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Left-leaning Starbucks has come under intense scrutiny over the weekend after an incident in one of the coffee chain's Philadelphia locations.
What happened?
The incident involves two black men, who were unfairly arrested on Thursday and charged with "defiant trespassing." Witnesses say the men "didn't do anything" and were merely sitting in the shop waiting on a colleague.
Video of the incident, which went viral, shows police leading the two men out of the restaurant in handcuffs. A white man, who the two men were waiting on, is seen questioning the legality of the arrest.
According to BuzzFeed News, a manager at the Starbucks phoned police after she saw the two men sitting in the restaurant without ordering. The men reportedly told police they were waiting on their colleague to arrive before ordering — something people do at coffee shops every day.
The men were arrested around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. However, a district attorney didn't approve the charges and the men were released from jail around 2:00 a.m. Friday morning.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross defended his officer's actions, claiming they "did nothing wrong."
How did Starbucks respond?
As the video garnered more attention, outrage began to build over what clearly appears to be a racially-motivated incident.
By Saturday, the outcry was national, forcing Starbucks to respond. In a statement, Starbucks said it is "disappointed" over how its employees handled the incident.
We apologize to the two individuals and our customers for what took place at our Philadelphia store on Thursday. https://t.co/suUsytXHks— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks Coffee) 1523725183.0
However, the apology failed to sooth things over. Now, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson, who called the incident "reprehensible," plans to meet with the two men to offer a face-to-face apology.
Now the boycott
Unfortunately for Starbucks, its apology and willingness from its CEO to personally do damage control has failed to make the situation better.
People are so outraged, in fact, that the same liberal outrage mob that routinely targets conservatives and the right-wing media is now targeting Starbucks with a boycott. The boycott gained steam on social media over the weekend with the hashtag #BoycottStarbucks.
Dear Starbucks, Calling the police to arrest two black guys just for being there is not an “incident.” It’s racism… https://t.co/tRK9SunndM— Eugene Gu, MD (@Eugene Gu, MD) 1523744096.0
After seeing the video I can’t believe Starbucks didn’t take a bigger stand for their employees poor actions. The… https://t.co/J6oMAKyEqF— Tony Posnanski (@Tony Posnanski) 1523746522.0
How about #BoycottStarbucks by going in, sitting down and not ordering anything.— Seriously? (@Seriously?) 1523741689.0
I am 100% confident that as a white man in America, I could go to any coffeeshop and sit for two hours without orde… https://t.co/bJ7CbyYR1w— JRehling (@JRehling) 1523745738.0
Here’s useful chart that’ll show you if it’s okay to wait in a @Starbucks for a friend #BoycottStarbucks https://t.co/wcac1oKiVn— David Leavitt (@David Leavitt) 1523749725.0
My dad sits around Starbucks for hours and nobody says a word to him about it. He's a 69 year old white man, so th… https://t.co/HRQCX44kDE— Ted Corcoran (Red T Raccoon) (@Ted Corcoran (Red T Raccoon)) 1523760252.0
It looks like Starbucks is getting a taste of the left's own medicine.
