A uniformed Kansas City, Mo., cop hoping to celebrate his birthday with lunch at Olive Garden on Sunday was kicked out because of his duty firearm.© Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg A uniformed Kansas City, Mo., cop hoping to celebrate his birthday with lunch at Olive Garden on Sunday was kicked out because of his duty firearm. A uniformed Kansas City, Mo., cop hoping to celebrate his birthday with lunch at Olive Garden on Sunday was kicked out because of his duty firearm.
A hostess caught sight of Officer Michael Holsworth’s holstered handgun as he waited for his family and asked the decorated officer to leave the restaurant at once, he ranted in a Facebook post Sunday afternoon.
“I never in my wildest thoughts would of thought this would happen in the Kansas City area. I see it happening all over the United States to other officers, but never thought it would of happened to me,” he wrote after leaving the restaurant.
It’s legal to openly carry handguns in Missouri, but the Olive Garden hostess told Holsworth guns were prohibited in the restaurant.
The restaurant’s refusal to serve Holsworth brought on a flurry of outrage spearheaded by the city’s Fraternal Order of Police, which promised to organize protests outside the southeast Kansas City restaurant.
The order’s president, Brad Lemon, and Kansas City Police Chief Darrl Forte came to Holsworth’s defense in public messages aimed at the chain’s national Twitter account.
“Facts are being gathered,” Forte wrote.
It’s not clear why the restaurant franchise took a stance against Holsworth’s gun. Olive Garden insists it was a misunderstanding.
“Law enforcement are always welcome to dine (with) us — we heart serving them and have great relationships,” an Olive Garden spokesman said.
The chain’s president, Dave George, has since called Holsworth to apologize, said Lemon, the order's liaison to Kansas police.
Lemon took a pointed stand against Holsworth’s treatment, demanding respect for all law enforcement officers.
“It's been an incredibly difficult day for our brother, and our entire family. All we ever ask is to be treated fairly and with the same respect to due anyone else. When we are treated poorly because of our chosen occupation, it hurts,” Lemon wrote in another statement to Facebook.
“It's not okay to treat law enforcement poorly. We deserve, and have earned, the same level of respect due to each and every member of society.”
Holsworth declined to speak of Sunday’s ordeal further after his public Facebook post went viral with more than 5,600 shares.
Holsworth earned his department’s Distinguished Service Medal in 2014 for being one of three police officers who shot and killed a burglar linked to a triple homicide, according to city records.
nhensley@nydailynews.com