Ken Bellingham, the owner of the Edmonds Bakery in the US state of Washington, has announced that he’s "unapologising" for selling "Build the Wall" Valentine’s Day cookies.
Last week, a patron of Edmonds Bakery named Ana Carrera was offended when she saw a "Build the Wall" cookie on sale there, snapping a picture of it and venting her outrage on social media, where she claimed that “there’s nothing funny about racism or racist ideals + policies”, KOMO News reports.
While Bellingham initially offered his apologies, saying that he "will not be making anymore cookies of a political nature", he now argues that his sale of these cookies is protected by the First Amendment.
"Am I supposed to be quiet because I can’t write what I want, or I can only write what they want or makes them happy? No. That’s not how it is. They can write whatever they want on their own cookie and I can do that on mine," Bellingham told the media outlet.
He also pointed out that his sale of “Build the Wall” cookies was a business decision, not a political one, adding that he now sells this type of cookie by the dozen.
"People should lighten up," Bellingham surmised.