‘Buy-cott’ boosts Memphis pizza shop after owner refuses to serve national guard

‘People are going to participate in a much less public endeavor. So they’ll do the 901 boycott, or they’ll do the 901 “buy-cott”, but they’re not going to put their lives on the line.’ Photograph: Austin Johnson/AFP/Getty Images

You can measure the disconnect between angry internet commentariat and real life Memphis residents by the length of the wait for a table at Tamboli’s Pasta & Pizza.

In early July, Miles Tamboli, the owner of the midtown pizza spot, made a decision: he would not serve the national guard deployed to the city by the Trump administration, which the US president claimed would reduce the city’s crime rate. Tamboli’s video announcement came days after troops killed two city residents, bringing the total to four since the initiative started in September.