DC restaurant: We’ve received death threats after Cruz, wife forced out by protesters

The owner of the Washington, D.C., restaurant where protesters forced out Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and his wife earlier this week says that his staff and their families have received death threats.

“I am blessed to work with the staff who have handled the harassment and life-threatening messages we and our families have received in the wake of the event,” Fabio Trabocchi wrote in a statement released Wednesday. 

{mosads}”They have shown remarkable grit and calm,” he said. “It is scary to hear anger directed at you and those you love— I am lucky to work with brave people who respect our work.”

The Hill could not reach a representative for the restaurant to clarify the specifics of the threats at the time of publication.

Trabocchi reiterated sentiments he expressed in a statement released Tuesday, where he said that the restaurant “welcomes all patrons…irrespective of creed, ideology or opinion.”

On Monday, a crowd of angry protesters opposing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh confronted Cruz and his wife, driving them out of the restaurant.

Later, the restaurant led Cruz and his wife back inside to complete their meal in peace.

Since then, the restaurant’s Yelp page has received a variety of comments, some praising its efforts to allow the Cruzes to eat, others lambasting them. The responses caused the website to post a message saying it was working to remove both the positive and negative responses. 

In his statement Wednesday, Trabocchi said he is “in hospitality, not public safety” but has been working to set up additional safety measures so no patrons will be harassed again.

“In the past 24 hours, security and privacy consultants and investigators have implemented additional safety and security measures…across our restaurants to ensure the ongoing and future privacy, safety and security of our staff and guests,” Trabocchi wrote.