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Photos: Panera in Princeton after the March for Our Lives

Four days after the five-hour standoff at the Panera in downtown Princeton that ended in the gunman being shot and killed, participants in the March for Our Lives rally leave their signs in front of the eatery. Thousands of people attended the Princeton rally on Hinds Plaza. Photos by Tina Clement.


36 Comments

    1. I would guess Panera is facing social pressure to whitewash the murder of a civilian into an anti-gun opportunity.

  1. Good god, the poor people at Panera had enough to deal with with the events that unfolded this past week. Now they have to clean up this before they finally open?

  2. I could not disagree more with the 2 previous comments. Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees. These are special times and special circumstances. We’ve had massacre after massacre without stop and no end in sight. And what have our politicians done after all these horrific massacres? Nothing substantive. All we get are prayers and thoughts, lip service but no meaningful legislation. The politicians are beholden to the NRA and a distorted interpretation of the 2nd Amendment is promoted by the NRA. People are frustrated and hence the signs on Panera. The signs can easily be pulled down, it’s not the end of the world.

    1. Talk about not seeing the forest through the trees? Do you realize that the people that have to clean up were the ones who had a guy storm their workplace with a gun a few days ago?

      I read that they were getting to reopen possibly tomorrow. But imagine the poor employee that just had to run out the back door a few days ago because some maniac went in with a gun. They come back to work tomorrow, and instead of being able to get behind the register and get their mind off their traumatic experience, they have to clean up signs and remove endless amounts of tape from the windows. The same people that were likely scared to death by the individual now have the job of cleaning up this mess. This is in incredibly poor taste. If these people had a heart, they’d go help the Panera people clean it up tomorrow. Instead, they’ll being bragging about it on facebook and will be sleeping in late tomorrow.

      You want to make a political statement? Great. Just try to not make the people that were just traumatized by an event like this the ones that bear the burden of cleaning up after you.

      1. The people who were traumatized ARE victims of gun violence. The signs are supporting them. You are predicting into the future and the people who marched are trying to deal with the present.

  3. To progressives/leftists everything is about the moment and once that moment has passed they leave their mess for someone else to clean-up.

  4. Why are these signs not at the Police Department?

    A man, who probably should not have had a firearm, was still within his rights (until proven otherwise) to carry a pistol. The Police, eager to end the the “standoff” by the end of shift, murdered him, despite there being no immediate danger.

    But yes, blame the NRA, blame weapons not even present (unless the police had AR-15s), cry for the protection of children even though none were present.

    A neurologist might be able to help y’all with that jerking knee.

    1. Nothing but rash accusations with no hard evidence to back it up. Talk about a knee jerk reaction, from the gun rights bias.

      1. Did the man fire even a single shot? Nope, only the police, through a window, into a store with a single occupant, after five hours of inactivity. It was a bad shoot, which the Grand Jury will find.

        If he were a minority the town would be burning.

        The users of guns were the police, not Panera, and not the man who was carrying a pistol. The most ironic sign, “Guns kill, not save.” Certainly true in Princeton, although it is also true if you substitute “Police” for “Guns.”

        1. Maybe the man aimed his gun at the police, as if ready to fire. Should the police have just let him fire and see what happens?

  5. From some of the comments, it appears the problem is not just the NRA but also fellow Americans who want their shiny toys and everyone else be damned. The NRAistas want guns everywhere, anywhere 24/7. I would be happy to see NJ gun laws for the whole country.

  6. Glad to come into town and see all the March for Life signs plastered all over Panera yesterday are gone. Who actually thought it was a good idea to put them there? A legal handgun owner with no intention to harm anyone but intent on suicide by police will never be stopped by gun control.
    Panera Bread must have been horrified by the display. Here a business is closed, remodeling, attempting to rehabilitate a suicide scene and move beyond it putting it behind them to reopen the business and a bunch of protestors decide it is good idea to further harm the business and plaster reminders everywhere? Disgusting display. Truly disgusting.

      1. Oh, that’s interesting. You are not blasting Tom for only posting his first name. You are a total PHONY and hypocrite.

        1. What does someone else’s posts have to do with your cowering behind a fake name?

          1. Fake name? Mine is not a fake name. Who knows if your name is fake or not. You should also post your Social Security number.

    1. How did he get the weapon? He had a diagnosed mental illness – PTSD with hallucinations and paranoia. If there was a law in place that would allow seizure of guns from people who express suicidal ideation, as this man did, it would have made it harder for him to put a police officer in the position of killing him. Think about the victims – the officer who has to live with killing this man, the man’s family and friends, the employees and customers who fled for their lives. THOSE are also victims of gun violence.

      The display of signs was entirely appropriate.

      1. To disrupt a business that has absolutely zero to do with gun control is entirely inappropriate. I would guess you do not own a small business.

          1. Completely irrelevant to this thread but since you ask I employ a dental hygienist, 2 assistants and two desk employees. All make over $22/hr. All have paid vacation and paid sick time. While I stand for both universal healthcare and Living minimal wage What other businesses pay their employees is their business not mine, nor is it my responsibilty to fund it.

            1. I never talk politics with my doctors or dentist. I made that mistake with one doctor who got really nasty.

      2. yes, it’s entirely appropriate to make the people that fled for their
        lives clean up the front of the store. Are you that devoid of logic?

        1. Panera will hire professional cleaners for this disaster that occurred in the store. The signs are a minor blip to Panera. The signs are right on, relevant and true. Bravo to the signs. If the signs were pro gun or pro NRA, then these gun lovers would have no complaint.

          1. Sorry, I’ve made no statements on the right to own a gun or whether I was in support or against the marches. You can’t superimpose your partisan politics on me to try to win the argument. This is in poor taste, end of story. They could have easily made a mural on the sidewalk adjacent. This display showed a lack of respect for the people involved in the Panera incident and private property.

            Moreover, it appears the only reason you are ok with it because it aligns with your political point of view. Part of the reason dialogue is not possible with people of differing points of view anymore is because of the behavior you have continually exhibited the past few days.

            1. All these marches that occurred across the nation, with hundreds of thousands of participants are about the never ending slaughters and massacres. People are fed up, they’ve had enough, they and I want action taken on a legislative level for meaningful gun control. This is not about signs on Panera, this is about people’s lives. If that’s OK with you but I suppose you will accuse me of being off topic.

              1. Actually, this article was exclusively on signs on Panera, as were our responses. I don’t need to accuse you of anything. You’ve made the case on your own.

      3. The business wasn’t responsible for anything. This just shows how uninformed and the bully mentality and tactics of these anti Second Amendment nut jobs are.

      4. Thank you Get_All_The_Facts. One of the few sane comments in an otherwise far right wing gun loving hate fest.

  7. And not one sign addressing the issues of mental illness and over medication?
    Are these people this stupid? A cop used a gun to protect people from being hurt or killed!

  8. In some ways this is not as bad as recent shootings of unarmed black (and sometimes white) men, since he was actually armed. In some ways this is worse, because the situation was under control, he was surrounded and as far as I know, had not fired a shot. So the cop pulling the trigger was committing an execution, in my view.

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