A Muslim family was left shocked after a McDonald's worker allegedly hid bacon in their chicken sandwiches.
The incident, which took place on Monday and was privately shared by one of the family members on Snapchat, was made public in a statement published by The Alabama chapter of The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Alabama) on Tuesday.
The Muslim rights group called on managers at a Decatur, Alabama McDonald's branch to take action against staff who "intentionally" hid bacon in all 14 sandwiches ordered by the family.
“Based on the evidence in this incident, as well as the unprecedented spike in anti-Muslim bigotry nationwide, we believe this was an intentional act of religious and ethnic bigotry,” CAIR-Alabama Executive Director Khaula Hadeed wrote.
"McDonald's should investigate this incident, identify and terminate the employees responsible, and take proactive steps to satisfy this American family's concerns, starting with an apology," she added.
The Muslim civil rights organization also noted "that anti-Muslim bigots often use pigs or pork products to intentionally offend Muslims because of the Islamic prohibition on consuming pork products."
"Bacon in all our sandwiches"
The restaurant has since responded to the incident...
In its response to the incident, the Decatur McDonald's branch accused of purposefully hiding pieces of bacon in the Muslim family's sandwiches denied any wrongdoing.
In a statement to Fox News, a representative for the restaurant said:
"We want to assure our customers that this was not an intentional act by our employees. We value every customer and strive to ensure all orders are accurately prepared and served."
But many don't believe McDonald's statement
"So you're claiming they brought their own bacon, cooked it - and placed it in the sandwiches?"
Not the first "bacon" incident in recent months
In recent months all kinds of racist hate attacks against Muslims and other minorities have been on the rise in the U.S. and in other countries all over the world.
A few of them involved bacon.
Why Bacon?
Some trolls believe that since the consumption of pork products is forbidden in Islam, (it's also forbidden in Judaism and several other faiths) they'll be able to scare Muslims with pictures of bacon or offend/upset them by purposefully placing it in their food.
But that has rarely ever been the outcome, because one, Muslims have always had the best comebacks to vile online bacon attacks.
And two, if and when a Muslim unknowingly consumes pork products, it's not considered a sin.