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Maine Student Says Speaking Somali Got Her Banned From a Dunkin'

Hamdia Ahmed said she was briefly barred from the premises for a year, until the store's owner got involved

The owner of a Dunkin' franchise in Portland, Maine, has apologized to a woman who said she was banned from the store for speaking Somali with her family this week, NBC News reported.

Hamdia Ahmed, a 20-year-old refugee from Somalia and local college student, said she and her family were speaking in Somali while waiting in the drive-thru at the Dunkin' on Monday when the employee asked them to stop yelling, which she said they weren't doing.

"You're going to disrespect me cause I speak a different language than you. Is that what it is?" Ahmed said in a video she posted to Twitter.

The employee threatened to call the police, which she did after Ahmed went inside to resolve the issue. Officers gave her a notice barring her from the premises for a year.

But Ahmed said it was rescinded after the store's owner apologized.

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