On Monday, Stacy Talbert - a deputy in McIntosh County and 15-year police veteran - went viral after live-streaming her reaction to an incident at a McDonald's restaurant.
In the candid 3-minute-15-second video, Talbert breaks down in tears as she details her experience of trying to place an order for a coffee, hash brown, and Egg McMuffin at a McDonald's drive-thru.
Watch Talbert's emotional plea below:But after being told to pull up in the order bay only to still receive an incorrect order, an upset Talbert told the McDonald's employee not to bother bringing her meal out as she was too nervous to take it.
"I don't know what's going on with people nowadays, but please just give us a break," she says in the video.
In the video, she also says:
"I've been in this for 15 years and I've never had anxiety over waiting for McDonald's drive-thru food. So just have a heart, and if you see an officer tell them to say thank you because I don't hear thank you enough anymore."
Talbert's message comes after unrest across the US as Black Lives Matter protests calling out the systemic injustices carried out against black people, not least seen by the recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor.
As well as a call for justice, these ongoing protests are also demanding an end to police brutality and the racism that is so deeply entrenched in America and the western world.
As a result, calls for police departments to be defunded have rung out across the US, as tensions between cops and citizens continue to grow.
And in response to Talbert's video, people on social media were quick to label her "McMuffin Cop" and and "Cop Karen". In fact, the hashtags #McMuffin and #OfficerKaren were trending Wednesday on Twitter.
However, in an interview with Buzzfeed News, Talbert has hit back against her critics and said that "everyone completely lost the point."
In the interview, she said: "I’m not bitching. I think that s**t's funny.
"'Cop Karen' — whoever did that, that’s funny. 'Molly McMuffin', someone called me. That's funny! I’d make money if I was that funny."
But amongst the jokes, Talbert feels like her message about the fear she was feeling has been lost. She said: "It really had nothing to do with McDonald’s and the food. That was just what triggered it.
"This feeling we feel in law enforcement constantly. You’re always looking, we're arching our necks, to make sure everything is safe not just for you, but for everyone else. There are times I wish I could just be normal and not have to feel like that.
"Everyone completely lost the point except for law enforcement. We all feel that way except I voiced it."
Talbert also told NBC News: "Everybody lost the whole point of the video. I'm just so sick of people being mean."
She also added that she has visited that McDonald's many times before and never received a bad experience.
Gary and Jill Stanberry, the owners of that particular McDonald's branch that Talbert visited, have since released a statement on the incident, and apologized to the officer for what they described as an "unsatisfactory experience".
Per NBC News, the Stanberrys said:
"We are happy to report that the officer was never denied service and also shared positive feedback on the employee with whom she interacted," they said.
"Our priority is for all customers to feel welcome and enjoy a great customer experience in our family-owned restaurants, including local law enforcement officers who protect and serve our community."