Supermarket bans Jedi Knight
The founder of a religion based on the Star Wars movies has accused Tesco of discrimination after he was ejected from one of their stores for wearing a hood.
Daniel Jones, 23, who founded the International Church of Jediism, was asked to leave the supermarket in Bangor, North Wales as his robes fell foul of Tesco rules which forbid the wearing of 'hoodies' in their premises.
The leader of the Jedi Church was deemed a security risk by staff and was told to leave. In turn, Jones has accused Tesco of religious discrimination.
'I told them it was a requirement of my religion but they just sniggered and ordered me to leave,' he told The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
'I walked past a Muslim lady in a veil. Surely the same rules should apply to everyone.'
According to the rules of the International Church of Jediism, all members of the religion should wear a hood when in a public place.
Jones claims the Jedi church, which has its own scriptures and ceremonies, has 500,000 members worldwide.
Hinting at a threat of 'Store Wars' and a turn to the Dark Side should the ban continue, Jones, who also goes by the Jedi name Morda Hehol, said: 'I'll advise worshippers to boycott Tesco if it happens again. They will feel the Force.'
A Tesco spokesman said: 'Jedi are very welcome to shop in our stores although we would ask them to remove their hoods.
'If Jedi walk around our stores with their hoods on, they’ll miss lots of special offers.'
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