Publix Suspends Contributions To NRA-Backed Politician Amid Protests

(Photo: NicolasMcComber via Getty Images)
(Photo: NicolasMcComber via Getty Images)

Protests prompted supermarket chain Publix to suspend all political contributions after it was revealed to have given more than half a million dollars to a Florida Republican who called himself a “proud NRA sellout.”

Publix was found to have given $670,000 in donations over the past three years to Adam Putnam, Florida’s current agriculture commissioner, who is now running for governor. But in Florida, where a school shooter in Parkland killed 17 people earlier this year, many locals aren’t about to let a National Rifle Association “sellout” run their state.

On Wednesday, Parkland shooting survivor and gun-control activist David Hogg issued a call on Twitter for people to stage a “die in” at the grocery store, which has locations throughout the Southeast.

Prior to the demonstration, Publix issued a statement expressing “regret” that its political contributions had led to an “unintentional customer divide.” On Friday, it released a new statement saying it would be suspending political contributions.

“We would never knowingly disappoint our customers or the communities we serve,” the company said in a statement provided to HuffPost. “As a result, we decided earlier this week to suspend corporate-funded political contributions as we reevaluate our giving processes.”

The same day, Hogg attended a protest at a Coral Springs Publix, where he and supporters lay on the floor for 12 minutes.

“USA over NRA!” the activists chanted at one point.

“Suspended means nothing,” Ryan Deitsch, a March for Our Lives activist at the Coral Springs store, told the Sun Sentinel. “Publix knows we’re not going away.”

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.