Black men arrested in Starbucks settle with Philadelphia for $200K youth program

The two black men arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks last month have reached a symbolic settlement of $1 each with the city and a promise from local officials to set up a $200,000 young entrepreneur program.

“I am pleased to have resolved the potential claims against the city in this productive manner,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney (D) said in outlining the agreement with the men’s lawyer, The Associated Press reports.

“This was an incident that evoked a lot of pain in our city and put us under a national spotlight for unwanted reasons.”

Video showing Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson getting approached by police and led away in handcuffs at a Starbucks in the city on April 12 went viral, sparking uproar online.

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The store manager had called police on the men, saying they refused to buy anything or leave. The men said they were waiting to meet with a business associate.

Nelson and Robinson said they feared for their lives while in police custody.

@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

Both men spent hours in jail before being released without charges filed. The district attorney’s office said last month that it declined to press charges because there was no evidence of a crime.

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson went to Philadelphia to personally apologize to Nelson and Robinson after national outcry.

Johnson also announced the coffee chain would close stores on May 29 for training on bias.

Protesters gathered outside the Philadelphia store after the incident, holding signs and chanting “Starbucks coffee is anti-black.”