Racist (?) incident at Starbucks

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/starbucks-racism-video-remarkable-just-how-unremarkable-it-black-americans-ncna867461

This story has generated a lot of interest.

Here is Pat Brown's take on it.

Starbucks update:

Okay, now the two black males who were arrested at Starbucks are making the rounds on media with their attorney. We have both their names and we have the name of the manager. And the plot thickens.

Let´s start with the timeline. This has now been shortened and specific times are referred to although we do not have any store video to verify this. It is claimed the two men entered Starbucks at 3:35 pm, ten minutes early for a business meeting that is scheduled for 3:45 pm. Their supposed business partner arrives late around 3:55 pm as they are being arrested. The call to 911 goes in at 3:37. So, supposedly, they were only in there for two minutes before the police were called on them.

Now, to what happened. First of all, Donte Robinson, one of the men, says he has been a patron at that location for years. Holly Hylton, the manager has also worked there for at least a year, if not three (confusing info). Hylton has worked at least three years for Starbucks and for many years in food service. She has just completed her Master's degree in Spanish and Spanish translation and interpretation (which goes to show she must really hate all minorities).

I still don't know what Robinson does for a living, but his lifelong friend and fellow arrestee Rashon Nelson studied finance at Bloomsburg University, leaving the college prior to graduation in the fall of 2016. His LinkedIn page identifies him as an Amazon warehouse worker and a motivational speaker. He also has listed his name at Connected Investors and claims he is a multi-family investor looking to connect with buyers. However, his name does not appear in any city property records nor does he have a business license.

The two men state they had working on this real estate meeting for months, that "they went to Starbucks for a business meeting that they believed would change their lives."

So, cue to the day of the arrest. Nelson and Robinson claim they came in and Nelson immediately asked to use the bathroom and was told he could not because he was not a paying customer. He sits down with Robinson and the manager comes over to the table. In Robinson's words on television with his lawyer present, he says, " “We’re at the table. We sit down we’re just talking amongst each other, she comes from around the register, walks up to us, asks if she could help us with anything… could we start with some drinks, water. We had bottles of water with us so we’re fine. We’re waiting for a meeting we’ll be out really quick, type thing. And that was it.”

Okay, so, first of all, the manager comes over and is very polite and gives them a chance to become paying customers. Personally, to make sure that they are treated fairly and some underling doesn't screw up. My guess is because she has spent years in food service and management and isn't a college kid, she has dealt many a time with loiterers and people who cause problems. In fact, the reason she gave for not informing the men she was calling the police is because she had been chased by a customer in the past after informing them of her intent to call police. I can concur with that reasoning because it is often better to walk away and call law enforcement than make a threat to do so in front of someone who may become aggressive and violent.

So, these guys feel they don't need to order anything because they already had water with them. Well, for their information, bringing your own food and drink into a cafe or a movie theater is usually frowned upon. Sometimes they look the other way if you arrive with your Pepsi or water bottle and order some food and drink it with your purchase. But, anyway, these men informed the manager they had no plans to purchase anything. Nor did they say that their friend was going to arrive shortly and was going to be buying them anything. They just said they were going to have a meeting in her Starbucks and it would be a short meeting and then they would leave, indicating that they were just planning to use the Starbucks as an office and were not planning to be patrons.

Okay, before I continue with that, I want to mention something I find interesting. I went back over the arrest video and I cannot see any water bottles. There are no water bottles sitting on the tables in front of the men, nor did I see any sitting on the bench when the police moved them away and put them in handcuffs. Neither had a backpack. Where were the water bottles? Did they even exist (which I see no proof of). Why lie about this except to prove to the public they had a reason to not buy anything?

Now, at this point, the two men say she went off and called the police. They did not say she asked them to leave although on the 911 tape the manager clearly states they refused to make a purchase or leave. Furthermore, in the police report, it is stated that they "cursed at the store manager and refused to leave even though officers asked “multiple times.” It also accused the men of insulting the police by saying, “Cops don’t know the laws,” and “Y’all make 45G a year.” Robinson goes on to claim Initially, as soon as they approached us, they (the police) said we have to leave. There was no question of, ‘was there a problem here with you guys and a manager, you know, what happened?’ At the time, we’re not read any rights. Nothing. Just double locked. Handcuffed behind our backs and escorted out and put into a squad car.”

Now, if you watched that video, the police spoke with the two men at length. Furthermore, one of the men was on his phone (Robinson) a portion of the time which is pretty obnoxious if the police are trying to speak to you. The report state they were asked by police to leave three times but here Robinson claims that they were only told once, there was no discussion and they were just handcuffed and taken away. By the way, the police did not have to read them their Miranda rights then and there at time of arrest if they were not going to question with respect to a criminal investigation.

So, we have a manager who appears to have determined fairly quickly due to the actual words of the men that they had no intention of becoming paying customers and were planning just to meet a friend, chat, and leave. She, therefore, following the rules of that particular Starbucks, asked them to make a purchase or leave and they refused to do either. At this point, she felt they were trespassing and possible troublemakers (maybe she had issues with Robinson before as he said he had gone there for years) and so she quietly walked away and called the police, the safest way to handle the situation at that point. She told the police what the problem was, they arrived, asked the men to leave and they continued to refuse to follow both the store's rules and the order of the police. The police gave them three chances and still they were determined to hold their ground and get arrested. So, they clearly planned to get arrested at some point; the question is when did this ideation come into their heads, both of their heads.

Mind you, this is what Robinson ruminated about on television.

'Robinson briefly wondered what he might’ve done to bring the moment on himself.'

"We were there for a real reason, a real deal that we were working on,” Robinson explained. “We put in a lot of time, energy, effort. … We were at a moment that could have a positive impact on a whole ladder of people, lives, families. So I was like, ‘No, you’re not stopping that right now.'”

“I feel like I fell short,” he explained. “I’m trying to think of something I did wrong, to put not just me but my brother, my lifelong friend … in this situation.”

So, let me get this straight. This meeting is going to change your lives, your families' lives and a whole bunch of other unnamed peoples' lives (and don't you wonder what this huge deal could possibly be, what kind of money and experience these two youngsters have, one a college dropout and Amazon worker, albeit having studied finance and is well-spoken, and the other guy, well, no clue) and, yet, you can't buy a cup of tea in order to not get thrown out and look bad in front of your supposed business partner.

And, you are trying to think of something you did wrong....ummm....how about refusing to make a purchase, cursing at the manager, refusing to leave, and possibly lying as well? But, I dunno....seems like you didn't do a thing to make the situation worse and make sure the most important business meeting of your lives didn't fall through.

Still think this is just an unprovoked racist incident?

I'm reminded of the above story by this one from the U K.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/mcdonalds-denies-staff-refused-to-serve-students-because-they-are-black/ar-AAyJtb0?li=BBoPRmx&ocid=mailsignout