Men Arrested At Starbucks Reach Settlement With City Of Philadelphia

by HHL JT

Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson touched off a national firestorm when they were arrested at a Starbucks by Philadelphia police for the crime of not making a purchase.

The local Starbucks was accused of racism (Nelson and Robinson are black) for calling the cops and the national chain agreed, apologizing for the incident and designating May 29 as a day of mandatory anti-bias training for all of their franchises.

Nelson and Robinson, both 23, have just settled with the city of Philadelphia. They each receive the symbolic amount of one dollar and the city will contribute $200,000 to a young entrepreneur fund.

"We thought long and hard about it and we feel like this is the best way to see that change that we want to see," said Robinson. "It's not a right-now thing that's good for right now, but I feel like we will see the true change over time."

Philly mayor Jim Kenny commended the men for not being overly litigious.

"Rather than spending time, money, and resources to engage in a potentially adversarial process, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson approached the city and invited us to partner with them in an attempt to make something positive come of this.

"This agreement is the result of those conversations, and I look forward to seeing the fruits of this effort in the coming months and years."

No word on if they plan on suing Starbucks.