Students who were kicked out of a Coquitlam restaurant last Saturday may have been the victims of mistaken identity.
This week Cactus Club has apologized for calling in the Coquitlam RCMP to assist in dispersing 12 university students who were at the restaurant to celebrate a birthday.
In a statement provided to the Tri-City News, the restaurant chain said its security personnel believed that a few members of the party were connected to a serious incident that occurred at another one of their restaurants, and called the RCMP.
The RCMP arrived and the group was asked to leave the restaurant.
The Tri-City News has reached out to the RCMP for its version of events.
However, in a TikTok video that has received more than 6,000 views, the poster alleges the police didn't bother to check IDs and just asked the young people to leave "just for being brown."
The story has been picked up by the popular South Asian media group The Indo-Canadian Voice.
However, the restaurant now says that "after reviewing the situation, it is clear we made a mistake.
"They should not have been asked to leave," Cactus Club stated in an email, adding: "We recognize how upsetting this experience was for the guests involved. We deeply regret what occurred and offer our unreserved apology.”
It's not known if the restaurant has since been contacted by any of the guests to receive a personal apology.
@jasmeenab Disgusting behaviour from cactus club to call the police on 12 young men just trying to enjoy a birthday dinner.
♬ abcdefu - GAYLE
