A California coffee shop owner says her business was “flooded with support” after facing backlash for honoring Charlie Kirk.
Following the assassination of the Turning Point USA founder, Invita Café in Rancho Santa Fe began placing tribute stickers on its coffee cups.
Owner Sara De Luca told Fox News Digital she “didn’t think twice” about starting the gesture the Friday after Kirk’s death.
“When Israel went to war, we put stickers on in support of Israel and the IDF,” De Luca said. “That was when I thought, ‘Let’s be courageous.’ But with Charlie, it felt more personal—we had hosted him, met him, and even met Erika,” she said, referencing Kirk’s wife.
De Luca said she never imagined it would spark controversy.
“Maybe it’s my ignorance,” she admitted. “It didn’t even cross my mind that someone could object to honoring a man who was murdered.”
Invita Café in Rancho Santa Fe added stickers to its coffee cups in his memory.
De Luca created round white stickers that read “Thank you, Charlie Kirk” and “We Love You.”
“We’ve supported him for many, many years,” she said. However, baristas reported that the café’s phones were constantly ringing with callers saying “horrible and horrific things.”
“We’ve supported him for many, many years,” De Luca said of the conservative activist. But after placing the stickers, the café’s phones were flooded with calls from people saying “horrible and horrific things.”
“We ended up having to shut down our Google and Yelp pages because of an overwhelming number of one-star reviews,” she added.
De Luca said what helped her stay grounded was the support from her San Diego community and her church, Awaken, which “showed up” a few days later.
“I was actually tearing up because I thought, ‘Where did these people come from?’” she said. “Our sales jumped 312%. We were flooded with righteous people showing up, supporting us, defending us—and defending Charlie, which of course we all were.”
“We were flooded with righteous people just showing up, supporting us, defending us. They were defending Charlie, and obviously, so were we,” De Luca said.
She added that her small boutique coffee shop quickly became packed, with customers waiting 30 to 45 minutes in line.
“We didn’t have any detractors show up,” she said. “It was only the righteous—God-fearing people saying, ‘Thank you for what you’re doing. Charlie would be proud.’”
The Turning Point USA founder was killed last month.
De Luca said the support came not only from her local community but from across the country.
“We had someone from Georgia call and ask, ‘Can I just give you $500 and buy the next 100 drinks?’ Another person walked in, left $300, and just walked out,” she said.
Invita Café, which opened nine years ago and was inspired by De Luca’s Italian family, continues to sell the tribute stickers and recently hosted a Turning Point USA pop-up.
“The idea was to create a space where espresso acts as a magnet to bring people together, to unite the community, and to share the traditions I grew up with here in California,” De Luca said.
She added that she believes “God is so behind all of this.”
“This is insane. But I think Charlie would have been proud,” she said.
