antisemitism and white supremacy, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
The response was swift, with outrage spreading quickly. By Friday morning, the restaurant had issued an apology on its Facebook page, calling the burger name "a mistake. We want to address and clarify that our post and burger name from yesterday was a mistake, and we sincerely apologize," the post read. We ask that you take this into consideration as we reflect and learn from this experience. The post went on to thank the restaurant's customers, saying, "we deeply appreciate every single one of you.
Please know that we would never do anything to jeopardize the trust and respect you have for Aqua Blu. We hope you understand and accept this as a formal apology.
Owner Cathy Varriale told NJ. The staff member's husband has no connection to the Proud Boys, the report said. It was stupidity. It was ignorance. But we do not support hatred or Nazism or any of that," she told NJ. Over the weekend, the outrage spread farther and by Saturday night, the restaurant announced it had fired the staff member who created the burger description. The individual responsible for creating and distributing the offensive menu item in our restaurant has been terminated.
Not all of the response to the burger has been negative, however. Comments on a number of public social media posts have included a number of people saying they will start patronizing the restaurant in response to the anger the burger name created. Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. Karen Wall , Patch Staff. Find out what's happening in Toms River for free with the latest updates from Patch.
