Hudson Valley Business Says Police Are Not Welcome

The owner of the store is facing heavy backlash after posting on Facebook that police are not welcome in her store.

The store Soiled Doves, a small local business that sells collectibles, and antiques is located on Main Street in the town of Rosendale and the owner, 74-year-old Elizabeth Bloom has again caused a bit of a stir in an otherwise quiet town according to CBS 2.

It all started when the 74-year-old posted on Facebook that her store will now be closed to any police officers as she wrote, "it's against her religion to sell to murderers." That comment was met with extreme backlash online. Many comments stated that they would never shop at a store that would say something like that.

Others got aggressive with some threatening the older woman. Bloom told CBS that some have threatened physical harm to the self-described "little old lady", "You know, they’re going to beat me up. They’re going to loot me."

Other local businesses also expressed their displeasure with Bloom's comments. The owner of The Big Cheese, Yuval Sterer told CBS that, "I think she went too far with those statements." Another owner, Essell Hoenshell-Watson, who owns The Alternative Baker said, "I don’t think you can paint everyone with the same brush. I don’t think that all cops are bad."

Bloom did say that she was joking when she made the comment and that police are welcome in her store. She said, "I should have realized that people weren’t going to get that I was being sarcastic." She also said, "It’s not safe to be Black in America. That should have been gone a generation ago." As far as losing business because of her comments, Bloom said she’s not worried about it because she’s retired and the store isn't about money for her.

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