Man 'fired at, then
fired'
Ex-worker says Border
Patrol hat brought dismissal
Associated Press
Sunday, July 15, 2007
BASALT — 
A
former 7-Eleven store worker is claiming he was shot at for wearing a
U.S. Border Patrol hat and then fired by the company.
"First I get fired at and then I get fired," Bruno Kirchenwitz told the Rocky Mountain News.
He said two Hispanic men warned him about wearing the hat on June 26. "We're going to show you what we think of your hat," they told him. Less than an hour later, after he had left work, shots were fired through the store window.
The company denied firing him for wearing the hat, which he denied wearing while working.
"To have me fired like this for what I consider a bogus reason, it's just not right. At least they could have had the honesty and said, 'Hey, you're bad for business. We can't have you in here,'" he said.
Margaret
Chabris, a 7-Eleven spokeswoman, said she couldn't release details of
why he was fired because of privacy laws.
"Someone does not get dismissed just because of their political views or what they say away from the store or what they wear away from the store," she said. She said an investigation was conducted.
Chabris said store officials "did not make this determination capriciously, nor was it necessarily based on one thing."
Police and church leaders have held several meetings to discuss the incident in the community with a large Hispanic population.
"Immigration is what made this country great," said Kirchenwitz, who immigrated with his family from Germany. "But if we can't control our borders, what's going to happen ... to my kids and my grandkids? What kind of future am I leaving them by letting this go on?"
Basalt police Chief Keith Ikea said investigators have identified two persons of interest in the verbal clash with Kirchenwitz.
No telephone number was listed for Kichenwitz in the Basalt or surrounding area.