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It turns out that isolating an entire nationality and encouraging employees to kick them out of your establishment is bad for business.
Scream Town, a popular Halloween-themed 30-acre park nestled just outside of Chaska, Minnesota, was shut down, thanks to a Facebook posting that told employees that the park had a "zero tolerance" policy with Somalis.
Carver County officials issued an "order to shut down" at Scream Town on Thursday, reports KARE 11 TV. The order follows the decision of the Carver County Sheriff's Department to terminate its contract with the theme park.
"There is a stoppage of work posted on their driveway, which literally means that they can not continue with the event, and I hope they do not will not do it, "said David Hemze, Carver County Administrator at the Star Tribune. "If they do, it would be in violation of this stop order and we would take steps to implement."
Scream Town was the target of criticism earlier this week after Matt Dunn, the park's owner, wrote his employees an internal Facebook message asking them to cooperate with a policy banning Somalis.
"Note that we have a zero tolerance policy with Somalis. (Other guests, you make your best judgment) But absolutely zero tolerance with the Somalis, "read the post, according to City Pages. A previous section of the message urged employees to report any guest issues while their customers were online.
"Your diligence in this case is crucial," added Dunn.
After the publication of the post, Dunn apologized for the message, declaring himself sorry that the message "seems to be generalizing". He tried to clarify that he was talking to a specific group of teenagers.
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According to a CNN article published in 2017, in 2015, of the more than 150,000 Somalis living in the United States, more lived in Minnesota than in any other state. Experts cite the availability of jobs as a major pull factor, as well as the story of the state's refugee home.
A spokesman for the Minnesota Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations publicly agreed to Dunn's apology Thursday night, via a video posted on Scream Town's Facebook page, the Star Tribune reports.
"We found him very sincere about his apology to the community," Executive Director Jaylani Hussein said in the video. "We recognize that there are many people grieved and frustrated by what they have seen."
Dunn, who appears alongside Hussein in the video, said, "I want the Somali community to know that we love you … you are welcome, as always."
The message was not enough to move Carver County officials.
"We treat all people equally among our highest principles. Mr. Dunn's comments discriminated against a group on the basis of their national origin, "Hemze wrote in a press release sent to Kare 11." There is no ambiguity in Mr. Dunn's comments. Mr. Dunn encouraged his employees to racially profile a targeted group and his comments are totally unacceptable. They do not comply with the county's policy and they violate our contract with him.
Dunn said he was shocked by the county's decision.
"We believe that their act is illegal and we immediately examine our legal options," he wrote in a statement.
Scream Town was closed yesterday, reports the Star Tribune, but Dunn told the newspaper that he planned to open its doors Friday night, as previously planned.
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