Chick-fil-A Just "Dropped a Bomb" on Black Lives Matter

Working 24 Hours Straight at Chick-fil-A | Bon Appetit

Claim: Chick-fil-A released "Back the Blue" shirts in the wake of July 2016 "Black Lives Matter" protests.

WHAT"S TRUE: In 2015, high school employees at a single Chick-fil-A in Texas created their own "Back the Blue" shirts.

WHAT"S FALSE: Chick-fil-A has not voiced support for either movement in question; "back the blue" is not tantamount to "a bomb on Black Lives Matters"; the shirts were not created or distributed by a franchise (much less the company); the shirts had nothing to do with Black Lives Matter protests in July 2016.

Example: [Collected via e-mail and Twitter, July 2016]

Chick-Fil-A-just-dropped-a-bomb-on-black-lives-matter-police-officers-are-pumped. . . this is circulating on face book with a picture of chick fil a employee wearing a t-shirt. . .is this true?

Origin:Two days after the 7 July 2016 shootings in Dallas that killed at least five police officers, multiple web sites published items reporting thatChick-fil-A had essentially "chosen a side" inboth the tragedy and Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality:

According to that version (and several like it) Chick-fil-A "unveiled" the shirts on or around 9 July 2016, presumably in response to events in Dallas:

Its not too often a large company like Chick-fil-A gets involved in a controversial topic, but they have thrown themselves right smack in the middle of the Black Lives Matter movement with a statement that has millions of people talking across the country.

Blue Lives Matter is a movement that counters BLM by encouraging citizens to support police officers that put their lives on the line every single day for citizens across the country. Police officers are here to protect citizens and will do so regardless of color, as long as you cooperate and obey the law.

To show support for law enforcement, Chick-fil-A has unveiled their Back The Blue t-shirts:

Nearly every version of the popular tale was written from a standpoint that presumed thateither people either opposed police officers or Black Lives Matter:

The claim about Chick-fil-A introducing "back the blue" shirts specifically in response to events in July 2016 was easily proven untrue. In November 2015, the pro-law enforcement web sitePoliceOne covered the appearance of the shirts at a single Texas location of the chain in October 2015:

Employees at the College Park Chick-fil-A wore "Back the Blue" shirts to show support to law enforcement, Independent Journal reported.

"Were supporting those everyday heroes that protect us," location manager Eli Advincula told the publication. "There are [police officer] regulars that eat here all the time, and we just want them to know that.

The blue also symbolizes the local high school football team.

That post itself linked to a Facebook photograph of a child wearing a "back the blue" shirt unrelated to Chick-fil-A:

Also linked was an article identifying the location of the shirts as Conroe, Texas; notably, an embedded Facebook post had since been deleted. We contacted Chick-fil-A corporate to ask whether the shirts were created in 2016 or were a chain-wide issue. A representative told us that the shirts were the work of high school employees,and that they were worn at a single location in Texas in October 2015.

Last updated: 12 July 2016

Originally published: 12 July 2016

sources:

Lee, Parker. "Chick-fil-A Employees In Texas Are Sporting T-Shirts That Are Catching Police Officers Attention." Independent Journal. November 2015.

PoliceOne.com. "Photo: Texas Chick-Fil-A Employees Wear "Back The Blue" Shirts." 19 November 2015.

Source: http://www.snopes.com/chick-fil-a-just-dropped-a-bomb-on-black-lives-matter/