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Blufin Sushi in Grosse Pointe Farms facing protest over allegations of racism

Posted at 4:31 PM, Feb 22, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-22 17:16:08-05

A protest is scheduled for Wednesday outside of a popular local restaurant that is accused of racism.

The protest of Blufin Sushi in Grosse Pointe Farms is being organized by Reverend W. J. Rideout III of All God's People Church and Sam Riddle, the political director of the Michigan National Action Network.

When TaNisha Prater and two of her friends went to Blufin on Friday, they couldn't have imagined that before the evening was over, the restaurant's general manager would be calling the police on them and that Prater's video of part of the incident would be exploding on Facebook.

Prater and her two friends, Adrienne Savage and Kimberly Hudson, say before they even paid their bill at the bar where they'd been sitting for a couple hours, general manager Katherine Fiscelli asked them to vacate their seats so that other patrons could sit.

The women thought it was odd, but they complied. They then realized that not only had others seated at the bar been there longer, Prater and her friends were the only African Americans in the restaurant.

The women say when they tried to ask Fiscelli about it, they were met with hostility.

On Monday, the owner of Blufin sushi, Joel Radu, told reporters that he is investigating the matter and that his general manager isn't racist.

Fiscelli is his 23-year-old niece and she began her position at his restaurant three months ago.

Radu said he apologizes to the women. But Prater, Savage and Hudson have not received an apology for the incident that resulted in Fiscelli calling Grosse Pointe Farms Police, claiming the women were drunk when they were not.

Prater says Fiscelli called police when she began asking for the owner's information and pulled out her phone to record the incident.

Prater, who made a police report out Sunday for alleged assault, says Fiscelli tried to grab her cell phone and snatch her business card out of her hand after another restaurant worker had given it to Prater.

Click on the video to hear from the women and hear the owner's response.