Black Men Arrested at Starbucks Settle for $200K Program

Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, the two black men arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks earlier [...]

Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, the two black men arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks earlier this month, have reached a settlement with the city to benefit young people like them in the future.

Nelson and Robinson were arrested on April 12 for sitting in the coffee shop without ordering anything. However, it was later revealed that they were simply waiting for a friend, and they had only been there for about two minutes when the police were called. The case made national news as an example of racial profiling.

On Wednesday, they spoke to The Associated Press alongside their lawyer, announcing that they had reached a settlement for a symbolic $1 each in damages. Instead of pursuing a massive payout, they persuaded city officials to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs.

"We thought long and hard about it and we feel like this is the best way to see that change that we want to see," Robinson said. "It's not a right-now thing that's good for right now, but I feel like we will see the true change over time."

Nelson said that the incident was simply a case of being in "the wrong place at the right time because of the outcome that can come out of it."

The deal will also expunge both Robinson and Nelson's arrest records. Viral video showed them being led out of Starbucks in handcuffs, but after spending several hours at the police station, no charges were filed and they were released. They later said that they were waiting for the third man to arrive before they ordered. They were in the upper-crust Rittenhouse Square neighborhood to discuss a possible real estate opportunity.

The new entrepreneur program will benefit Philadelphia public high school students.

"I am pleased to have resolved the potential claims against the city in this productive manner," Mayor Jim Kenney said. "This was an incident that evoked a lot of pain in our city and put us under a national spotlight for unwanted reasons."

Richard Ross, the Philadelphia Police Commissioner, who is also black, defended his officers' conduct immediately after the incident. However, as the case took on national significance, he appeared on television to make a public apology.

Starbucks, too, issued an apology for the whole affair. CEO Kevin Johnson went to Philadelphia personally to apologize to Nelson and Robinson. Shortly after, he announced that on May 29, more than 8,000 Starbucks locations in the U.S. will close for the afternoon so that employees can get training in unconscious bias.

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