Tempe bar sells shirts comparing underage drinking raid to 9/11 attacks
TEMPE, AZ (AZFamily) — A Tempe bar that was the scene of nearly 200 underage drinking arrests last week is now memorializing the raid with a controversial t-shirt. They’re comparing it to 9/11.
Arizona State University students tell Arizona’s Family that the bust at Tempe Tavern is no surprise. Still, most of them say they are frustrated by the crackdown, which is getting in the way of having a good time.
The t-shirts are a bit more divisive. Some of the college kids say they’re a harmless joke and good marketing for the bar, while others call them insensitive and a downright disgrace.
Tempe Tavern is a popular spot for college kids.
“It’s really, really fun,” said Hannah Webster, a junior at ASU.
“The reputation there is booze is cheap and music is good,” said Aiden Sweetman, an ASU freshman.
The bar is near ASU’s Tempe campus off McClintock and Apache, but last Thursday night, it was crawling with police officers.
“You seriously have nothing better to do than ruin our fun?” said Webster. “It’s really upsetting that Tempe PD has literally nothing better to do with their time.”
“It’s probably one of the two bars that any kid under the age of 21 can go to,” said Adrian Suljuzopse, an ASU freshman.
The Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control teamed up with Tempe police and arrested 173 people for underage drinking there.
The operation was in response to multiple complaints Tempe PD received about this bar letting in people under 21.
“Same thing when they do speed traps to get people speeding, if you’re not speeding you’re not the problem. If you’re underage, your fault. You shouldn’t have been drinking,” said Sweetman. “This was just dumb college kids getting arrested.”
Not long after the raid, Tempe Tavern posted on Facebook about selling t-shirts that say #TavernStrong and “our 9/11.”
“It’s definitely an interesting joke. Personally I think it’s kinda funny,” said Suljuzopse.
“I just think it’s gross. That’s my only word for it. I think it’s gross and I think it’s really inappropriate,” said Webster.
“It’s more so breaking the law and getting caught and not so much so the devastation on 9/11,” said Sweetman. “It’s definitely not something to joke about.”
Tempe Tavern’s social media post says, “They hit the second tower.”
ASU students said they think that’s about another well-known bar closing recently: Devil’s Advocate shut down in December after a real estate deal.
“Now that they closed, all of the traffic that was going to Devil’s is going to Tavern and I think that’s partially responsible for why that raid happened in the first place,” said Suljuzopse.
An official with the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control said Tempe Tavern did have a bouncer checking IDs that night, but many were fake.
The agency is now completing an administrative review of the bar to determine whether the owners should face any repercussions, such as a fine or license suspension.
Records show Tempe Tavern has several violations involving serving underage people and accepting fake IDs. Some of these violations were as recent as last month and have resulted in thousands of dollars in fines but never a license suspension—a rare consequence.
Arizona’s Family stopped by the bar, and no one there wanted to comment on the raid or t-shirts.
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