Sarasota café gets torrent of negative attention after an Instagram repost commenting on the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
By Johannes Werner
Original Air Date: September 12, 2025
Host: A small-business owner in Sarasota got herself into the middle of a social media storm when she reposted on Instagram a gruesome photo of Charlie Kirk’s moment of death, coupled with a Kirk quote advocating for the Second Amendment. She did so after the high-profile campus organizer was shot and killed Wednesday.
Johannes Werner: On Instagram, Mica England advertises herself as the executive chef and owner of Blvd Cafe. She also happens to be lesbian, and her café features a small rainbow flag in the window. Back in Dallas, she wanted to be a cop, but life took her in a different direction. So four years ago, she opened Blvd Café, near downtown Sarasota. The Yelp reviews for the café’s “iconic breakfast dishes” were in the top range—until yesterday.
That’s when England reposted on her business’s Instagram the photo, coupled with this quote attributed to Charlie Kirk: “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”
In an interview with WSLR, she—first of all—wanted to let it be known that she condemns Kirk’s murder.
Mica England: I was horrified. I don’t think anyone should die from gun violence. I wish his family peace. I hope everybody stays safe.
JW: She also tried to explain her thoughts that prompted her repost.
ME: I know that I represent a lot of people, LGBTQ. I know he’s very outspoken about trans—I mean, people that don’t understand people tend to be a little bit ignorant, and I just feel like he attacks us without knowing any information and why gay and lesbian and trans people are the way that we are. People don’t choose to be LGBTQ. LGBTQ people have been around for centuries. Centuries.
French toast served at Blvd Cafe
JW: She took down her Instagram account, but the repost already took on a life of its own, prompting a social media storm. England wondered why.
ME: There were so many other posts and texts and messages and reposts on Facebook, on Threads—there were so many, so I don’t know why they’re isolating and picking on me.
JW: The storm seems to have been kicked off by a conservative influencer with 400,000 followers on Instagram. Kali Fontanilla is a former public high school teacher in California who quit her job, became a conservative activist, and recently moved to Florida. Fontanilla and her husband started an online school called Exodus Institute for parents who want to pull their children out of public schools.
In an Instagram post, Fontanilla wrote, “The left has officially gone mad and public shaming is appropriate at this time. Charlie Kirk was a father of two young children and a husband. Seeing their vile reactions to his assassination is absolutely disgusting! There are no words to express how wrong this is! If there ever was a time for Cancel Culture, this is it!”
Next came a slew of bad Yelp reviews, most of them with the words “disgusting” and “vile.” Joining the crowd was Christian Ziegler. The former chair of the Florida Republican Party posted a snapshot of England’s repost on his Facebook page. Under the all-caps title “SARASOTA – AVOID THIS ESTABLISHMENT,” he said the post was inappropriate for a business, called it “vile,” the Kirk quote “nasty,” and the Blvd Cafe owner a “major LGBTQ Activist.”
Not all heeded Ziegler’s call to avoid this establishment. At least one actually came to England’s cafe Thursday morning to yell at her.
ME: Some woman came in screaming at me and told me that I was celebrating his death, which is really far from the truth.
JW: England actually tried to explain to the hostile lady why she reposted the meme.
ME: She just walked in and started screaming at me and harassing me. What’s really weird is, when Minnesota Representative Portman and her husband were assassinated, where were they? Where was the news then? They pick and choose—people pick and choose who they grieve for. I think that’s just wrong. She kept telling me I was celebrating. I’m not celebrating his death. I don’t feel one way or the other. I didn’t like what he talked about. I don’t like what he represented. I just didn’t like him. But I’m not celebrating his death. That’s just ridiculous.
JW: Without England even alerting them, the Sarasota Police Department dispatched a plainclothes officer to the café Thursday morning. England was surprised, but welcomed the police presence.
ME: Someone from the police department had come in. I was actually thankful he was standing there. They’ll be around a lot.
JW: Just in case.
ME: He was there today. He came in. I didn’t know who he was until he gave me a and showed me his badge so I knew it was a legitimate police officer.
Still from the Florida Valkyries TikTok video alleging U.S. Tent Rental’s involvement in the construction of Alligator Alcatraz
JW: In July, another Sarasota business ended up in a social media storm—but from the other side of the political spectrum. U.S. Tent Rental Company became the target of bad customer reviews and boycott threats after activists posted photos showing a truck with the company logo on site during construction of the Everglades immigrant detention camp. After many one-star reviews on Yelp, U.S. Tent Rental blocked users from posting any further reviews, the events management company suspended its social media accounts and stopped answering their phones for a while, switching to voicemail-only. The company hired a public relations expert to deal with the onslaught. Its Facebook page was still suspended as of mid-September.
Mica England’s strategy:
ME: I’m just going to try to work and get on with it like a good American. That’s what we do.
JW: Reporting for WSLR News, Johannes Werner.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.
