Whole Foods apologizes for "miscommunication" of threat to arrest Westbard cemetery protesters

Protesters at the edge of
the Whole Foods shopping center
in Bethesda moments after police
informed them the store would
have them arrested if they set
 foot on the property

Protesters marching against plans Sunday to redevelop land in Bethesda where the desecration of an African-American cemetery has yet to be investigated were stunned to be informed that Whole Foods Market had threatened them with arrest if they set foot on their property. Yesterday, a representative of the organic grocery chain expressed horror at what she described as a "miscommunication."

"I am confident Store Leadership at our Bethesda store did not tell the group that 'anyone who set foot on the property would be arrested,'" Mary Ann Sack, Mid-Atlantic Executive Marketing Coordinator for Whole Foods wrote to community members in an email obtained by Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row. "[W]e are all upset that somehow this message was communicated. We feel fortunate to be a part of the Westbard Bethesda community and value our relationships with the neighborhoods that surround the store. Whole Foods Market is genuinely invested in bringing together our community partners—so what happened on Sunday doesn’t sit right with us."

Sack said that the property owners make the ultimate decision on who can or cannot enter the property, not the store. She added that the store would consider donating food or flowers to a future Macedonia Baptist Church event, to demonstrate "we are 'kind and peaceful' neighbors."

Ancestors of the MBC congregation are among those buried in the cemetery.