Restaurant Says Bruce Maxwell Lying About Waiter Refusing Service over Protest

After Oakland Athletics catcher Bruce Maxwell said he was denied service at an Alabama restaurant, the waiter and manager claim what he said was not true. 

"He is outright lying," waiter Matt Henry said, per Hollie McKay of Fox News. "This is really upsetting as he was given full service, I didn’t even know who Bruce Maxwell was."

Maxwell told TMZ Monday he was refused service after being recognized for his protests during the national anthem this season.

"He was like, 'You're the guy who took the knee? I voted for Trump and I stand for everything he stands for,'" Maxwell explained about the waiter.

However, Henry's side of the story is that Maxwell's friend was denied a beer for having an expired ID. The manager on duty, Anne Whalen, backed up the server's perspective, via McKay:

"Matt came to me and told me that a guy wanted a beer but his ID was not valid and told him he absolutely could not give it to him, we can go to jail for that in the state of Alabama. It was his friend causing all the fuss, none of us even knew who this baseball player was. I told him I had no idea who he was going on about. Eventually Matt just asked if we could put another server on the table so I did. ...I can’t believe the story."

Maxwell was the only player in Major League Baseball to take a knee during the national anthem as a protest against racial injustice, following the lead of NFL players around the country.

He said he has since developed a friendship with Colin Kaepernick, who began the protests at the start of last season. The lunch in Maxwell's home state of Alabama was with a local councilman.