A Seattle beer company is the focus of controversy after it posted an anti-police message on its cans.
Michael Dempster, owner of Mirage Beer, a “farmhouse-focused” Puget Sound brewery, unveiled a new hoppy IPA in June called “Choosey Lover,” which has a stamp on the bottom of the cans that reads, “ACAB means all cops.”
The acronym, “All cops are bastards,” is a favorite of some Antifa and Black Lives Matters protesters, and has been featured at anti-police brutality demonstrations all over the country, including Lower Manhattan and Portland, Oregon.
Dempster maintained his support for the anti-cop message even after receiving blowback on social media, with some stating that they’d never purchase his products again.
“I used the markings because I stand against institutional racism, of which modern policing is a militarized arm,” Dempster told KIRO via text.
He added that he didn’t put the message on the can for those who disagree with the message.
“If it means someone won’t buy my beer anymore, good,” he wrote. “The beer was not created for them. I make my beer for folks who are actively anti-racist, anti-Trump, anti-fascist and pro-equality.”