By Isabel Keane

Copyright independent

An Ohio woman who ordered Charlie Kirk’s go-to Starbucks drink was shocked to find a hateful message – “racist’s fav drink” – scrawled on her cup.

Autumn Perkins shared a photo on Facebook of the drink she ordered from a Starbucks location inside a Kroger in Middletown, a city 40 miles north of Cincinnati, noting that she, like many of Kirk’s fans, was inspired to order his favorite drink following his death.

However, her “Mint Majesty” tea with two honeys allegedly came with an insulting message: “racist’s fave drink” on the side of the cup.

“The girl at Starbucks thought she was cute. I don’t even support Starbucks bc of everything they stand for starting with their satanic logo, but I support Charlie Kirk so I thought you know what… I’ll get his drink,” she wrote on Facebook.

“Thank you Starbucks for proving to me exactly why I prefer to support my small local Christian owned and operated coffee shop. Well done,” she added.

Kirk, a 31-year-old right-wing activist, was fatally shot during an event with his conservative youth organization, Turning Point USA, at Utah Valley University on September 10.

The killing of Kirk, who was often viewed as a controversial figure, has sparked an intense debate about free speech.

After speaking with the manager of the franchise outlet, Perkins learned that the employee had admitted to writing the hateful message and was fired.

“I would agree that people should be fired if they’re doing something like this,” Perkins

“I feel like Charlie stood for respect — we don’t have to agree on everything. We can disagree on a lot of things, but we respect each other.”

Starbucks slammed the employees’ actions, noting in a statement, “Writing this on a cup is unacceptable, and we have clear policies that prohibit negative messages to help preserve a welcoming environment.”

The statement also noted that this particular Starbucks location is licensed and operated by Kroger, which terminated the employee.

Kroger confirmed the firing to Fox, writing in a statement, “This behavior does not reflect Kroger’s values.”

While Perkins says she visits Starbucks solely when she’s traveling because it’s what is available, she doesn’t plan on giving them any more of her business.

“I don’t intend to spend another penny at Starbucks – and as far as I’m concerned, neither will my children or anybody else in my family who will listen to me,” she said.

The incident comes after a Starbucks employee in California “refused” a customer’s request to write Charlie Kirk’s name on their cup.

In a viral TikTok video, a woman claimed that “Starbucks refused to write or say Charlie Kirk’s name. I never went in talking about politics, just mentioned his name to have it written on my cup to honor him.”

After the incident took off online, Starbucks issued a statement saying there are “no restrictions on customers using Charlie Kirk’s name on their order.”

In a lengthier statement, the company said: “Starbucks is a company built on human connection. Having a name, rather than a number, attached to a customer order has been a core part of the Starbucks coffeehouse experience for decades.

“Most customers use their own name. And when a customer wants to use a different name — including the name Charlie Kirk — when ordering their drink in our café, we aim to respect their preference,” it continued.

“Over the years, we have had instances where some people have tried to abuse the system. For example, they’ve provided something that isn’t a name at all, but rather a political slogan with the aim of having our barista shout it out as they hand off the finished drink. And in some cases, as their ‘name,’ they have provided words that are sexually explicit or otherwise offensive.

“We aim to be a community coffeehouse where everyone feels welcome, so we have previously provided guidance to our partners to respectfully ask the customer to use a different name when attempting to use political slogans or phrases in place of their name. We are clarifying with our team now that names, on their own, can be used by customers on their café order, as they wish.”