DAVENPORT- A local businessman is coming under fire after organizers of this weekend's Pridefest say he crossed the line.
"It was John Wisor of 11th Street Precinct saying that we needed to move everything, that we weren't allowed to be setting up here. Right around noon, I get a call from one of my vendors that someone was yelling at them, verbally assaulting them," said Cody Hootman, with QC Pride, which organized the street fest in the Village of East Davenport to celebrate diversity and the LGBTQ community.
Hootman says he assured Wisor that he had all the proper permits and credentials from City Hall, but says Wisor was having a fit over Port-A-Pottie placement.
"He said you need to move these, you need to move these you f---ing queer or I'm going to move them myself", recounted Hootman, who says the offensive words were used multiple times and heard by multiple witnesses.
He says police were called to intervene.
"At that point, I called the police to come down because he was very in our face, very intimidating," Hootman said, adding that the festival logistics were all cleared with the city and the Village of East Davenport back in April.
"Also that night, I had many reports that he was yelling over the fence to people, calling them faggots. It hasn't often happened to me that I get called those negative words, so it set me back that somebody would say that," Hootman said.
Assistant Chief of Police Jeff Bladel confirmed officers responded to a call for service outside 11th Street Precinct shortly after noon on Friday. No arrests were made at the time, he added. Police continue to review video from the incident.
Meanwhile, Facebook accounts of the incident are being shared and calling for a boycott of the business. The local band Smooth Groove announced it would be cancelling an upcoming appearance at the Precinct.
"I will never personally step foot in there again. We were trying to spread love and acceptance, and that is not what we got from John Wisor," said Hootman.
Wisor was not available at the bar Monday afternoon. WQAD left a phone message for his side of the story.