IMAGINE sitting down in a cafe with a mate, and not ordering anything because you were waiting for another friend, only to have police storm the place and arrest you.

Sounds ridiculous, right?

For two men sitting in a Philadelphia Starbucks this situation unfortunately became their reality. Footage filmed by a witness in the shop shows how the shocking incident played out.

“The police were called because these men hadn’t ordered anything,” wrote Melissa DePino, who posted the video on Twitter.

“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 people are wondering why it’s never happened to us when we do the same thing.”

@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

Whoever called the police should be the one arrested. — Small Screen Girl (@KiraJW) April 13, 2018

Unless someone is bleeding in the street, or otherwise threatening/committing violence, everyone needs to just STOP CALLING THE POLICE ON PEOPLE. — Carol Ott 🏚️ (@CarolSOtt) April 13, 2018

Damn shame. We are so policed but when the police and FBI get tips about people shooting up schools or White families abusing their kids, they overlook it and then act surprised when tragedy strikes. 🙄 — Hannah Drake (@HannahDrake628) April 13, 2018

The video shows two African-American men being handcuffed in the coffee shop. They are surrounded by at least five police officers. Witnesses in the cafe are stunned by the arrest.

“This is ridiculous,” says a customer. “What did [the police] get called for, because there are two black guys sitting here eating? What did they do? Tell me, what did they do? Someone tell me what they did?”

Other customers can also be heard defending the men. “They didn’t do anything,” one says. “I saw the entire thing.”

The two men, who remain calm during the arrest, are then led out of the restaurant in handcuffs. Ms DePino said in a later post that the two men were released in the early hours of the morning.

“They are real estate brokers and were at Starbucks to meet their family friend. That’s all I have for now,” she wrote. The video has been shared more than 17,000 times and attracted nearly 1000 comments.

“Ever since I posted this, I’ve had white strangers AND friends say ‘there must be something more to this story’. That assumption is a big part of the problem. It does happen. All the time. Just not to you and me. Believe it and speak up.”

The response to the video has been strong, with many quick to condemn the arrest.

“White people’s incredulity at the reality of racism that POC [people of colour] face on a daily basis underscores just how pernicious racism is,” wrote one Twitter user.

“I’m white and it bothers me that other white people are blindly giving the cops the benefit of the doubt and not to the very calm guys minding their own business in a public place (who happen to be black),” another said. “Their blatant racism towards those men is disgusting.”

In a statement, Starbucks chief executive Kevin Johnson said the arrest of the two men was a “reprehensible outcome” and the company expressed its “deepest apologies” to them.

He said Starbucks would investigate the incident and make any necessary changes to prevent it happening again.

“In the coming days, I will be joining our regional vice president, Camille Hymes — who is on the ground in Philadelphia — to speak with partners, customers and community leaders as well as law enforcement. Most importantly, I hope to meet personally with the two men who were arrested to offer a face-to-face apology,” Mr Johnson said.

“The video shot by customers is very hard to watch and the actions in it are not representative of our Starbucks Mission and Values. Creating an environment that is both safe and welcoming for everyone is paramount for every store.

“Regretfully, our practices and training led to a bad outcome — the basis for the call to the Philadelphia police department was wrong. Our store manager never intended for these men to be arrested and this should never have escalated as it did.

“We also will further train our partners to better know when police assistance is warranted.”

Mr Johnson said Starbucks stood “firmly against discrimination or racial profiling”.

“To our partners who proudly wear the green apron and to customers who come to us for a sense of community every day: You can and should expect more from us. We will learn from this and be better,” he said.

raffaella.ciccarelli@news.com.au | @raffaella_cicc