Hilary Passman answered my call yesterday morning with a hesitant “Hello?”
Over the past week, Passman, the owner of Devil’s Teeth Baking Company, has received calls, emails and messages from all over the country harassing, berating, and threatening her and her family… all because of a cheeky cookie.
Last Monday, Devil’s Teeth announced that they would sell a run of sugar cookies decorated in anti-ICE slogans with all proceeds benefitting Community Aid Network Minnesota, a grassroots mutual aid organization. It seems the community response in San Francisco has been positive: The cookies have been selling out at all three of the bakery’s locations by 9 or 10 a.m. and Devil’s Teeth has already raised more than $5,000 for the organization.
Predictably upset Fox News caught wind of the agitprop treats, bringing out the critics and trolls.
Passman said she and the manager of the Noriega shop got the idea after seeing a similar initiative by a bakery on the East Coast and was ultimately borne from a sense of helplessness. “I'm not in Minnesota. I can't walk out and protest. I can't physically do anything,” said Passman, calling the cookies her “very small protest.”
At $3.50 apiece, Devil’s Teeth is directing every penny towards the organization, ultimately taking a loss on the hundreds they have made and sold. Passman said they are not sure how long they’ll be able to offer the cookies given this loss but they’re determined to keep the fundraiser running.
“We keep having that conversation, but right now, I feel like it's not that much compared to people who are actually going out on the streets in the winter and protesting against ICE in person,” said Passman. “I feel like this is kind of a small hit. I mean, obviously, it's a big financial hit for us, but my body's not on the line and that kind of puts things into perspective for me. So yeah, we're going to keep on doing it.”
Reception of the fundraiser online — or more so, the message on the cookies — has been met with both an outpouring of support and backlash. Some people became new customers after hearing about the cookies, while others reaching as far as Florida are sending Passman hateful messages and threatening the safety of her family. As of Monday afternoon, the company’s Yelp page was frozen due to an onslaught of negative reviews from all over the country, a familiar tactic used to tank a business’s rating for reasons unrelated to their food.
Devil’s Teeth certainly has a local following, namely for their delicious breakfast sandwiches, but Passman said she never anticipated so much attention being paid to the cookies, but that just may be how they crumble in today’s viral world.
In the days since Devil’s Teeth launched their cookie fundraiser, other businesses across the city have followed suit, such as Matching Half’s F*ck ICE special, a $6 cold brew with no ice in it. A regular of the cafe will be matching all proceeds made from the special five times over and the funds will be donated to the ACLU of Minnesota. At Bar Bibi, all proceeds from their new menu item Glass for Minneapolis, at $12 apiece, will be donated to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.
In response to violent actions by federal immigration enforcement officers, businesses across the city opted to close on Friday’s nationwide strike; many that chose to stay open cited their staffs’ livelihood as reason to keep their doors open.
Some instead went the fundraising route. SPRO donated the day’s proceeds to CHIRLA, a California-based organization focused on the civil rights of immigrants and refugees. Astranda Bakery donated half of the proceeds from their pop-up at Omnivore Books on Saturday to Immigrant Defense Network. Rikki’s bar donated $1 from every drink sold to immigrant legal services organizations. Paper Son Coffee donated $1,000 to ICWC, an SF-based immigration service group, and $1,000 to API Legal Outreach.
Nightlife businesses also joined in. The Balboa Theater donated all of its Friday night proceeds to La Raza Centro Legal, a non-profit organization that provides legal services for members of the Latino community and low-income immigrant families. Bar Part Time on Friday similarly donated all of the proceeds from the door to San Francisco Rapid Response Network. And at venues Bottom of the Hill and Rickshaw Stop, all ticket sales from their shows on Friday night were donated to Stand With Minnesota.
“So as long as ICE is surging in the streets and killing people,” Passman said, “seems like the least thing I can do is sell a couple of cookies.”
