Two weeks ago, a YouTube channel called Hacking The Headlines released a 21-minute crazython that it hoped would “expose” the disturbing truth behind a Colorado food truck. The narrator said that she saw the What Would Cheesus Do? grilled cheese truck during a recent visit to Denver, and she immediately pulled over to tell the employees that they are evil and blasphemous.
“I let them know how offended I was, [by] making a complete mockery of the sacrifice He made for all of us,” she said, adding that she did it because “the Bible is very clear about what will happen to us if we don’t warn people about the judgement that is coming to them.” Her channel’s followers seemed to agree, with one commenter responding that they’d like to “tip [the truck] over” (“I’d help you,” the YouTube host responded) and others sending threatening messages to Cheesus’ owner, Genevieve Hardin.
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On Sunday, the entire What Would Cheesus Do? truck was stolen from the warehouse where it was stored between sandwich-making sessions and, when it was recovered two days later, it had been completely gutted. “They stole all my coolers, my grills, my generator,” Hardin told KUSA. “They stole thousands and thousands of dollars worth of equipment.”
So, was this penance for naming a sandwich “Baby Cheesus”? An obsessive follower of that YouTube lady who says she’s “on fire for Christ”? Or just an opportunistic thief?
The Adams County Sheriff’s Office is reasonably convinced it’s the latter; Sgt. Jim Morgen told KUSA that the video probably didn’t have anything to do with the theft. (On Instagram, Hardin posted a surveillance video of what she believed was a “scrap truck” making off with the entire What Would Cheesus Do? vehicle).
Hardin calls the theft “devastating,” but is confident that Cheesus will come back, so to speak. “There’s so many supporters and everybody’s really wanting to help as they can,” she said. She seems to be right about that: a GoFundMe established to help her raise money to re-equip the truck is more than halfway to its funding goal after less than a day. (“I’m fairly sure that since Jesus was into wine, he would be pro-cheese,” a woman who donated $30 wrote).
Hacking the Headlines has already released three videos insisting that she had nothing to do with the theft of the truck. (She also managed to complain both about the news coverage and the fact that none of the news outlets mentioned her YouTube channel by name).
“If you want my honest opinion, I think this was an act of God, because as us believers know, his name will not be mocked,” she said in one of her three responses. “When I saw that food truck parked on the side of the road and read the name, I knew God would take care of it.”
If she’s right, then God is just waiting for the perfect time to steal a bunch of Canadian ice cream shops, too. In March, the owners of creamery Sweet Jesus said that, despite the criticism and threats of boycotts from other fundamentalist corners of the internet, it would not be changing its name. “The best brands come from an honest place,” its owners said at the time. “Sweet Jesus is an honest reflection of our experiences and that of our customers and how they react when they try our product. In our experience, the majority of people understand that we’re not trying to make a statement about religion.”
Bless their hearts. Except that YouTube lady.
