After two men were arrested at a downtown Philadelphia Starbucks for allegedly refusing to leave after they did not purchase anything, outrage has broken out, prompting a boycott of the coffeehouse.
Now new details have emerged as an eyewitness who shot a video has explained that the incident was sparked when the men asked to use the bathroom and were refused the door code given to customers attempting to use the restroom. The witness, known as Lauren, asserts that the men were “quietly hanging out, chatting and waiting for their friend” when police officers entered and asked them to leave, saying that they were trespassing.
"The two young men politely asked why they were being told to leave and were not given a reason other than the manager wanted them to leave," she detailed. According to Lauren the men offered to call the person they were waiting on to prove that they had a legitimate reason for waiting in the restaurant.
She also went on to note that another women entered Starbucks just before the men were arrested and was given the restroom code without having to buy anything. Another person in the Starbucks shop also revealed that she had been sitting in Starbucks for the past couple of hours without buying anything."
"These men were discriminated against and unjustly detained. Being a person of privilege, it's hard to believe things like this still happen in 2018," Lauren admitted. "Sometimes you don't fully believe it until you see it with your own eyes."
As the men were arrested, the person they were meeting arrived and attempted to step in. However, officers told the man that because his acquaintances were not paying customers, they were trespassing.
Lauren adds: “The two men stayed calm and did not raise their voices once. Everyone else in the Starbucks, however, was appalled.”
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