Black Men Arrested at Starbucks Receive $2, but Promise to Donate $200K
This is a little positivity to come out of a unnecessary situation.
The black men arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks last month have reached a settlement with the city for $1 each that includes a $200,000 commitment for a youth entrepreneurship program, according to a report.
"I am pleased to have resolved the potential claims against the city in this productive manner," Mayor Jim Kenney told the Associated Press. "This was an incident that evoked a lot of pain in our city and put us under a national spotlight for unwanted reasons."
Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson were cuffed at the coffee house last month after they refused to leave without ordering anything.The men were waiting for a friend to show up to a scheduled business meeting at the cafe when a restaurant manager called police.
Starbucks announced it had reached a separate settlement with the men Wednesday, that included a confidential financial settlement, but declined to say whether it would donate to the entrepreneurship fund.The pair's April 12 arrest set off national protests over racial profiling.
Mayor Kenney said Nelson and Robinson wanted to collaborate with the city to "make something positive come of this."
The entrepreneurship program will be open to Philadelphia public high school students. -(Terence Cullen and Megan Cerullo, NY Daily News)