PHILADELPHIA — The arrest of two men at a Starbucks in Philadelphia this week has sparked outrage on social media and led to a police investigation after a video of the incident went viral.
A video clip posted on YouTube Thursday show police talking to two black men for several minutes, then handcuffing them and escorting them off the premises.
@Starbucks 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. All the other white ppl are wondering why it’s never happened to us when we do the same thing. pic.twitter.com/0U4Pzs55Ci
— Melissa “That White Lady” DePino (@missydepino) April 12, 2018
Melissa DePino, who took the video, said, "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."
A witness can be heard on the video calling the arrest "ridiculous."
The video has been viewed more than 3 million times.
Starbucks released a statement Saturday, apologizing for the incident.
We apologize to the two individuals and our customers for what took place at our Philadelphia store on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/suUsytXHks
— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) April 14, 2018
Police are conducting an internal investigation.
We are aware of an incident that occurred on 4-12-18 at the Starbucks Café at 18th and Spruce. The entire incident, including the actions of the responding officers, is under internal investigation. Once we gather all the facts, we will comment further.
— Philadelphia Police (@PhillyPolice) April 14, 2018
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cox Media Group
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