Starbucks protests: What to know
A Philadelphia Starbucks is under fire after the arrest of two black men who they allege were trespassing. The men apparently asked to use the bathroom but were detained because they hadn’t bought anything and they refused to leave.
Protesters in Pennsylvania marched to various Starbucks locations in Philadelphia's Center City on Monday to continue protesting the controversial arrests of two black men at one of the chain's locations last week.
Activists held a sit-in at the Starbucks coffee shop on 18th and Spruce streets near Rittenhouse Square — the location of the arrests which were called "reprehensible" by the company's CEO, Kevin Johnson, and a "needless" and "unfortunate outcome" by Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney.
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Two black men, whose names have not been released, were arrested at the store on Thursday after the shop's manager, who has reportedly since left the company, called 911 to report the two for "trespassing." The two men were reportedly sitting inside the store while waiting to meet someone, but had not purchased anything and refused to leave.
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At least six Philadelphia police officers arrived, asked the men to leave, and later arrested them. The two men were held for almost nine hours before being released. No charges were filed against them.
Roughly two dozen protesters early Morning took over the store, chanting slogans like, "A whole lot of racism, a whole lot of crap, Starbucks coffee is anti-black."
Abdul-Aliy Muhammad, one of the protest's organizers and co-founder of the Black and Brown Workers Collective, told The Associated Press: "We don't want this Starbucks to make any money today. That's our goal."
Activists then made their way to the Starbucks at 15th and Latimer streets, according to WCAU, where they shouted, "no justice, no peace," before marching to the Starbucks at The Bellevue Hotel on Broad Street.
Protesters outside that location faced police who tried to prevent them from entering, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Some found that the Starbucks' doors were locked.
“I want to know why these doors are locked," one protester reportedly shouted. "I want to know whose city this is!”
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The protests came as Johnson, and other Starbucks executives, visited Philadelphia on Monday to meet with city officials.
Mayor Kenney said he was pleased they traveled to the city to discuss what happened and "were very contrite." The Democratic mayor said they're going to make sure "this doesn't happen again."
Johnson said he appreciated "the transparency and the spirit with which" Starbucks and the city of Philadelphia are "working together."
A Starbucks spokesperson told NBC News the two men who were arrested have agreed to a meeting, which the CEO said was an "opportunity to listen to them with compassion and empathy through the experience they went through."
Johnson said Starbucks wants managers to be trained on "unconcious bias" following the incident, after saying the company "stands firmly against discrimination or racial profiling."
Fox News' Paulina Dedaj and Ryan Gaydos, along with The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
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