South Okanagan pizza shop closes, cites ‘globalist muzzles’

A Keremeos business underwent a sudden name change at the same time it announced it had permanently closed this past weekend.

The backlit sign of Bokboks Pizza in Keremeos was covered up with a makeshift handwritten paper sign with the word “Hydroxychloroquine” printed on it on Dec. 13.

Hydroxychloroquine is a class of medications used to prevent and treat malaria. It was also touted as a supposed treatment for COVID-19 by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Below the sign, on the window, another handwritten sign reads: “I do not consent. I will not participate in this fraud being forced on ‘we the people’ of this community!!!"

On the door is an open five page letter to provincial health officer Bonnie Henry and another sign declaring the pizza shop ‘closed until further notice.’

Yet another sign reads, "We would like to apologize to “some” businesses in town, those that get their licenses threatened by our public servants, or should we say these authorities who are pushing these globalist muzzles on us to condition us to later take their genocidal vaccinations. (Remember people they work for us.) They’re trying to take our rights and freedoms away from us.”

The shop’s Facebook page lists the business as permanently closed today, Dec. 14.

Next to Bokboks, business owner Debbie Atkinson is also concerned following a confrontation she says took place last Friday morning, Dec. 11.

Atkinson, who owns and operates Boboys Tasty Treats says was visited by Bokboks' owner around 8:30 a.m. Friday, when he threatened to arrest her over her COVID-19 precautions.

“He told me if I don’t take down my plexiglas and (COVID-19) signage down, he was going to exercise his citizen’s rights, haul me off to jail and charge me with treason,” she said.

He told her the police couldn’t hand out fines for COVID-19 non-compliance, since they work for ‘us.’

Atkinson, who was with her mother and another person at the time, became fearful of the man and called police, who came and spoke to him.

“They told me he’s against the masks,” she said.

Atkinson’s mother, who often came into the business to help her, is now afraid to come in because of the confrontation.

She says she hasn’t done anything to interfere with Bokboks' business, in spite of an earlier sign on Bokboks window that indicated the business had closed due to a “greedy neighbour’s complaint.”

“That’s a reference to me and it's simply not true. I never complained until the confrontation on Friday morning. No one is trying to run business out of town. We all have a unique way of doing things and the more business you have in town, believe it or not, you get more customers,” she says.

Atkinson says she is seeing slanderous comments on social media and wants it stopped.

No one was available from Bokboks for comment this afternoon.

— This story was updated at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020 to correct Dr. Bonnie Henry's title.

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