Black owner of SF lemonade stand has police called on him while trying to open his business

Viktor Stevenson said that he had the San Francisco Police Department called on him earlier this week while he was opening his lemonade stand in the Mission District because someone in the neighborhood thought he was breaking into his own business. less Viktor Stevenson said that he had the San Francisco Police Department called on him earlier this week while he was opening his lemonade stand in the Mission District because someone in the neighborhood thought ... more Photo: Screengrab Via Instagram Photo: Screengrab Via Instagram Image 1 of / 33 Caption Close Black owner of SF lemonade stand has police called on him while trying to open his business 1 / 33 Back to Gallery

The owner of a high-end lemonade stand in San Francisco's Mission District said that he was approached by officers with the San Francisco Police Department on Thursday, July 19 as he was opening his business after someone in the neighborhood thought he was breaking into his own business.

Viktor Stevenson, a black man who is the owner of Gourmonade, told AJ+ in an interview that he was checking to see if the security system for his lemonade stand was working when four cops approached him. He said one of the officers had his hand on his gun.

"The officer said 'Can you prove that this is your business?' and I said 'Absolutely. Like, I have the key,'" Stevenson told AJ+. "I opened and closed the doors."

SFGATE reached out to the San Francisco Police Department for comment, but weren't able to reach anyone at the department at the time of publication.

Stevenson's experience is the most recent in a string of instances of black Bay Area residents getting the cops called on them while doing innocuous acts. In June, a woman named Alison Ettel called the police on an 8-year-old black girl for selling water in San Francisco.

And in May, a woman named Jennifer Schulte was shown in a video calling the police on a group of Black Oakland residents who were barbecuing at the lake.

Since the incident on July 19, Stevenson has received an outpouring of support for people in the local community, with people from all over the world encouraging San Franciscans to go support his lemonade stand, even despite its high prices. A bottle of lemonade from Gourmonade, which was featured on SFGATE on July 14, costs $8 before tax.

"I work in San Francisco," Jean P. Richardson wrote on Twitter in response to the video. "I am finding this guy and buying his Lemonade and do not care if costs $20.00 a bottle."

He posted a video thanking those who have supported him on the Internet and in real life to Gourmonade's Facebook account after closing up shop on Saturday evening. "Today was an epic day...not just because we got to sell lemonade and I got to do what I love to do and my passion," he said.

"But people showed up and people were super human today. So many people came up from the neighborhood, locals and residents and business, and gave me hugs. And that's priceless."