INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Starbucks said that all stores across US will be shut on May 29 to conduct "racial-bias education"
(AFP)New York: Philadelphia's police chief publicly apologized Thursday after the arrest of two black men in a
Starbucks store triggered uproar in the United States, admitting he "failed miserably" with his initial response.After the coffee chain
moved to repair the damage to its image in the wake of a series of protests at Starbucks outlets, the city's police commissioner Richard
Ross told reporters his force also needed to do better."It starts at the top and that starts with me," Ross, who is himself
African-American, told a press conference in the East Coast city."Messaging is important and I failed miserably in this regard
It is obvious the issue of race is indicative of a larger problem in our society and I should not at all be the person that is a party to
making anything worse relative to race relations."Ross was widely criticized after he initially said his "officers did absolutely nothing
wrong" during the arrests which followed a 911 call from a Starbucks worker who said the men were trespassing, after refusing to buy
anything.Police said officers had "politely" asked Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson to leave before finally arresting them
They reportedly asked first to use the bathroom, but were told it was only for paying customers.A video, which went viral after being posted
on social media by a customer, showed several uniformed police officers questioning and then handcuffing the pair despite offering no
resistance.Ross said he himself had "to do better" and that his force now had new policy guidelines over how to deal with a similar
situation in the future."Previously we did not have such a policy but we have a policy now," he said."I'm not going into it at this point in
time but we will be pushing that out at a later date."Speaking for the first time about the arrest, Nelson told the ABC network on Thursday
that he and Robinson had never been given a chance to explain themselves when the police arrived in the downtown store last
Thursday. City's police commissioner Richard Ross told reporters his force needed to do better."As soon as the officers approached us, they
There was no question of 'was there a problem here between you and the manager (or) what happened'"The two men's lawyer Lauren Wimmer has
told a CBS affiliate in Philadelphia that they had been waiting for a third man to arrive for a business meeting.The chain's CEO Kevin
Johnson has already apologized and has ordered that all Starbucks stores and corporate offices across the United States close for an
afternoon next month to conduct "racial-bias education."
