Costco removed a popular pimento cheese brand from 120 of its stores after the owner called the Black Lives Matter movement a “terror organization” on his public Facebook, reported Today.com
Brian Henry, founder of Palmetto Cheese and mayor of Pawleys Island, South Carolina, was reacting to the murder of two local residents when he made the post Aug. 25.
“I am sickened by the senseless killings in Georgetown last night,” Henry wrote. “2 innocent people murdered. Not 2 thugs or people wanted on multiple warrants. 2 white people defenselessly gunned down by a black man. So why do we stand by and allow BLM to lawlessly destroy great American cities and threaten their citizens on a daily basis … this has gone on too long. Rise up America. This BLM and Antifa movement must be treated like the terror organizations they are.”
Screenshots of the now-deleted post circulated on social media, calling on customers to #BoycottPalmetto.
Today.com, citing the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office, said Henry was referring to 23-year-old Ty Sheem Ha Sheem Walters III, who was arrested Aug. 24 for shooting three people and killing two.
The Post and Courier, which broke the Costco story, published a photo of a sign from the wholesale giant in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, that said the cheese was “discontinued” and would “not be re-ordered.”
Today.com said the Georgetown, South Carolina, NAACP branch president Marvin Neal called for Henry’s resignation as mayor.
“When two White people were allegedly killed by a Black man in Georgetown, SC, Mayor Brian Henry of the neighboring town of Pawley’s Island Beach had the opportunity to bring citizens closer together. He instead chose to use his platform to cause further racial divide and controversy by venting his frustrations on social media,” Neal told Today Food.
Henry issued an apology Sept. 3 for the Facebook post.
“I am profoundly sorry to those I offended with my post last week,” he said. “My comments were hurtful and insensitive,”
Henry said he had spent the past 10 days “listening and learning.”
“The conversations I’ve had with friends, our staff, the community and faith-based leaders provided me with a deeper understanding of racial inequality and the importance of diversity sensitivity, which is very much needed to heal Pawleys Island, Georgetown and our country,” he said.
On his company’s website, Henry announced an endowment called Grace and Grits in which his family and Palmetto Cheese will donate $100,000 in the first year.
The company will also hire a “diversity and community liaison” to manage the endowment.
And Palmetto announced it will change the graphics on its label, removing a photo of Vertrella Brown, a black cook who died in April. There was no explanation for the move, but Today.com noted critics have accused the company of exploiting an image of a back woman for profit.
The NAACP’s Neal said the endowment and the diversity liaison aren’t good enough.
“Mayor Henry used the power and privilege afforded to his office to further his personal agenda and spread hateful, racist rhetoric with the potential of inciting violence,” Neal told “Today.”
“These situations must be taken seriously. Racism cannot and will not be tolerated by the citizens of Pawley’s Island Beach and Georgetown County. Mayor Henry’s actions reflected negatively upon himself and the community in which he serves,” he said.
