Oakland café ousts man over religious symbol on baseball hat

OAKLAND, Calif. - A man says he was kicked out of a coffee shop in North Oakland because he was wearing a Star of David hat.

"You're being asked to leave. You're causing a disruption. This is a private business. You're being asked to leave," the owner of Jerusalem Coffee House at 54th Street and Telegraph Avenue told Jonathan Hirsch as Hirsch recorded the confrontation on Saturday afternoon.

"This gentleman asked me to leave because of my hat," Hirsch can be heard saying on the video.

The owner responded, "This is a violent hat, and you need to leave."

"My hat is violent?" Hirsch asked.

"Yes," the owner said.

In an interview with KTVU on Tuesday, Hirsch said, "I wear this hat all the time. I mean, I've had this hat for years. And it means a lot to me. It's meant a lot more over the last year."

The dispute got more heated.

"Are you a Zionist?" the owner asked Hirsch repeatedly.

"I don't have to identify myself," Hirsch answered.

"Get out!" the owner said.

Hirsch told the owner he was welcome to call the police.

"The police will come and they will educate him that what he's doing is wrong and that he's ignorant," he said on the video.

Hirsch said he and his 5-year-old son ended up at the cafe because his child needed to go to the bathroom and his wife wanted a coffee.

"I wasn't going out looking for a fight. But when someone comes up to me fighting, I can't teach my son, Jews are these meek people that run and cower," he said.

Oakland police arrived at the coffee shop.

The argument continued and the owner taunted Hirsch and cursed him in the officers' presence.

"I love Jewish people," the owner told Hirsch at one point, prompting an officer to tell the owner, "Stop!"

The officers eventually told Hirsch to leave the cafe and that if he returned, he could be arrested for trespassing. Hirsch said a sergeant later told him the officers needed more training.

Oakland police told KTVU the department is still investigating and has not determined whether the incident constituted a hate crime.

The owner declined an on-camera interview on Tuesday, telling KTVU, "Talking to the media is like talking to the police."

Jeremy Russell, spokesman for the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area, said, "This is one of the most clear-cut cases of anti-Jewish discrimination that I have seen in the Bay Area."

Russell said this isn't the first time the cafe has raised eyebrows. 

Earlier this month, it introduced a new menu, including a drink called "Iced in Tea Fada," named after "intifada," or Palestinian uprising.

David Levine, professor at UC Law San Francisco said, "To deny somebody service in a place of public accommodation on the basis of what here sure looks like religion, national origin and the like, is simply not allowed under state law."

Hirsch said he may take legal action.

"I'm interested in doing justice here, and if the city can't remedy this, I'm willing to pursue whatever avenues I have," Hirsch said.

Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan