Oklahoma Police Chief Says Officer Received Starbucks Coffee Cup Labeled ‘Pig’

An Oklahoma police chief is upset after a Starbucks employee allegedly labeled officers’ coffee order as belonging to a “Pig.”

A police officer made a coffee run to Starbucks for themselves and other officers who were working the Thanksgiving shift with them. Yet when the officer got the beverages, they noticed that the word “Pig” was placed where Starbucks usually writes the customer’s name. This prompted Chief Johnny O’Mara to take to Facebook an share a picture of the insult as well as his feelings towards the employees. 

“[O]ne of my on-duty officers decides to do something nice for our dispatchers. It’s Thanksgiving Day; our dispatchers are under appreciated as it is. My officer goes to Starbucks to get the dispatchers coffee as a thank you for all they do (especially when they’re working a holiday.) This is what he gets for being nice,” O’Mara wrote. “What irks me is the absolute and total disrespect for a police officer who, instead of being home with family and enjoying a meal and a football game, is patrolling his little town.” 

According to the local CNN affiliate, the officer went to a Starbucks in nearby Glenpool, Oklahoma. Starbucks senior communications manager Jory Mendes says that the company has apologized to O’Mara directly for the incident and that the barista who wrote the label has been suspended. 

“This is absolutely unacceptable and we are deeply sorry to the law enforcement officer who experienced this. We have also apologized directly to him and we are working to connect with the police chief as well as to express our remorse,” Mendes said. “The barista has been suspended pending the outcome of our investigation into this matter. This language is offensive to all law enforcement and is not representative of the deep appreciation we have for police officers who work tirelessly to keep our communities safe.”

O’Mara claimed in his pos that he contacted the store when he first noticed the label. The employee he talked to apologized and offered to replace the coffee for free. O’Mara felt like this would just be another opportunity for them to bash his co-workers. 

“I called the store and was told they’d be happy to ‘replace the coffee with a correct label.’ The proverb ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me’ came to mind,” O’Mara said after urging people to be more considerate of law enforcement officers.

“This cup of coffee for a “pig” is just another little flag. It’s another tiny symptom and a nearly indiscernible shout from a contemptuous, roaring and riotous segment of a misanthropic society that vilifies those who stand for what’s right and glorifies the very people who would usher in the destruction of the social fabric,” he said. “It’s another tiny pinprick into the heart of men and women who are asking themselves more often: ‘Why am I doing this?'”