Lee County NAACP apologizes for white supremacy accusations against Fort Myers restaurant

The NAACP in Lee County is apologizing after accusing a downtown Fort Myers restaurant of white supremacy.

Lee County NAACP President James Muwakkil said he admits he did not do a full investigation before making the accusation against First Street Restaurant.

After making such a bold statement, Muwakkil is offering an apology to the restaurant’s owner.

While Muwakkil believes everyone involved made mistakes, those mistakes did not rise to the level of white supremacy.

“I came out firing,” Muwakkil said. “I came out swinging.”

Muwakkil said he should have investigated first.

“Our inquiry did not prove white supremacy,” Muwakkil said.

“I am a man of integrity and when I lay down at night I have to know without a shadow of a doubt that I have not intentionally or unintentionally hurt any person,” Muwakkil added.

The Lee County NAACP went after the restaurant after a woman claimed the owner backed out of an agreement to hold a series of day parties after a manager said she’d never seen so many Black people at one time.

Then, when she and her supporters held a sit-in, the staff told only Black customers to leave, blaming it on a problem in a kitchen.

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