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The city of Shoreline canceled an upcoming “Coffee with a Cop” event at Pilgrim Coffee after community activists vowed to protest, upset that the owner is a conservative Christian.

“Coffee with a Cop” allows residents to meet with officers at a local coffee shop as a way to strengthen the relationship between the police department and the community. But when Pilgrim Coffee was chosen, a small group of activists let the city know they were unhappy.

After complaints, the city of Shoreline pulled the plug on the March 26 event.

“It was neither the department’s nor the City鈥檚 intent to make any community member feel unwelcome based on the selection of the event venue and the values that the venue may or may not hold. When planning future events, we will be more intentional with our venue selection,” the city said on Facebook, making it clear that the ownership of venues must pass a political and religious litmus test to be considered.

Why was the Shoreline event canceled at Pilgrim Coffee?

Pilgrim Coffee is owned by Keith Carpenter, the lead pastor for . He works tirelessly in the community, particularly along Aurora Avenue in Seattle, where prostitution thrives. He owns his first Pilgrim Coffee nearby.

Due to Pastor Carpenter’s religious beliefs 鈥� which are not integrated into his coffee business in any way 鈥� some activists were upset, including people who don’t live in Shoreline.

“Businesses should have to respect the rules of law, including gay marriage! Pilgrim Coffeehouse is a festering sore on our cities landscape,” a user named “Sounder Sam” to the city of Shoreline’s Facebook page. He lists Seattle as where he lives and posted several comments complaining about Pilgrim Coffee, calling the business “homophobic.”

“Dear Shoreline, a pro LGBTQIA2S+ protest will be scheduled in front of Pilgrim Coffeehouse on Wednesday, March 26th from 10am to 11-40! Show up loud and proud!” he .

Shannon Lewis, a Shoreline resident, complained that “the coffee shop is owned by Epic life church. Which is a Far-right church which is against LGBTQ, immigrants and is anti-science. So a lot of people do not feel comfortable attending.”

Left-wing activists celebrated the cancelation

After the event was canceled, activists celebrated on the city of Shoreline Facebook page.

Rozalynne Weinberg, whose Facebook avatar says “Save our Democracy,” posted, “Thank you for thinking about all involved in our city.” Stacy Deena, meanwhile, wrote, “I鈥檓 looking forward to attending at an inclusive and welcoming venue in the future – thank you Shoreline.”

“Please know that we do want coffee with cops, but we want it at places where everyone is welcome!” Ally McCombs posted, falsely implying that LGBT customers are not welcome at Pilgrim Coffee.

Ironically, the only one facing discrimination is Keith Carpenter.

Not everyone was happy with the cancelation, even though they represent the majority of the comments.

One commenter wrote: “This is the most ridiculous cancelation I’ve heard in a long time. So because the owners of the coffee place have a certain worldview (that in no way impacts or discriminates against customers) it’s somehow bad for the event to be there? How are lgbtq+ people discriminated against there? Somehow I think it’s not about how they treat customers but simply the owners having certain beliefs is what people are offended by.”

Pilgrim Coffee owner speaks out

Speaking exclusively to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH, Pilgrim Coffee owner Keith Carpenter noted the irony of the decision by the city of Shoreline.

“It is a form of discrimination, for sure,” Carpenter said, though notes he doesn’t want to play the “victim card.” But to supposedly support a more inclusive city, Shoreline city leaders are discriminating against a business because people don’t like the owner’s religious beliefs. He can’t ignore that.

“I can deal with people posting negative things online. That’s just the way they are. They don’t like everything about me or our church, and our coffee shop, and that’s fine. But not just misunderstanding, but just blatant lies and calling us hateful, calling us every buzzword that can get people’s attention,” Carpenter said. “That’s what was used and… (that is) sad calling us exclusive or non-inclusive, while excluding us. And so it doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Carpenter believes in … the Bible. Shocking?

Carpenter and his church hold a biblical view on same-sex marriage. That’s not shocking. But it’s completely disconnected from Pilgrim Coffee. Much like his church, anyone is welcome into his coffee shop.

“We serve anybody who walks in the door. I don’t even know (if they’re LGBT). We don’t ask questions. So it’s like a non-starter for us, because nobody’s asking questions at the door. Anybody who walks in that space will get the same exact beautiful, generous, generously hospitable treatment. And probably the best cup they’ll have all all month or all year,” he said.

‘It was really confusing’

Carpenter said the sudden about-face from the city of Shoreline was “really confusing.” He said the city initially reached out to him before publicly canceling the event in a way that specifically called Pilgrim Coffee out for not sharing the city’s values.

“It basically says, ‘We don’t want Pilgrim Coffeehouse in our city,’ and putting it out there publicly,” Carpenter explained.

“It’s completely opposite than what they’re the message they’re trying to say about inclusivity. It’s’s opposite of that, and it’s hard. It’s hard as a business,” Carpenter added.

Carpenter noted the Shoreline Police Department apologized for what happened, though the chief did not respond to a request from “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. The city, via a spoksperson, did, however, explain that there was concern that an event about community safety would spiral into something unintended.

“I would say that we are trying as a city to truly be inclusive all across-the-board,” a spokesperson explained to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “You can divide people and do ‘this group or that group,’ ‘this camp or that camp,’ ‘this end of a spectrum or that end of a spectrum,’ and it is a goal of the city of Shoreline to serve each and everyone of those people. I think that in this case the goal was to provide a place to talk with members of our police department about law-enforcement and public safety in Shoreline. When it became bound up with broader, political concerns, expressed by folks that may or may not be, I mean that’s their opinions and they’re entitled, I think then we felt like that was a distraction from the court purpose of the meeting announced what drove the cancellation.”

Called to service

The spokesperson explained that they will no longer host “Coffee with a Cop” events at local coffee shops. Instead, they will host them on city property.

“There is this political overlay that touches sometimes the most unexpected things and we have made a decision going forward that we would only hold these events on city facilities,” the spokesperson explained. “I think it makes us less flexible in terms of being where the people in the community are, but it allows us to not have to engage in and and create any concerns by anybody out there that there’s some sort of higher level political overlay at play.”

While Carpenter聽 disappointed with how the city of Shoreline treated Pilgrim Coffee, he said this is his passion and he’s not sorry for the work he does for the community.

“It should be said I hold no animosity against them, necessarily,” Carpenter said. “I would like them to right this because I think it is a wrong, and it’s a wrong for the city of Shoreline and the people of Shoreline. And I’ll be completely honest, Jason, I’m doing what I’m doing in this city, in Seattle and Shoreline, because I believe the hope of the world is in Jesus Christ, and he’s my Lord and my Savior, and I follow Him in what he’s called me to do. The reason I’m here, to sacrifice and to die, to myself and to care for our world and our community.”

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