The cop who cried pig?
A police officer in Herington, Kansas has resigned after allegedly lying that a McDonald’s employee left a derogatory note on his coffee cup.
Herington Police Chief Brian Hornaday shared the apparently totally fake story on his Facebook last weekend, writing that one of his officers bought a coffee at a local Mickey D’s before finding the words “f**king pig” written on the receipt.
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In the since-deleted post, Hornaday claimed the fast food restaurant apologized to the officer and offered a free lunch, writing:
“No thank you. A Big Mac and large fries doesn’t make up for [the slur].”
Unsurprisingly, people were outraged — especially since the post came weeks after a Starbucks employee in Oklahoma was fired after a cop there received coffee with “pig” written on it.
But this time, it appears the name calling was entirely a work of fiction.
After the post went viral, the McDonald’s shared surveillance footage with the department proving that no employee of theirs was the culprit. Soon after, Hornaday learned that the incident was “completely and solely fabricated” by the officer, he said.
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In a press conference on Monday, Hornaday said the fake note was intended to be “a joke.” Apparently, the officer who wrote it sent the chief a picture of the marked cup on Saturday via text message; the chief then uploaded it to his personal Facebook account.
While the officer may have meant no harm, his “joke” reportedly caused some supporters to hurl death threats at the McDonald’s employees. Lenor Brazzi, the director of operations for the franchise owner, called the incident “troubling” at a Monday evening presser, noting:
“While we’re glad that the evidence confirmed our evaluation that the McDonald’s and our employees, crew members, were absolutely not involved, we stand with our community in being disappointed about these actions.”
Hornaday described the officer’s actions as “absolutely a black eye on law enforcement,” adding that he hopes the officer “understands the magnitude of the black eye that this gives the law enforcement profession from coast to coast.” The officer’s name has yet to be released, but Hornaday said the man had been employed as a police officer for about two months and previously served in the military for about five years.
The department is now left with just five full-time officers, including the chief, who says they’re working to rebuild trust with the community — particularly the local McDonald’s, hopefully.
[Image via KSNT]