As owner of the popular Green Parrot in Newtown, all Bob Lutz intended to be on the evening of Nov. 15 was a gracious host. Then threats came against him and his restaurant.
"Emails and texts, about 50 of them. Some of them were vile. Most of them anonymous," said Lutz, 63, seated in a booth in the Parrot's dining room, paging through a slew on his phone.
The profane correspondence was prompted after word spread that he'd rented a private room in his restaurant to a conservative group that planned to watch the film "Whose Children Are They?" a polemic against American public schools.
Newtown Township Supervisor Elen Snyder called, warning Lutz that his restaurant would be picketed.
“I was told it would be in my best interest to cancel the event," he said.
The documentary-style movie, released nationwide on Nov. 15, was created by Vision Video Inc., producer of Christian-themed films (read “#NewtownPA Community Shuts Down Hateful Movie Screening Targeting Local Schools”; https://sco.lt/6DXTLk )
“I felt like I was being bullied," said Lutz, who fears any misstep in future restaurant bookings could bring retribution from the Newtown Township's elected leaders.
Snyder said she acted as a reasonable mediator, not a government intimidator. “I was not calling him in my capacity as a Newtown Township Supervisor. I was calling as a member of the community because the teachers were asking me if there was anything could do," she said.
In the end, Lutz decided not to show the movie because “he didn't want to divide the community, and that's important to him,” said Snyder.
As for the teachers, Mark Dolan, president of the Council Rock Education Association, the union representing Council Rock's teachers, was glad the episode ended as it did
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