Restaurant apologizes after employee stopped national anthem on 9/11

Customers at a Riverside County, Calif., Buffalo Wild Wings franchise said an employee stopped them from listening to the national anthem on Monday, the 16-year anniversary of 9/11, prompting the chain to issue an apology.

According to a report by CBS Los Angeles, the unnamed employee called the national anthem “controversial,” and stopped the song from playing ahead of an NFL game that was being screened at the restaurant. {mosads}

One customer said the employee cited company policy and said the national anthem was too controversial when asked why they muted the sound of the game during the singing of the anthem. 

The franchise apologized in a statement, adding that there is no such policy against playing the national anthem.

The report comes after the words “Racist Anthem” were spray-painted early Wednesday morning on a Maryland monument dedicated to the writing of “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Francis Scott Key wrote the famous poem that became the national anthem during the 1814 bombing of Fort McHenry by the British.