“The basis for the call to the Philadelphia police department was wrong.”
Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson apologized late Saturday after a viral video showed two black men arrested at a Philadelphia coffee chain last week while reportedly waiting to meet a friend. “The video shot by customers is very hard to watch and the actions in it are not representative of our Starbucks mission and values,” Johnson said in a statement. “The basis for the call to the Philadelphia police department was wrong.” Both the coffee chain and the Philadelphia police are facing accusations of racial profiling over the incident. In video shot by a bystander, six police officers can be seen surrounding and handcuffing two black men who were simply sitting at a table. A third man, who is white, then arrives and tells police the two men were waiting to meet him. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross stood by the police officers on Saturday, saying they “did absolutely nothing wrong.” The Phildelphia Police Department said a Starbucks employee had called 911 to complain of the two men allegedly trespassing.
