The military branded Armed Forces Brewing Company (AFBC) announced yesterday in an investor email that they have closed the taproom and and brewing facility - blaming it on the “woke agenda.”

Because of the actions of a group of people with a woke agenda who continue to affect our ability to operate profitably in Norfolk, we have closed the taproom and brewing facility in Virginia and plan to relocate our business to a more pro-small business social and economic climate.

Norfolk, especially the area around where AFBC was located has multiple thriving small businesses including a taco and BBQ place. The city is home to at least seven successful small breweries, all of which welcome the LGBTQ+ community. Hampton Roads can be tough, like any area but unlike many cities of this size small businesses are the center of the food and beverage economy here. Unlike many of those small businesses, Governor Youngkin welcomed the company to the state with a press release and a $300,000 tax incentive. Even Norfolk’s Democratic Delegate Jackie Glass signed off on the welcome letter, she refused to call out the anti-LGBTQ+ company even after their bigotry was exposed.

The “woke mob” that Beal refers to includes community civic leagues who didn’t want Norfolk, which is again, a welcoming city for everyone - AND a military town - to have such a business that promotes hate against everyone except for conservative straight white males. Full disclosure, I’m a member of one of the civil leagues that voted against AFBC being permitted. After several civic leagues said no, the Norfolk City Council approved the business. In response, Citizens for a Better Norfolk formed to document the group which for the most part received very friendly local media attention. (WHRO the lone exception, which did fair journalism on the company)

The citizens group diligently looked into AFBC, screenshotting and sharing with members of the media (myself included) the often sexist, racist social media posts and TV appearances of the founders and board members. Sometimes that even included the criminal activity of the face of the company - a man that claimed to have killed Osama bin Laden, Robert J. O'Neill.

O’Neill punched a security guard and called him a racial slur, he has since taken a backseat as the face of the operation. Here’s the report from LawandCrime.com:

“[The guard] stated that Robert called him a ‘fucking n—-r’ when he struck him,” the arrest report states. “[The guard] stated he stepped back and exclaimed, ‘I can’t believe you just hit me.’ Robert then repeated [the guard’s] words in a mocking manner.”

Losing the face of the company who was the only real veteran must have hurt the image of the brand, but O’Neill wasn’t done there. As the 2024 election neared he decided to quote tweet a trending photo post of young Gen Z Kamala Harris supporters with a sexual innuendo/threat, causing the post to go viral… not in a good way.

It wasn’t just the men, Gretchen Smith, an advisor of AFBC coincidentally also closed up her Code of Vets organization this month as well. Smith who has a wild and varied number of social media posts herself was apart of the cats and dogs racist meme of late 2024.

As all of this was happening the company’s financial situation continued to spiral. According to WHRO the company was in debt when it moved to Norfolk in 2023 and the move didn’t do much to solve it’s financial situation:

The March 4 [2025] filing shows despite nearly tripling its revenues, the company lost more than $1.7 million in the first half of 2024. Armed Forces partially attributed that to “ramping up brewing at our new Norfolk facility.”

This came after consecutive years of losses. The company lost more than $2.4 million in 2023 and more than $900,000 the year before.

The filing also notes that the company had next to no cash on hand by June 30, down to just $12,000 compared to more than $282,000 six months before.

It seems the “woke mob” was in fact bad business practices by Alan Beal. It was coupled by Beal’s decision to hold what was essentially MAGA live streams at the brewery with anti-immigrant conspiracist Tom Homan.

Armed Forces Brewing Company must have been in a desperate state as two months later on December 26, 2024 the Treasurer of the City of Norfolk slapped this label on the offices door.

It seems that their inability to pay taxes and the market was in fact the real “woke mob” that took this business down.

Earlier this week after Armed Forces Brewing Company released their statement blaming anyone but them, I reached out to the folks at Citizens For a Better Norfolk for a statement on being blamed for the takedown. I can’t say they were saddened.

“From the outset, Armed Forces Brewing Company made it clear they were not interested in being part of the Norfolk community. Rather than embracing the city’s rich diversity, they chose to dismiss those who questioned their messaging. Supported by substantial tax credits from the governor, they seemed to expect Norfolk to embrace them simply because of their ‘military-themed’ identity. However, the citizens of Norfolk, including active duty military members, veterans, and first responders, firmly said ‘no.’ Despite these objections, the Norfolk City Council opted to prioritize a ‘let the market decide’ approach over the concerned voices of their constituents. If AFBC chooses to attribute their challenges to a ‘woke mob’ rather than acknowledging their flawed business strategy, divisive marketing, and subpar product, we will wear that label with pride. Ultimately, the market DID decide.”

Visu.News will continue with updates on this story as more is released, and former employees decide to talk. I plan to write more about the board members of Armed Forces Brewing as the company moves out of my town.