Filmed by the diner, Yossi Gallo, the video shows the moments after an officer with the Myrtle Beach Police Department arrived at the restaurant and asked the homeless man to leave the facility once he finished eating.
"Ma'am he didn't ask me for money," Gallo is heard saying in the recording. "By the way, you guys suck… he didn't even ask me for food, I brought him from outside."
"You guys suck," Gallo repeated once more toward workers before a manager at the establishment asks him to calm down.
"He didn't even ask me for food," Gallo told both the manager and responding officer. "I saw him across the street and brought him over here to get him some food."
Trying to ease the tension, the officer explained that the restaurant had only called the police because several other customers had complained about the homeless man's presence and that he'd been begging others for food. However, the situation continued to escalate and the manager ultimately asked the officer to remove Gallo as well.
The video ends with Gallo and his new friend heading out to find another place to eat.
In response to the social media outrage, Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune posted a video to the city's Facebook page to offer an explanation and defend the officer's handling of the call.
"What you will not see on that video is the whole story," Bethune said. "I was able to watch the bodycam of the police officer that responded to the call… she treated the gentleman with dignity and respect."
"What I would like to do is encourage our community to come together and work with [homeless] shelters. Let's reach out and do everything that we can possibly do to help our homeless community and be in support of our police department."
McDonald's has not yet released a statement on the incident.
