A Starbucks barista, who was following company policy and just doing her job, has become the subject of ridicule and name-calling, thanks to a police officer’s angry rant on social media.

The policeman, whose identity remains unknown, was on duty when he walked into the Chestnut Street store. He asked the barista at the counter to use the restroom. She explained that the facility was only available to paying customers.

He repeated his request and the employee reiterated that it was for patrons of the store. She then pointed out that there was a public bathroom just down the street.

The officer vented his frustrations about the experience on social media. In his post, he called the barista a “young blonde Liberal”, complained about the customers, and asked his fellow police officers to avoid spending money at Starbucks.

Amongst his connections was his colleague Philadelphia cop Joe Leighthardt who decided to post a screenshot of his coworker’s status on the Starbucks Facebook page.

Officer Joe did not disclose the sergeant’s identity in the post that went viral in a matter of hours.

“I left his name off to keep the trolls from crank calling his command,” he said.

This comes at a time when police brutality is top of mind for most Americans and the number of people killed by police so far this year stands at 844.

Officer Joe personally responded to some of the remarks on the comment thread.

However, his replies indicated that he believed his colleague had been ridiculed because he was in uniform.

“Starbucks backs gay marriage, is anti Christian, condemns law enforcement. I can find no reason why I walk into this business,” wrote one commenter.

Others did not take kindly to the fact that the barista had been labelled a “young blonde Liberal”.

Another commenter noted that people’s negative stereotypes about the police would be reinforced due to the name calling and the threat of boycott in the post.

“After this post, do you think the other uninvolved employees of Starbucks are confident that the Philly PD will arrive in a timely manner next time they are summoned? Don’t think so!”

Starbucks has already issued an apology.

Their note reads: “Hi Joe, thank you for taking the time to voice your concerns. We are aware of this situation, and it is certainly not in line with the experience we want any of our customers to have in our stores. We are taking all necessary steps to ensure this doesn’t happen in the future. Thanks!”

It is worth noting that the company’s statement refers to ”customers” — the offended police officer had not purchased anything when he walked into the store asking to use the restroom.