Wed. May 12th, 2021

A Cincinnati area bar owner says he’s had a flood of positive and negative response the public back-and-forth he had with NBA star LeBron James in the news and on Twitter.

Jay Linneman, the owner of Linnie’s Pub in Delhi Township, publicly announced that he would air no NBA games on the television until James was “expelled” from the league. James responded the next day on Twitter. “Aww Damn,” James tweeted Saturday. “I was headed there to watch our game tonight and have a drink! Welp.” Linneman told The Enquirer that he was tired of sports players voicing their opinion after the Los Angeles Lakers forward posted a call for “ACCOUNTABILITY” in response to a fatal officer-involved shooting in Columbus, Ohio.

By Tuesday, the pub’s website contact section included a link for people to click if they wanted to “use vile or threatening language.” The link directs to a website with five searches relating to Hell including “Will God forgive me.” The bar’s website further requires people to type “yes” to the question if they support law enforcement in order to leave any comment. “The support for the position has been overwhelmingly positive and has far outweighed the negatives,” he said. Public responses on Twitter ranged from calls to boycott the pub to praise for the pub owner’s position. More than one person on Twitter noted the bar owner was calling on athletes to not speak up when the bar owner was speaking up as well.

A gas station sign on Westbourne Road near Cincinnati’s West Side within a couple of miles of the pub put up a sign below the price of gasoline: “Hey LeBron, the West Side thanks you. Linne’s has never been busier.” Linneman said the point was not to get support for Linnie’s. The bar owner said he has long been a supporter of law enforcement. He said more customers have been coming in since Friday. “I hope people channel the support to law enforcement and not necessarily to Linnie’s Pub,” he said.

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