Restaurant sparks controversy with convicted murderer video
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Worthington sports bar and restaurant Shakers Public House. Photo: Andrew King/Axios
A social media controversy erupted this week when a Worthington restaurant owner posted a now-deleted video that led people to believe his bar was fundraising for a convicted killer.
State of play: Shakers Public House posted a pair of Facebook videos — one featuring a man convicted of murder and a second defending the first — that viewers thought implied the establishment was using its Smoke Stack burger to fundraise for the man.
- The videos garnered dozens of critical comments before being deleted and were later re-shared in a Reddit thread with over 150 comments.
- The posts led to a wave of negative reviews on Yelp and Google.
Catch up quick: On Tuesday, the Shakers page shared a since-deleted video featuring Jason Martin, a Newark resident who was convicted in 2009 of fatally stabbing a man and is now serving a prison sentence of 54 years to life.
- In the video, Martin says he helped create the restaurant's Smoke Stack burger, and that "some of the proceeds from those sales help me with commissary."
- Martin asks viewers to "hit Shakers up as much as possible."
- Shortly after, business owner Spencer Campbell posted another since-deleted video saying he did not regret the original post and telling Facebook commenters, "The more that you complain online, share my stuff and comment on it, it just helps my algorithm and helps us do more for him."
Driving the news: By Wednesday, both videos and the comments beneath were taken down.
- Campbell shared a new post (with public comments restricted) explaining that "personal and business lines often cross." He lamented that "we don't get to know all the facts about anything anymore" and that "people aren't always as understanding and supportive as they seem."
What they're saying: Campbell tells Axios the burger doesn't raise money for Martin and said the video was a way to make an old friend "feel involved" with a burger he let Martin design while incarcerated.
- Campbell says Martin filmed the video with the GettingOut app, which connects friends and family with incarcerated people.
Between the lines: Campbell has stayed in touch with Martin since they met in prison more than a decade ago, and named the burger after Martin's nickname, "J Smoke."
- Campbell said he didn't know the details of Martin's conviction, saying he only knew the story Martin told him, "never even saw a news article about him" before this week, and bases his opinion purely on "the person I know."
The big picture: Campbell often uses Shakers to raise money for local causes.
- In February and March, they're raising money for Box 15, a charity providing firefighter rehabilitation services.
The last word: While defending his support for Martin, Campbell says he also plans to reach out to the family of Martin's victim — who he didn't know about before Tuesday — to see if they would be willing to benefit from a fundraising effort.
- "Screw the business," he says. "If there's a way we can spin all of this dark cloud to do something for that family, that's even better."