The U.S. Department of Justice Opens Civil Rights Probe Into New York’s Poetica Coffee After It Banned Congressman Dan Goldman
June 26 - 2026
Coffee Geography Magazine
The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a civil rights investigation into Poetica Coffee, a small Uzbek-inspired café chain in New York City, after it declared on social media that Representative Dan Goldman was not welcome in its stores because of his support for Israel.
Harmeet K. Dhillon, the top civil rights prosecutor at the Justice Department, announced the probe, calling the coffee shop’s actions “reprehensible” and “potentially illegal.” The investigation centers on a since-deleted Instagram post in which Poetica Coffee said it had refunded the Democratic congressman and told him never to return, labeling him among “racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers or anyone in between.”
The incident unfolded Sunday after Goldman, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, stopped into the chain’s Lorimer Street location with his young daughter. He said he asked to use the bathroom, bought a coffee, and left a “large tip” as a thank-you. He described a pleasant, ordinary exchange with the barista, who he noted was wearing a hijab.
Hours later, the company posted a security-camera image of Goldman on Facebook and Instagram. “We see that you stopped by our shop today for a coffee,” the post read. “Do you see how it doesn’t taste like genocide juice? Or are you still having a hard time telling the difference?” The message added that his $9.82 purchase had been refunded and closed with, “Don’t ever come to Poetica.”
The Instagram account linked to the shop’s website has since been deactivated.
“These actions are not only reprehensible, they’re potentially illegal,” Dhillon, an appointee of President Donald Trump, wrote on X. “The Civil Rights Division has opened an investigation, and will bring an enforcement action if warranted.”
Goldman, who is Jewish and has been a vocal supporter of Israel, called the online post “quite surprising” given the “nice interaction” he’d had inside the café. “It was diametrically opposite to that post that I came upon later, and it’s a reflection I think of a sad state of affairs that without knowing me we could’ve had such a nice interaction,” he said. “Two people, obviously from different backgrounds, different faiths, but that’s what America is and that’s what New York City is. That is what I believe in.”
Yet the congressman broke with the Justice Department’s move, saying he did not believe Poetica Coffee should face a federal investigation. “I would rather they spend their time and resources investigating anti-Semitism against people who do not have a platform that I do, who are not elected officials,” Goldman said.
The legal grounds for any enforcement action remain unclear. Federal and New York State law both prohibit businesses from refusing service on the basis of protected characteristics such as race, religion, sex, and national origin. Those protections, however, do not typically extend to political beliefs or ideology, raising questions about what statute the Justice Department might invoke.
Poetica Coffee, which operates seven locations in Brooklyn and the East Village, has not responded to requests for comment. The chain describes itself as an Uzbek-inspired café and has previously drawn attention for its social media activism.
“We’ve lost, I think, some perspective on decorum and appropriateness and just decency and conversation,” Goldman said, while insisting that his personal experience inside the shop was one of civility. For now, the civil rights division is moving forward with its inquiry into whether that brief coffee run crossed a legal line.