Amtrak has apologized to a passenger who was instructed to remove her "Love trumps hate" pin when boarding a train from Chicago to Seattle last week.
Melissa Stone told DNAinfo she was stopped by an Amtrak employee who asked her to take off the button, citing a policy aimed at preventing passengers from being disruptive.
"When she said it, I was stunned and thought she misunderstood the pin," Stone's partner, Chase McClure told DNAinfo. "She explained that this is policy from Amtrak to the attendants to prevent friction between passengers."
The popular political slogan has been adopted by Hillary Clinton and others in opposition to President Donald Trump in the wake of last November's election.
In a Facebook comment, McClure said that he would be just as upset if the employee had asked another passenger to remove a pro-Trump accessory.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari confirmed officials contacted Stone and apologized for the incident, which he attributed to the employee's misunderstanding of the company's policy prohibiting passengers from being disruptive.
Stone and McClure were making the 45-hour train ride to Seattle to celebrate their 10th anniversary.
Earlier this year, a survey conducted by tourism marketing agency Brand USA, found that more international travelers said they were less likely to visit the U.S. during the next year, compared to the previous year because of the changing political climate.
Trump's ongoing efforts to ban travelers from several countries in the Middle East and Africa have further compounded concerns.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Travel Tips for Unpredictable Politics[/READMORE]
Friday's incident comes just one month after Amtrak launched its new "Break the Travel Quo" ad campaign and two months after the rail service debuted eco-friendly locomotives in Chicago and other parts of the Midwest.
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