Adventures Underground and Caterpillar Cafe remain committed to being a safe and inclusive space. We enforce our code of conduct and do not tolerate harassment, bullying, verbal or physical threats, violence, abusive or offensive language or gestures, intoxication, disruptive or disorderly behavior, racism, sexism, or bigotry.

We do not tolerate hate speech, but we do value freedom of speech and freedom from censorship, and the safe space we provide does not provide safety from conflicting ideas. I believe that compassion and civil discourse is the way to change minds.

After a recent incident in our cafe, there seems to be much concern about how we handled the situation, and I would like to share the context, and why we handled it the way we did.

On Saturday our management team received a complaint about a cafe customer with an offensive item with him. Our bookstore manager, Justin, approached this person and asked what item he had. The item in question was a WWII armband that had a swastika on it. This person also had a US army belt from a different era with him. He said he had just bought some items at the antique store. Both items had packaging from the antique store. He said he was a history and war memorabilia collector and was looking the items up online to see if they were authentic. This person apologized to Justin and assured him that he wouldn’t ever bring a swastika into the store again. Justin says “he seemed genuinely embarrassed that he hadn’t thought it through and apologized profusely. He seemed like he had genuinely made a mistake.”

The person never wore the armband, or brandished it, or showed it to any other customer directly. He had it on the table in front of him, along with other items from other wars. Justin says "If I thought he was in anyway [sic] trying to intimidate, insult or in any other way injure someone here I would have kicked him out no question. I believe he was just grossly oblivious. A mistake. Not an intentional action to cause trouble."

To my knowledge, the person then put the offensive items out of view, and remained at the table for another ten minutes. He then went to the counter to collect his helmet (which also appeared to be of historical design) and leave the premises. Our staff did not see any swastikas on the helmet.

At the counter, a customer was making a complaint to our other manager, Anna, about this person being allowed to remain in the store. Anna reiterated that we had received a complaint, addressed it immediately, and judging the context of the evidence on the table and the person’s reaction and apology, did not deem him to be spreading hate. Anna says “if we had any impression that he was aggressive, spouting hate, or looking to offend in that way, we would be handling the situation very differently.” The person with the memorabilia tried to apologize directly to the woman, before he left.

I understand there is a lot of concern online about this situation, accusing us of allowing a Nazi to remain in the store and not kicking him out immediately. I believe this person gave no legitimate indication of being a Nazi, that while he did have Nazi memorabilia he was not intending to display it, showcase it, or harm others by it, that he made a questionable and thoughtless decision to do his research in public, and that he is embarrassed by this mistake. I understand that his poor choices offended other people in the cafe, and I don’t believe that he will be making those choices again.

I also understand sticking up for what you believe in, especially during a time when it feels like many things around us are falling apart, and I truly believe that compassion and civil discourse can go a long way. If anyone has further concerns, please address them to mgmt@advunderground.com. -Amanda Divine 3/16/2025