Philly Police Release 911 Calls In Arrest Of 2 Men At Starbucks
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- The Philadelphia Police Department has released audio of the 911 calls placed by a Philadelphia Starbucks employee which ultimately led to the arrest of two men last week.
The incident happened on April 12 at a Starbucks located at 18th and Spruce.
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"I have two gentlemen in my cafe that are refusing to make a purchase or leave," the employee said to 911 dispatchers.
"A group of males are refusing to leave," one officer can be heard relaying back to dispatch.
Videos posted online show officers handcuffing the men in the downtown establishment. A man in the video is heard saying he was meeting with the men and calls the arrest "ridiculous."
The arrests have spawned national outrage.
Over the weekend, demonstrators called for the firing of the employee who contacted police, who arrested the men last Thursday.
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson called the arrests "reprehensible" and said he wanted to apologize to the two men face-to-face. The company and a lawyer for the two men said they did meet, and Johnson delivered the apology. Starbucks also said the employee who called police no longer works at the store, but declined to give details.
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Starbucks has been moving swiftly to confront a racially charged uproar.
Johnson had also promised to revamp store management training to include "unconscious-bias" education. Starbucks said its U.S. company-owned stores and corporate offices will be closed on the afternoon of May 29 for the training, which will eventually be incorporated into the instruction process for all newly hired employees.
Officials say they plan to close 8,000 U.S. stores for several hours next month to conduct racial-bias training for nearly 175,000 workers.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
