The National Policy Institute held its annual meeting over the weekend in Washington, D.C., and the white nationalists apparently couldn't book a restaurant for their dinner—that was, until Maggiano's Little Italy gave them space. But now the restaurant says it was duped and didn't realize a bunch of Nazis were eating at its establishment.
A Facebook post circulated Sunday calling for people to boycott the restaurant because of its racist guests. In a Facebook post Monday, the restaurant issued an apology for its "mistake":
On Friday night, Maggiano’s in Friendship Heights was the inadvertent site of a protest that caused us to close our restaurant to protect the safety of our Teammates and Guests.
The protesters were upset because of a banquet we were hosting for a group called the National Policy Institute (NPI). This was a last minute booking made Friday afternoon, and the reservation was made under a different name, therefore we were not aware that NPI was dining with us or what the group represents. After the event, an attendee sent a tweet in which she made a “Sieg Heil salute” in support of Hitler and white supremacy. This expression of support of Hitler is extremely offensive to us, as our restaurant is home to Teammates and Guests of every race, religion and cultural background.
We want to sincerely apologize to the community of Friendship Heights for inadvertently hosting this meeting, which resulted in hateful sentiment. We want you to know that at the suggestion of one of our Guests, we are donating the profits from our restaurant sales on Friday, $10,000, to the DC office of the Anti-Defamation League, which for decades has been working to bring people together in peace and understanding.
The apology may not satisfy past or future guests of the restaurant. So far, the Facebook post informing people of the restaurant's racist guests has been shared over 500 times:
Other restaurants in D.C., like the Hamilton, were familiar with the National Policy Institute and turned down its party-reservation requests.