Man Escorted From Starbucks After Allegedly Aiming Racial Slur at Staff
Footage has emerged on social media of a man being escorted from a branch of Starbucks after allegedly using a racial slur to describe a member of staff.
According to the video posted to TikTok by tropixoticbeauty, the incident occurred earlier this month at a Publix Super Market complex in South Tampa, Florida.
The video, which can be viewed here, captures the immediate aftermath of the incident, with the woman filming explaining that the man on camera just called the staff member an "[n-word] b***h."
In the clip, the man can be seen telling the Starbucks barista to "shut the f*** up" while demanding a smoothie.
"I have never, ever, ever, witnessed something like this," the woman filming the video says, as the man moves towards the other end of the coffee shop counter.
The incident played out in front of the woman's visibly stunned child, who is Black.
"Excuse me man," he says, a moment later.
"You know what? We're not helping you," one member of staff replies. "Please stop talking sir."
A few seconds later, a member of staff takes to the public address system to request a member of security.
In a second video, which can be watched here, a security guard is shown approaching the man, who is still waiting to be served at the Starbucks counter.
He raises his hand to get her attention as the woman explains that she heard him use the n-word as part of a racist and derogatory statement aimed at a staff member.
The man attempts to deny the claim, repeating the offensive term in the process, while another man who appears to be a senior member of staff at the outlet comes over to deal with the incident.
The man is taken to the side of the counter where he continues to discuss the incident with the senior staff member and security guard.
After a few seconds, the woman filming the video moves around in order to hear what is being said and catches the man telling the outlet's staff "you need to call the f***ing police."
The male staff member attempts to escort the man away from the Starbucks, at which point the man is heard asking: "May I have a smoothie?"
As he prepares to go round the counter to make the purchase, however, a female senior member of staff arrives and asks him to leave.
While much of their exchange is inaudible, the conversation ends with the man telling her he is going to "wait outside for the police."
It is not clear whether the man ended up being arrested or charged over the incident.
Newsweek has reached out to Starbucks for comment.
