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Two black men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks for sitting without buying a drink as they waited for a friend.
A video of their arrest has gone viral with over 2 million views on Twitter. The two men can be seen being escorted out of the venue by six police officers.
“The police were called because these men hadn’t ordered anything,” tweeted author Melissa DePino. “They were waiting for a friend to show up, who did as they were taken out in handcuffs for doing nothing. All the other white ppl are wondering why it’s never happened to us when we do the same thing.”
In a second video posted on YouTube, the police officers can be seen confronting the very calm black men. When a white bystander asked why they were being arrested, he was told that the two men were being arrested for “trespassing.”
“They didn’t do anything, I saw the entire thing,” a person off-camera said.
The video, which has caused an uproar on social media, has also prompted an internal investigation within the Philadelphia Police Department.
Starbucks also confirmed that it is looking into the incident.
“We’re reviewing the incident with our partners, law enforcement and customers to determine what took place and led to this unfortunate result.”
The two men were eventually released because of lack of evidence, according to Benjamin Waxman, a spokesman for District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office.
Many took to Twitter to share their thoughts while using the hashtag #WaitingWhileBlack:
We look forward to the results of the investigation.
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