Seattle Ice Cream Shop Bans Armed Police

“I feel it’s divisive rhetoric. I view it as political pandering,” said Mike Solan, president of the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild. He denounced the sign as “unreasonable activism” amid calls to defund the police.

Armed Seattle police have been told they are not welcome at an area ice cream chain. (Photo: KIRO Screen Shot)Armed Seattle police have been told they are not welcome at an area ice cream chain. (Photo: KIRO Screen Shot)

A sign at Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream on Capitol Hill in Seattle emphasizes the shop is a gun-free zone. It says specifically to police, “Please do not come inside if you are wearing a firearm.”

Founder and owner Molly Moon Neitzel told KIRO she decided to put up the sign at her namesake scoop shop, which is located within what used to be the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone, or CHOP, which was taken over by protesters after Seattle police abandoned the East Precinct.

“Last week, as CHOP was being dismantled, and there was a flood of police officers here in the neighborhood, they were intimidating and causing some of my of my black and brown employees to feel unsafe,” explained Neitzel.

The no-gun policy for the chain isn’t new. It’s been in place since 2013 when then Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and the anti-gun violence organization Washington CeaseFire launched the Seattle Gun Free Zone program. But the Capitol Hill location is the only one that has the new sign that calls out cops.

“I feel it’s divisive rhetoric. I view it as political pandering,” said Mike Solan, president of the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild. He denounced the sign as “unreasonable activism” amid calls to defund the police.

When Neitzel was asked if she’s anti-police, here’s how she answered. “I am anti the current police system,” said Neitzel. “Yeah, I think we need major police reform.”

Neitzel added officers are welcome — as long as they don’t have guns.

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