A waiter in Alabama, who Oakland A’s player Bruce Maxwell claimed refused to serve him over his national anthem protest, said the catcher is “outright lying.”
“He is outright lying. This is really upsetting as he was given full service, I didn’t even know who Bruce Maxwell was,” Matt Henry, a waiter in Huntsville, Alabama, told Fox News Wednesday. (RELATED: New Survey Shows MLB Beats NFL In Popularity Amid Anthem Protests)
Bruce Maxwell #13 of the Oakland Athletics kneels in protest next to teammate Mark Canha #20 duing the singing of the National Anthem prior to the start of the game. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
“This all started because I carded his friend who wanted to order a beer,” Henry explained. The waiter explained that when Maxwell’s friend asked for a beer and produced an expired ID, the friend followed him to the kitchen.
“He asked me, ‘Don’t you know who Bruce Maxwell is?’ and told me I was making everyone feel uncomfortable. Nobody was even paying attention to them,” he continued. “I didn’t know anything about him or the kneeling. All I know is a friend of mine 15 years ago lost his job for serving someone a drink who happened to be underage, so if anyone looks under 30, I’m going to card them.”
The waiter said the local city council member, having lunch with Maxwell, then went to the manager and complained, and that’s when Henry was taken off their table.
“Matt came to me and told me that a guy wanted a beer but his ID was not valid and I told him he absolutely could not give it to him, we can go to jail for that in the state of Alabama,” the manager Anne Whalen said. “It was his friend causing all the fuss, none of us even knew who this baseball player was. I told him I had no idea who he was going on about. Eventually Matt just asked if we could put another server on the table so I did. … I can’t believe the story.”
“We didn’t even discuss Trump. I was working two jobs, I don’t have time for rallies,” Henry said. “If this all happened a month ago, why suddenly now is he claiming all this now? It’s really easy for people to point a finger at Alabama, and that’s what has upset me about this fabrication the most. This is one of the best places to live in America, if not the planet. Hearing this was a slap in the face.”
A spokesperson for the A’s had no comment for Fox News and said that Maxwell stands by his account of the story.