Starting Saturday night, a story began circulating online about popular San Diego establishment that asked a patron to remove a shirt bearing an explicit anti-ICE message. The request, allegedly made after a purchase had already been completed, wasn’t framed as an endorsement or rejection of the message itself, according to ownership, but as an effort to keep the environment comfortable for everyone inside. What followed, however, quickly escaped the walls of the business and became a flashpoint online, where context gave way to outrage and assumptions hardened into certainty.
This isn’t really about one bar, one shirt, or one group of people. It’s about whether every shared space must now double as a political arena, and whether choosing neutrality is treated as a moral failing. Increasingly, boundaries are interpreted as censorship, and opting out of conflict is reframed as taking a side. That shift should concern anyone who values both free expression and the freedom to disengage.
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Originally published on January 25, 2026.
