Tirion Boan
Audio By Carbonatix
On Tuesday afternoon, the scene outside Zipps Sports Grill in central Phoenix was quiet. The restaurant was closed, the patio cleared. Students wearing backpacks walked back and forth to the neighboring Creighton University campus. The only indication of the chaos that occurred less than 24 hours earlier was a Univision television crew setting up a camera.
The previous night was a different story. The restaurant was one of 14 Zipps locations raided on Monday, when Homeland Security Investigations, a division of ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, served warrants in what the U.S. Attorney’s Office said was “part of a months-long criminal investigation.”
The raids quickly drew more than 200 protesters who yelled “SHAME ON YOU!” and “Leave the workers alone!” and recorded ICE agents on their phones.
On Tuesday, activists once again gathered at the Park Central location of Zipps, where local politicians, including Rep. Yassamin Ansari and former state legislator Raquel Terán, expressed extreme concern.
Morgan Fischer
In the background of all of this, Zipps’ orange and blue sign shines. While the exact reasoning for the raid has yet to be clarified, the company has now turned to damage control. On Tuesday night, Zipps released a statement.
“Zipps Sports Grill is aware that federal authorities executed court-authorized search warrants at a number of our locations on January 26, as part of an ongoing investigation.
Federal officials have not shared details regarding the nature of the investigation, and no charges or allegations have been announced.
We are cooperating fully with law enforcement and working closely with our attorneys to understand the scope of the inquiry.
Because this is an active matter, we are unable to comment further at this time.
Zipps Sports Grill locations are currently closed, but we are working to reopen by the end of the week. We will notify our customers as soon as we resume normal operations.
Over the past 24 hours, some individuals have gathered near our locations to demonstrate. We respect the right to peaceful expression and ask that everyone exercise caution and remain respectful of neighboring businesses, employees, and the surrounding community.”
One Valley location of the sports bar reopened on Wednesday. The company posted an announcement to its social media pages, explaining that the Zipps on Warner Road, just east of McClintock Drive in Tempe, opened at 11 a.m.
The Google listings for the rest of the Valley locations of Zipps show they are closed on Wednesday, and expected to open at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
