PROVIDENCE, RI (FOX NEWS INSIDER) -For more than 30 years, retired Rhode Island Police Officer Tony Lepore has brought good cheer to the city of Providence with the famous dance moves he'd perform while directing holiday traffic.
But he was turned down for the job this season because he protested a Dunkin Donuts restaurant whose employee had written #BlackLivesMatter on a cop's coffee cup.
The Providence Police Department said Lepore misrepresented the department and committed a "disservice" to the city.
But there's been a bit of good news for the retired officer: He's been hired across the river in East Providence to direct traffic over there.
Lepore said on "Fox & Friends" that he knew the protest would cost him his job, but said he was looking out for the street cops whom he "worries about."
"Black Lives matter is an organization that has some individuals that advocate harm to police officers, and that was my concern," Lepore said.
And since the protest, he said, instances of Dunkin Donuts employees writing the message or refusing to serve cops have stopped.
Watch the interview above.