A man selling controversial t-shirts that refer to Senator Barack Obama as a slave was attacked in his New York City boutique. The man, known as "Apollo Braun," claims that two African-American men entered his store Wednesday afternoon and shouted "Who do you call a slave, you f***ing Jew?!" before assaulting him.
Last month Braun - real name Doron Braunshtein - made news when a woman threatened to sue him after she was assaulted while wearing one his shirts that bore the words "Obama is my slave." At the time, Braun defended the shirts, saying that they reflect the views of "ordinary WASPs [white anglo-saxon protestants]."
According to an account from his publicist, the two men worked together - one grabbed Braun's hands while the other kicked him in the testicles. Now, after experiencing the physical fallout for himself, the shirt peddler is reconsidering his merchandise.
"I don't want to be killed for my t-shirts. I am still shocked about what happened today but there is a big chance that I will stop selling my anti-Obama merchandise after what happened today. I mean, tomorrow someone can show up at my store with a gun, and I don't want that to happen."
After the incident, Braun was found on the floor of his store by a passerby. He then called the police and filed a report. It was the third time police had come to the store since the owner appeared on the cover of New York newspaper Metro wearing the Obama slave shirt. Since then, Braun has been flooded with phone calls and emails protesting his wears - some threatening death, according to his publicist.
Though he's considering halting the sale of the inflammatory shirts, Braun calls the tees "art" and defends his right to make them.
"This is very disturbing to me that I am living in New York City and that I own a boutique for more than five and a half years [in] neighborhoods which are suppose to be the most open-minded and tolerant to any kind of art, but instead, people don't understand me, hate me and don't let me express myself the way everyone should be able to in New York."
Braun maintains that his distaste for the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States has nothing to do with the candidate's race. Instead he dislikes Obama because he believes he is a Muslim.
The shirts causing all the trouble sell for $69 and include several other slogans such as “Jews Against Obama,” “Obama = Hitler” and “Who Killed Obama?”
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