Harry E Reed Insurance Agency owner

Agencies in Damariscotta and California with "Reed" in their names have experienced unwarranted backlash from people confusing them with the Millinocket agency.

MILLINOCKET, Maine — A post on social media has now been shared more than 10,000 times and counting, calling out a business in Millinocket for a sign it posted ahead of the Juneteenth holiday. 

The post shows pictures of Harry E. Reed Insurance Inc. on Penobscot Avenue in Millinocket with a sign on the door that reads, "Juneteenth, it's whatever ... we're closed. Enjoy your fried chicken and collard greens."

The post sparked outrage throughout the community and beyond, even gaining national attention. Harry E. Reed Insurance Inc. said it had to take its phones off the hook due to death threats, but it's not the only agency feeling the ripple effects. The sign caused similarly-named agencies in Maine and across the country to experience unwarranted backlash from people confusing them with the Millinocket agency.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Damariscotta-based Reed Family Insurance Advisors said it had to shut its office down for the day "due to the volume of threatening calls and emails we have received."

"We at Reed Family Insurance Advisors do not in any way agree with or condone this type of behavior," the Facebook post said. "This racist comment is appalling and disgusting."

"Juneteenth is a respected federal holiday that stands to remind our nation the African American experience not only included discrimination, segregation and many social injustices but physical chains," the post continued. "Emancipation did come and broke those chains and should be seen as a celebration."

Harry Reed, owner of the California-based Harry Reed Insurance Agency, said similar outrage is being directed at his business.

"My agency is being trashed on Google. I've never had a complaint and now my reputation is being trashed on Google," Reed said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. "Please Google Harry Reed Insurance Agency in Santa Clarita and leave a good review. I need to balance out those reviews."

There have since been several Google reviews over the past 24 hours informing people that the California agency and the Millinocket agency are not the same.

"Harry Reed Insurance Agency is a black-owned business that is being inaccurately targeted due to the actions of another insurance agency with the same name," wrote a reviewer with the username Tommy Hayes. "Please take up your frustrations with Harry E Reed in Millinocket ME."

Reed, who is Black, told NEWS CENTER Maine on Thursday that although he did receive some violent voicemails, the majority were peaceful. He commended Mainers' initiative to have their voices heard, saying, "They were hostile and upset for the right reasons, just the wrong person."

"I would rather use this as a way to appreciate those who stood up against hate, who stood up against racism," he said. "That's my takeaway. So I appreciate, even though it was directed at me improperly, I appreciate the people who took the time to take the action."

"There was one call that said, 'Now look, we've come too far in our race relations to let it get derailed by some insurance agent. We've all got to pull on the same rope together,'" Reed recalled. "I liked that call."

Reed said he'd like to have a conversation with the woman who posted the sign.

"Perhaps a conversation that she's not accustomed to having might help," he said.

Progressive and Allstate, two of the nation's largest insurance carriers, told NEWS CENTER Maine on Wednesday that they are terminating their relationships with Harry E. Reed Insurance Co.

Melanie Higgins, an insurance agent at the company, is the one who posted the sign. 

"I would never purposely set out to hurt anyone and I would never purposely set out to hurt my mom's business at all. She had nothing to do with this," Higgins said.

Higgins' mother, Karen, has owned the business since she purchased it more than 30 years ago. Now, just the two of them work there and run the business together. 

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Google Earth view of Reed Agency in Millinocket, Maine.

Google Earth

An insurance agency in Millinocket, Maine, is facing online backlash after a photo circulated on Facebook of a sign taped to the business's door on Monday saying, "Juneteenth ~it's whatever... We're closed. Enjoy your fried chicken & collard greens."

The image of the sign at the Harry E. Reed Insurance Agency, an affiliate of national insurer Progressive, was originally shared by a Facebook user named Alura Stillwagon, with the caption, "The racism in Millinocket is real." The original post has been shared more than 200 times, though a similar post by a different user has been shared more than 10,000 times.

"I'm not angry. Anger gets you nowhere. I'm just deeply, deeply disappointed," another Facebook user, Ken Anderson, commented on the post. "In this business, in the companies that let this business broker their products, and in the town of Millinocket, in the state of Maine, and the whole damn country. Deeply disappointed. Why? Because I know we can do better. But we're not trying. And that's the part that cuts deepest."

For many businesses, Monday marked the observance of Juneteenth, a federal holiday that commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Army soldiers arrived in Texas and announced the end of slavery to more than 250,000 Black people who remained enslaved even after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The insurance agency did not respond to CNBC's requests for comment, but Melanie Higgins told News Center Maine she was the employee who posted the sign and apologized.

"I would never purposely set out to hurt anyone and I would never purposely set out to hurt my mom's business at all. She had nothing to do with this," Higgins said. "I truly apologize."

Since the image of the sign began circulating online, people have taken to online review site Yelp to condemn the insurance agency, prompting Yelp to disable users' ability to post on the company's page.

"This business recently received increased public attention resulting in an influx of people posting their views to this page, so we have temporarily disabled the ability to post here as we work to investigate the content," an alert on the Harry E. Reed Insurance Agency's Yelp page reads. "While racism has no place on Yelp and we unequivocally reject racism or discrimination in any form, all reviews on Yelp must reflect an actual first-hand consumer experience (even if that means disabling the ability for users to express points of view we might agree with)."

The agency received nearly 90 — largely one-star — Yelp reviews, with many posters condemning the insurance agency as "racist."

Jeff Sibel, a spokesperson for Progressive, said in a statement, "We're aware and appalled by the sign recently posted at the Harry E Reed Agency and are terminating our relationship with the agency."

"At Progressive, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) are fundamental to our Core Values. We're committed to creating an environment where our people feel welcomed, valued and respected and expect that anyone representing Progressive to take part in this commitment. The sign is in direct violation of that commitment and doesn't align with our company's Core Values and Code of Conduct," Sibel said in a statement.

The chair of the Millinocket Town Council, Steve Golieb, released a statement Tuesday denouncing the sign.

"It is deeply saddening, disgraceful and unacceptable for any person, business or organization to attempt to make light of Juneteenth and what it represents for millions of slaves and their living descendants," Golieb wrote. "There is no place in the Town of Millinocket for such a blatant disregard of human decency."

President Joe Biden and the state of Maine each signed bills into law in June 2021 recognizing Juneteenth as a federal and state holiday.