The Two Men Arrested At Starbucks Have Spoken Out
The two men arrested for trespassing while waiting in a Philadelphia Starbucks last week have spoken out for the first time. In an interview with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, joined by attorney Stewart Cohen, detailed what happened in the few minutes between their arrival and their arrest.
As explained by Roberts, Nelson and Robinson entered Starbucks around 4:35 for a 4:45 business meeting. Nelson said he asked to use a restroom, but was told it was for paying customers only. He then sat down with Robinson to wait for the meeting to start. According to police reports, a 911 call was made by a Starbucks employee at 4:37 p.m.
The men told Roberts they were not asked to leave prior to the police call, only that they needed to buy something. When police first arrived, Dante said he thought "they can't be here for us." He and Robinson say the police did not ask them any questions or read them their rights before handcuffing them and leading them out to a police car.
@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
"In that moment, I was trying to process what was going on, because it didn't really hit me that it was real until I'm being double-locked and my hands behind my back," Robinson said.
The two have since met with Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson, who offered Starbucks' resources to help in their real estate endeavors, executive chairman Howard Schultz told CBS. Schultz said he is embarrassed and ashamed by what happened, calling it "reprehensible on every level." The company will close more than 8,000 stores next month for an afternoon of training against racial bias.
In the GMA interview, Nelson and Robinson said they want action, not just words, to come from this experience. Robinson hopes the experience will motivate and inspire young men rather than traumatize them. "I want to make sure this situation doesn't happen again."
Watch the full interview here:
FULL INTERVIEW: "This is something that has been going on for years...everyone is blind to it."
Rashon Nelson & Donte Robinson, the 2 black men arrested at a Starbucks in Philadelphia, speak out exclusively to @RobinRoberts: https://t.co/bIBmMGlwWN pic.twitter.com/IZekmHrWw2- Good Morning America (@GMA) April 19, 2018
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