The police chief who claimed a McDonald’s employee wrote “f—ing pig” on his coffee cup appeared to delete his post after evidence surfaced that cleared the employee of wrongdoing.
On Saturday, Herington Police Department Chief Brian Hornaday posted a photograph of his coffee cup with the vulgar phrase written across the top to Facebook. He claimed a McDonald’s employee in Herington, Kansas, gave one of the city’s officers the cup along with the slur. The chief explained that the restaurant apologized and offered a free lunch after the incident, but the officer refused.
“I understand this is likely the act of one person and not a representation of the company, when it was brought to their attention the company offered him a ‘free lunch’. No thank you. A Big Mac and large fries doesn’t make up for it,” Hornaday wrote.
A review of security footage from the restaurant, however, revealed that the employee didn’t write the slur on the cup. The restaurant’s owner, Dana Cook, told KSNT, “My McDonald’s have the utmost respect for all members of law enforcement and the military and were troubled by the accusation made. We thoroughly reviewed our security video from every angle, which clearly shows the words were not written by one of our employees.”
Cook added, “We look forward to working with Chief Hornaday as he continues his investigation.”
Shortly after Cook’s statement was published, Hornaday deleted the viral post. It isn’t yet clear who is responsible for the slur. The restaurant offered to share security footage with the officers if the department continues to investigate the situation.
In a statement about the incident, the Geary County Sheriff’s Department said they were standing by their original statements about the situation.
“The Geary County Sheriff’s Office is standing by its original statement in reference to the incident at McDonald’s. It is saddening to see this incident in our community no matter who wrote on the officer’s cup,” they wrote. “The incident has garnered national news and has given those outside our community a foothold into the relationship between the law enforcement agencies here in Geary County, Kansas and the community we consider ourselves members of.”
They added, “WE will stand together as a community while the incident investigation is completed.”
Hornaday issued a similar statement, saying, “Acknowledgment that something was done wrong is kind of what we always want. Whether it’s something like this that happened at McDonald’s or in the criminal justice system.”
