‘The facts don’t matter when you get the mob all worked up’: Curley defends Tacoma restaurant owners caught in boycott

Two Tacoma brothers who donated $1,250 to oppose Washington’s income tax are watching their businesses get torched by a boycott built on what KIRO host John Curley called a false premise.

Curley highlighted the saga of John Xitco and Lucas Xitco, co-owners of E9 Brewing, Asado steakhouse, and Frisko Freeze on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio. The brothers have been targeted by activists and neighboring restaurants after a Democratic Socialists of America organizer accused them of funding “anti-trans initiatives.”

“The facts don’t matter when you get the mob all worked up, and the pitchforks and the torches are lit,” Curley said.

A $1,250 check and a timeline that doesn’t add up

The controversy erupted on Aug. 23, when Zev Cook, a former Tacoma City Council candidate and co-chair of the Tacoma chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, posted an Instagram video naming the Xitco-owned businesses as supporters of Let’s Go Washington’s “anti-trans initiatives.”

Curley said the accusation collapses under basic scrutiny. The Xitcos made their donations, $1,000 from one brother, $250 from the other, on June 10, 2024, specifically to support the campaign to repeal Washington’s 9.9% income tax, now Initiative 645.

The Public Disclosure Commission allows donors to earmark contributions to a specific initiative, and Curley said the Xitcos received a confirmation email with the subject line: “Thank you for pre-ordering your Income Tax Repeal signature sheets.”

The Let’s Go Washington initiatives related to transgender athletes in girls’ sports and the parents’ bill of rights were certified on Jan. 22, 2026, months after the Xitcos’ donation.

“The Xitcos, business owners that employ people, don’t like the idea of an income tax,” Curley said. “So they send the money in. But then Zev Rose Cook says, ‘No, no, no, they gave the money for anti-trans stuff.'”

At least three Tacoma restaurants publicly cut ties with E9 Brewing after Cook’s post, according to The Tacoma News Tribune. John Xitco told the media outlet he and his brother had never heard of the PAC’s other campaigns.

“We supported the tax initiative. We didn’t even know about the other initiatives,” John Xitco said.

‘Maybe Cook would want to include that on the list’

Curley, who said he knows both Xitco brothers personally, pointed out that the same family being branded as bigots has deep philanthropic roots in Tacoma. He said the Xitcos built a family petroleum business from $40 million to $600 million before selling it in 2016, and have since poured money and energy into the Tacoma community.

After their son Chase was born prematurely and spent 100 days in the neonatal intensive care unit at MultiCare Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, the family funded a NICU initiative there.

“Please, if you have a child that is born prematurely, don’t take the kid over to MultiCare Health, to the Xitco Foundation NICU unit,” Curley said sarcastically. “I don’t know if Cook would want to include that on the list of stuff you’re not supposed to support as well, because the Xitco brothers’ fingers have also touched MultiCare there in Tacoma.”

The backpedal that never works

Curley said the Xitcos have tried to defuse the situation by donating to LGBTQ+ community organizations, but that once the mob has a target, concessions only invite more demands.

“They didn’t do anything wrong, but they’re like, ‘Okay, we’ll give some money over here, we’ll give some money over here,'” Curley said. “Once you get on the ropes like that, then you’re in trouble. Then they want more and more money.”

Curley recalled the story of Rachel McNew, whose Capitol Hill vintage shop, Rove Vintage, was destroyed during the 2020 BLM protests because she was married to a police officer involved in a 2017 shooting. He also cited Flora Westbrooks, a Black hairstylist whose 35-year business was burned to the ground by rioters supposedly marching in support of Black lives.

“When the mob gets going, you don’t need any facts on your side. You just need somebody to stoke the anger,” Curley said.

Who actually gets hurt

KIRO producer Joe Wallace asked whether the Xitcos had a libel case. Curley said the brothers aren’t public figures, and while they could potentially show damages, the nature of political speech makes legal action impractical.

Curley argued the real casualties are the roughly 25 employees at E9 Brewing who had nothing to do with anyone’s political donation, and now face the possibility of reduced hours or lost jobs.

“Who wins in the end?” Curley asked. “No one wins on any of this stuff. You end up with nothing more than the leftover smoldering cinders of generally well-run businesses that people like, because they’re being accused of, quote-unquote, being anti-trans.”

Curley added that Cook has not apologized and has no intention of doing so.

“No mob ever goes, ‘Whoa, hold on, everybody, maybe we’re wrong,'” Curley said.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The John Curley Show” weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.

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