‘Enticing violence’: Man asked to leave popular Melbourne pub over MAGA hat

A popular Melbourne pub has drawn backlash after threatening to boot a customer unless he took off his red MAGA hat on Australia Day.

A Melbourne man has been left shocked and offended after a staff member at a popular St Kilda pub told him to remove his red Make America Great Again cap to avoid being booted from the venue.

Angelo Notta, 45, a regular patron of Captain Baxter Bar and Restaurant, visited the beachfront venue about 5.30pm on Australia Day to celebrate a friend’s birthday. 

But some 10 minutes after sitting down at a table, Mr Notta was asked by the venue manager to remove the red Donald Trump cap – which he claims he had previously worn to the venue on five separate occasions.

“I was just told to remove the hat because it was enticing political violence,” he told Melbourne’s 3AW radio station. 

“I spend a lot of money there on food and drink, and this is the way they treat a regular patron?”

Angelo Notta is a regular patron of Captain Baxter Bar and Restaurant. Picture: Jason Edwards

Mr Notta – who estimated he has spent over $7,200 at the venue in the last two months – said he briefly argued with the staff member for “about 10 seconds” before his friend suggested he comply with the staff.

“(I) just said, ‘Look why? I’m not enticing anything. I’ve worn this hat here many times. It’s not offensive at all’,” he explained. 

“And I just had a friend next to me say: ‘Look, just take it off. Don’t cause trouble.’ So I took it off.”

Mr Notta said the incident left him feeling embarrassed and offended “because, as I said earlier, I go to this venue quite often.”

While the Melbourne man said he supports Mr Trump, he said he was “only wearing the hat to cover a bad hair day”. 

“I wasn’t looking to incite anything or rustle any feathers – it’s just a hat I’ve got,” he told the Daily Mail. 

He said he has previously worn the hat at the popular on five separate occasions. Picture: Channel 10

The 45-year-old noted the St Kilda venue states it is a place “free from discrimination, where we respect and celebrate the diversity of our communities”, on its website. 

“On their website, they say they don’t discriminate but it was complete discrimination to tell me off,” he told the publication.

“There’s 150 million people in America who have a hat like this. It’s not like I’m wearing a hat that supports terrorists or anything like that – this is the president of the United States.

“What’s next now? You can’t wear your favourite football team’s colours?”

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Mr Notta said he would not be returning to the venue. However the incident has not deterred him from wearing the hat, which was given to him by a friend from the US.

“I wear it often. It’s a great hat … and I’ve never had anybody low brow me or look at me awkwardly when I’ve worn it at other venues or out on the street,” he told 3AW.

“I love the colour … I do support Donald Trump as well. I’m not an extreme right winger or anything like that. I just think it’s … got a bit of meaning to it. So I enjoy wearing it.”

Captain Baxter Bar and Restaurant. Picture: Google Maps

Dad asked to leave Brisbane pub over Trump hat

The incident comes months after a Queensland dad was asked to leave a proud LGBTQIA+ Brisbane pub for wearing a Trump hat, ahead of the Republican president’s election victory.

Rob Holt was attending a Halloween rave at The Wickham in Fortitude Valley, with his wife and six-year-old daughter in October when a staff member asked him to leave due to his ‘Trump 2024’ cap.

“I’m just disappointed and confused at the end of the day,” Mr Holt told Sydney 2GB radio of the encounter.

Mr Holt said he was waiting for his wife and daughter to return from the bathroom when a female staff member approached him near the bar and asked him to leave.

“She said, ‘Are you leaving now?’,” Mr Holt told host Ben Fordham.

“I said, ‘Yeah, well, we’re about to leave. Why is that?’ And she said, ‘Well, you have to leave. We want you out of here’.”

When he pressed for a reason, Mr Holt was told it was “because you’re wearing a Trump hat”.

“I said, ‘Well, okay what’s that got to do with anything?’ And she said ‘We’ll we’re a gay bar, you can’t wear that here. We don’t want you here. There are people here who feel like they’re not safe’”

“I said ‘really? I’ve never experienced that before’.”

Mr Holt was asked to leave the Halloween rave held at The Wickham over the weekend. Picture: Google Maps

After again confirming that was the reason, Mr Holt told the staff member he felt a “little bit offended” and questioned “what would happen if roles were reversed?”

“I said, ‘Imagine if you can, that you approach another establishment and you are wearing a pride hat or something like that, and you’re asked to leave. I can imagine that would be a big deal.’”

The Queensland dad said he was left “disappointed” and “frustrated” by the ordeal, having “mostly positive” reactions when he wears the hat out on the street.

“The thing I’m most worried about is that the new social contagion sort of coming across from America to Australia, where you get refused service, you are kicked out of establishments, not for who you are, but for what you believe in, or what you wear,” he said.

“The last time I checked, we’re a multicultural country with many beliefs and we prop up a little person for what they believe in, and we support minorities and … everyone’s allowed to have their opinion. Where a democracy (with) free speech. I guess (it shows) just a little bit of how it’s heading these days, it’s disappointing.”

News.com.au has contacted Captain Baxter and its operator Melbourne Hospitality People for comment.

Originally published as ‘Enticing violence’: Man asked to leave popular Melbourne pub over MAGA hat