National guard soldiers found glass in pizza that they ordered during their deployment in Washington, D.C. This is not the first time that people in uniform have been targeted through food contamination.
Nearly twenty years ago, in May of 2001, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled, “Tampering Has Causes Police To Become Leery of Fast Food.” In 2006, The Denver Post published an article. titled “Fast-food tampering anti-police”, about a Taco Bell employee who spit into the soda of a police officer that he ordered while in his patrol car.
Last year, three teenage employees at a restaurant in Florida were arrested on felony charges for allegedly spitting the food prepared for two on-duty deputies. Also, last year, a McDonald’s employee in Bakersfield, California, was charged after being caught tampering with food that was being prepared for a police officer.
There are many other reported and unreported cases of food contamination, targeting men and women in uniform. Such incidents are greatly unfortunate.
However, it is essential to also highlight some instances that show how much respect community members have for those who protect and serve. Jim and Jack’s restaurant in Ohio offered free meals to Cincinnati area police officers during the coronavirus pandemic. Landry’s in Texas offered free meals to police officers, as well as firefighters and paramedics, during the pandemic. And there is more.
I am deeply troubled to read about two soldiers from the South Carolina National Guard discovering shards of glass in the pizza that they ordered. The delivery was made in the Marriott Marquis Hotel. That is the hotel where the National Guard members were staying when they were deployed in D.C., during the protests following the death of George Floyd.
Reports of men and women in uniform being served food items that have been contaminated or tampered with are shocking. We must show our respect to those serving in law enforcement or the military. Without them, there would be no one to enforce law and order or to defend the country.