Investigation launched after dozens of rodents thrown into McDonald's restaurant

An investigation has been launched after dozens of live rodents were thrown into a McDonald's restaurant in Birmingham.

The incident, which took place yesterday (31 October), was captured on video and shows the person carrying the mice shouting "free Palestine".

The video was released onto social media platform TikTok and shows a man, with what appears to be a Palestinian flag wrapped around his head, carrying a box containing dyed green, red and black rodents into a McDonald's in Birmingham.

He then tips the rodents, which appear to be mice, at the McDonald's entrance in front of customers.

The incident took place at McDonald's site on Watson Road in Nechells, a district of Birmingham.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, West Midlands Police posted: "We're investigating after live rodents were thrown into a restaurant off Watson Road, Nechells, at around 5.30pm yesterday.

"We understand the distress this will have caused and it's not acceptable in any circumstances."

The post later went on to say the incident is being treated as a public nuisance offence and an investigation is underway.

In a statement, McDonald's said: "We are extremely disturbed by the disinformation and inaccurate reports regarding our position in response to the conflict in the Middle East. McDonald's Corporation is not funding or supporting any governments involved in this conflict, and any actions from our local Developmental Licensee business partners were made independently without McDonald's consent or approval.

"Our hearts are with all of the communities and families impacted by this crisis. We abhor violence of any kind and firmly stand against hate speech, and we will always proudly open our doors to everyone.

"We are doing everything we can to ensure the safety of our people in the region while supporting the communities where we operate."

A second incident occurred last night at a further McDonald's restaurant in Birmingham's Perry Barr district where a box of rodents was left at the doorway.

West Midlands Police have been contacted for further comment.