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Wrong 'Red Hen' Restaurants Blasted After Sarah Sanders Kicked Out Of Virginia Eatery

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – People have been bombarding "Red Hen" restaurants with hate mail after White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was kicked out of the eatery. Unfortunately for many business owners, their restaurants have no connection to the actual Red Hen that asked Sanders to leave.

Sanders tweeted on June 22 that she was at the Red Hen in Lexington, Virginia when the owner told her she had to "leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left."

Since that tweet, owners across the Tri-State area have been mistakenly receiving threatening calls, emails, and even phony reservations from people angry at the Virginia Red Hen's treatment of the press secretary.

"There were over 50 messages by the time I walked in," said Shelley DeProto of the Red Hen in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. "The first one was really threatening and they were very profane."

DeProto and her employees said they tried to set the record straight with each person who contacted them but the angry messages overwhelmed the staff.

"They were coming in faster than I could keep up with," DeProto added.

"It's a single mom just trying to support her family and I can't think of anything more worthwhile than that," DeProto's employee Marcy explained. "The venom is really unnecessary."

In New Jersey, a Red Hen restaurant has already been flooded with over 600 phone calls from people mistaking it for the Virginia eatery. Managing partner Elizabeth Pope of the Red Hen in Swedesboro claims anonymous callers threatened her restaurant and staff.

The restaurant took to Facebook to distance itself from the Lexington establishment. Pope also told local reporters that Sarah Sanders would be welcomed like anyone else at their Red Hen.

The owner of the Red Hen in Virginia claims they asked Sanders to leave because of concerns from the employees.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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