A popular Chicago eatery remains closed since June after its owner was reported shown on Instagram making racist comments. | Stock Photo
A popular Chicago eatery remains closed since June after its owner was reported shown on Instagram making racist comments. | Stock Photo
A restaurant serving Cuban-style food remains closed after the owner of the popular eatery allegedly made a racist statement on Instagram in June resulting in protests protestors showing up.
Nini’s Deli at Noble and Ohio streets is owned by Juan “Juanny” Riesco, the News Break reported in early June, when the incident first unfolded. He had operated the restaurant for nine years and also owns an online clothing store called “Chicago Native.”
Using the Instagram handle “juanyworldwide,” Riesco posted on June 5 that the protest movement Black Lives Matter had killed more people than the Ku Klux Klan, News Break reported. Riesco also reportedly likened African Americans and aboriginals to monkeys and said that anyone who believed in the theory of evolution was just trying to undermine the Black Lives Matter movement.
Riesco reportedly made the comments after an Instagram poster asked him if he believed that black lives matter. The News Break report described the restaurant owner’s comments as a racist pro-police tirade. The comments were removed the report said.
The post came as communities across the nation were protesting police brutality and racial injustice related to the death of Geroge Floyd involving now-former Minneapolis police officers. Ex-officer Derek Chauvin was identified in a widely-circulated social media video with his knee of Floyd's neck for almost 9 minutes, which likely resulted in Floyd's death. Chauvin has since been charged with murder, and three other former officers are facing related charges.
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