Calls to boycott Starbucks are growing after a video surfaced showing officers arresting two black men in Philadelphia.
The two black men were waiting at a Starbucks in Philadelphia to meet a real estate developer named Andrew Yaffe to discuss investment opportunities, their attorney, Lauren Wimmer later told the Washington Post. An employee asked them to leave, then called the police.
“Does anybody else think this is ridiculous?” he asks people nearby. “It’s absolute discrimination,”
Others off screen are heard saying, "They didn't do anything."
Melissa DePino, who posted the video, wrote, "The police were called because these men hadn't ordered anything. They were waiting for a friend to show up, who did as they were taken out in handcuffs for doing nothing."
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross is defending the actions of officers seen in a viral video arresting two men at a Starbucks
The employees told officers the two men wanted to use the restroom but were told the facilities are only for paying customers. The Starbucks employees then asked the men to leave, but they refused, according to the police.
The men, who declined to be identified, were released eight hours after their arrest because the district attorney found no evidence of a crime.
