The arrests of two black men at a Starbucks shop in Center City Philadelphia – for doing nothing more than waiting for a friend to join them – has ignited a massive outcry despite an apology and pledge by the company's CEO to revisit corporate policies.
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- Starbucks CEO apologizes to black men arrested at Philly store, wants to meet with them
- Protests over controversial arrests at Center City Starbucks; police commissioner says officers did nothing wrong
In a statement, Mayor Jim Kenney said: “I am heartbroken to see Philadelphia in the headlines for an incident that – at least based on what we know at this point – appears to exemplify what racial discrimination looks like in 2018."
Meanwhile, police Commissioner Richard Ross maintains his officers did nothing wrong by putting the two men in handcuffs and marching them out of the store. No charges were pressed after the Philadelphia district attorney's office determined no laws had been broken.
On Twitter, from whence the controversy was borne of a video of the incident that went viral, people weighed in on all sides: