Black Men Arrested In Philly Starbucks Settle For $1

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The two black men who were arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks last month have reached a settlement with the city. Both Dante Robinson and Rashon Nelson have agreed to a symbolic settlement of $1 each with the city and a promise from local officials to set up a $200,000 young entrepreneur program.

“I am pleased to have resolved the potential claims against the city in this productive manner,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney (D) said in outlining the agreement with the men’s lawyer, The Associated Press reports.

“This was an incident that evoked a lot of pain in our city and put us under a national spotlight for unwanted reasons.”

Robinson and Nelson were arrested by Philly police inside of a Starbucks on April 12. The video with viral, sparking uproar nationwide as the two men had simply sat inside the coffee shop, waiting on a business associate. The store manager had called police on the duo, saying that they refused to buy anything or leave.

Both Nelson and Robinson said they feared for their lives while in custody.

Following the arrest, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson went to Philadelphia to personally apologize to the tow men and announced the coffee chain would close stores on May 29 for bias training.

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