Anti-vaccine protester busted at NYC Panera, slapped with summons

An anti-vax protester was led out of a Brooklyn Panera Bread in cuffs and slapped with a summons Sunday afternoon, according to authorities and video from the scene.

The 42-year-old man was inside the eatery at the Gateway Center Mall just after 3 p.m. when he – and other members of a “disorderly group” – refused to leave despite “multiple requests,” police said.

The group had visited five Big Apple Panera locations Sunday in defiance of the city’s requirements to show proof of vaccination before dining in, according to photographer Leeroy Johnson, who tweeted video of the ordeal.

The clip shows several cops surrounding the man as additional officers appear to struggle with another group of people trying to grab hold of a large American flag.

“You don’t deserve to touch that flag, sir,” the man, whose name was not released, snapped at a cop.

“The flag does not touch the ground!” yelled the man, identified by Johnson as an Army veteran.

As cops cuffed him, he declared that “The Constitution of the United States is being violated.”

“I cannot eat, and my sisters and brothers cannot work,” he began, before he stopped and told the cops he wasn’t resisting arrest.

“I’m complying 100 percent,” he insisted. “No weapons, no brass, no ammo.”

After being advised that he was trespassing, the man was “taken into custody without further incident,” cops said.

Once he was walked out, officers could be heard directing people to “protest outside.”

The incident comes less than a week after six anti-vax protesters were arrested during a sit-in inside a Cheesecake Factory in Queens, police said.

About 40 protesters stormed the restaurant inside the Queens Center mall at 7 p.m. Tuesday and refused to show proof of vaccination, according to cops.

Footage of the ordeal showed the protesters arguing with cops, including one who compared the officers to Nazis.

The members of the group were charged with criminal trespass.

“The safety and security of our guests and employees is paramount,” a Panera spokesperson said in a statement. “We continue to closely follow all New York State masking mandates accordingly. As this is an ongoing police matter, we ask that all further media inquiries are directed to the NYPD.”

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