Philadelphia mayor 'heartbroken' after black men arrested at Starbucks

John Bacon | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Starbucks apologizes for arrests of two black men Starbucks Chief Executive Kevin Johnson is apologizing for the arrests of two black men at a Philadelphia coffee shop last week, which sparked accusations of racial profiling. Linda So reports. Video provided by Reuters

The CEO of Starbucks apologized, the mayor of Philadelphia was "heartbroken" and the city police commissioner defended officers who handcuffed and arrested two black men who asked to use a restroom in the coffee shop.

A cellphone video recorded the arrests, including a white man who was meeting the handcuffed men at the Center City shop, repeatedly asking officers "What did they do?" as the men were being handcuffed and taken away.

The video was posted shortly after the incident Thursday and went viral over the weekend, drawing millions of views.

CEO Kevin Johnson said the video shot by customers was "hard to watch." He apologized for the "disheartening situation in one of our Philadelphia-area stores this past Thursday, that led to a reprehensible outcome."

Johnson said police never should have been called and that the company was immediately beginning a review of its policies.

Mayor Jim Kenney said the coffee giant's apology was not enough and that the city Commission on Human Relations will examine the firm’s policies and bias training provided its employees.

“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," Kenney said in a statement.

@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 DePino (@missydepino) April 12, 2018

The Philadelphia Inquirer identified the white man as real estate developer Andrew Yaffe.

“What did they get called for, because there were two black guys sitting here to meet me," Yaffe says on the video. "What did they do? What did they do?"

A woman can be heard saying, "they didn't do anything, I saw the entire thing."

Commissioner Richard Ross, who is black, said police received a 911 call from the Starbucks employees saying the men were trespassing. He said officers were told that the men had walked in, sat down, and then asked to use the restroom but did not buy anything. The employee denied their request, citing company policy.

I’m very concerned by the incident at Starbucks. I know Starbucks is reviewing it and we will be too. @PhillyPolice is conducting an internal investigation. https://t.co/fp0NjwiO2L — Jim Kenney (@PhillyMayor) April 14, 2018

Ross said officers "politely" asked the men to leave multiple times before the arrests. The men were released a short time later when Starbucks declined to prosecute, he said.

“As an African American male, I am very aware of implicit bias," Ross said. "We are committed to fair and unbiased policing."

But he said the men "did absolutely nothing wrong."

Johnson, in his statement, said he hopes to personally apologize to the men who were arrested. He said the chain will "train our partners to better know when police assistance is warranted."

The company will host a national meeting next week to discuss the case and what immediate next steps can be taken to "underscore our long-standing commitment to treating one another with respect and dignity."

Ross said he doesn’t patronize Starbucks but recalled an incident a couple years ago when a uniformed sergeant walked into a Starbucks, asked to use the bathroom and was denied.

"So they are at least consistent in their policy," he said. “If a business calls and they say ‘Someone is here that I no longer wish to be in my business,' they (officers) now have a legal obligation to carry out their duties,” he said.