Officer speaks out on 'Fox & Friends' after Burger King worker drew pig on food wrapper
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A New Mexico police officer who found a drawing of a pig on his Burger King order said Monday that he believes the incident shows the lack of respect for law enforcement.
“Everybody has the freedom of speech, you know, if people want to express the hate or resentment they have for law enforcement, they can certainly do that, but if they follow it up with actions which then I don’t get to enjoy my lunch or other actions, I mean you all have in New York the people that throw water on the cops, that’s not OK,” Officer Timo Rosenthal told “Fox & Friends.”
Five Burger King employees in Clovis, N.M., have been fired in connection with the cartoon pig drawn on the wrapper of Rosenthal’s burger. The employees were fired immediately after Rosenthal posted his burger on social media.
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BURGER KING EMPLOYEES FIRED AFTER POLICE OFFICER SERVED FOOD WITH A PIG DRAWN ON IT
Initially, Rosenthal and his partner both laughed at the pig drawing, but he noted his burger also appeared to be deliberately overcooked.
“Once I opened up the burger and saw the burnt patties and the quality of the burger, I knew it wasn’t a joke and knew it was out of spite,” he said.
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A Burger King spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News, “What occurred is unacceptable and not in line with our brand values. When made aware of the incident, the restaurant owner immediately reached out to the officer-involved to apologize and terminated the team members involved.”
Furthermore, the restaurant is offering free meals to uniformed officers and will provide a catered lunch to the police department.
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“I definitely do think they responded the right way. Everybody needs to be held accountable for their own actions and that’s what they did, they’re holding people accountable,” Rosenthal said.
The chief of the Clovis Police Department told KRQE was “disappointed” that a police officer was treated in “a disrespectful and derogatory way.”