CHANTING protesters have entered a Philadelphia Starbucks coffee shop where two black men were arrested last week after employees called police to say they were trespassing.
Roughly two dozen protesters moved to the front counter yesterday morning and chanted: “Starbucks coffee is anti-black,” and: “We are gonna shut you down.”
Over the weekend, demonstrators called for the sacking of the employee who contacted police, who subsequently arrested the men on Thursday. Police were told the men had asked to use the store’s toilets but were denied because they had not bought anything. They then allegedly refused to leave.
Officers have not released the names of the men who were arrested and later released after the district attorney’s office said there was no evidence that a crime had been committed.
On yesterday’s Good Morning America on ABC, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson reiterated that the arrests were “reprehensible” and said he hoped to meet with the men to discuss “a constructive solution”.
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