Philadelphia Starbucks arrests: What we know (and what we don’t)

The arrest of two black men inside the Starbucks at 18th and Spruce streets in Rittenhouse on Thursday has come under intense scrutiny, with many claiming it shows blatant discrimination in action. The Philadelphia Police, the Philly Mayor’s Office and Starbucks are all launching investigations into what happened.

In a video posted to Twitter on April 12, Philly Police officers can be seen calmly confronting the men, cuffing their wrists with zip ties, then leading them away.

Other people in the cafe at the time can be heard protesting that the men “didn’t do anything” and “were just sitting there” before they were arrested.

Per comments in the thread, the men’s offense was not ordering anything as they sat and waited for another friend to arrive. “All the other white ppl are wondering why it’s never happened to us when we do the same thing,” wrote Melissa DePino, the woman who posted the video.

The men were released from custody after the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office declined to have them arraigned. Starbucks initially said on Twitter that it was looking into the incident, and then on Saturday afternoon tweeted an apology to the men.

Philly Police tweeted Saturday morning that the department was looking into the matter, and followed up Saturday afternoon with a statement from Commissioner Richard Ross via Facebook Live.

The PPD officers in the video “did absolutely nothing wrong,” Ross said, explaining that because they were responding to a trespassing call from a business, the officers had an “obligation” to remove the men from the premises.

Mayor Jim Kenney issued a statement Saturday afternoon that expressed dismay over what had happened.

“I am heartbroken to see Philadelphia in the headlines,” the statement began, “for an incident that — at least based on what we know at this point — appears to exemplify what racial discrimination looks like in 2018.”

Late Saturday night, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson issued a formal letter of apology. In it, he pledged the company would “make the necessary changes” to help ensure something like this never happens again. Johnson will be traveling to Philly to speak with customers and local leaders. He also hopes to potentially meet with the men who were arrested, the letter said.

What we know

What we don’t know