A white man was recorded on video hounding a barista at a New York City coffee shop Thursday morning and demanding she take down a Black Lives Matter sign that he said offended him.
Video of the incident at a Burly Coffee shop in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, has been widely shared online. It was first posted on Reddit.
"So, this was my morning," Rohan Singh, who captured part of the confrontation on cellphone video, tweeted Thursday. "I just wanted to get some coffee. But this racist a------ decided it's time to educate us and 'make a protest' about how 'all lives matter.'"
Singh said he did not witness the entire incident, which occurred about 9:15 a.m., because it was underway when he arrived.
The footage shows a man not wearing a mask standing at the takeout window of the shop demanding that a barista inside take down a Black Lives Matter sign in a window. The man had a cellphone in his hand and appeared to be recording the incident
"You need to go," the barista, who was wearing a mask, can be heard telling him.
"This is a problem," the man responds, as he points to the sign.
"No mask, no service," the barista tells him, as she points to a notice about a mask requirement above the Black Lives Matter sign. "You need to go."
He repeats multiple times, "You need to take this out," as the shop employee says no and that he should leave.
She also tells the man he is racist.
"I'm not taking the sign down," she says.
"I don't understand why this is so offensive to you, to see something saying that Black Lives Matter," the barista says. "It is not saying that all lives don't matter, it's just saying that Black lives matter because they haven't mattered in this country for, like, ever."
The man responds: "They have mattered pretty much. Black lives only matter when they're killed by whites and not when they're killed by blacks."
During the video of the episode, which lasts more than 10 minutes, other patrons near the takeout window can be heard telling the man to leave because he is causing problems, which he denies.
The man continues arguing with the barista and other patrons, who also question why he is not wearing a mask. At one point, the man chants, "All lives matter. Even whites. Even blacks. Even Hispanic. Even Chinese. Even Indians."
Gothamist identified the man as Abraham Knopfler. He told the outlet later Thursday, "I just wanted to defend all lives matter."
In an interview Friday, Knopfler, 32, expressed regret.
"Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter is not my concern, and it went way out of hand," he said. "I wish I can apologize to the coffee shop. My biggest concern as of now is the fact that marijuana is still illegal, after we all know it's not dangerous at all."
He said he does not think the coffee shop should take down the Black Lives Matter sign.
Tom Colella, owner of Burly Coffee, which has two locations in Brooklyn, said in a statement Thursday, "We strongly stand with Black Lives Matter and applaud our staff for standing up to the blinding hate that has appeared at our door."
He added that, unfortunately, "this was not an isolated incident with this person and our priority continues to be the safety and well-being of our staff."
Colella said that the employee in the video did not wish to speak publicly.
Singh recounted what he witnessed in a series of tweets Thursday.
"It honestly wasn't that tough of a situation for me personally, once it was clear the person was probably nonviolent," he tweeted. "But it was a horrible situation for the barista who was trapped there. I feel really bad for her."
A spokeswoman for the New York Police Department told NBC News on Friday that no complaints have been filed related to the incident.
