The Two Men Arrested At A Starbucks Say They Feared The Police

Mark Makela / Reuters

Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, both 23-year-old black men and business partners, said that they initially had no idea why the police had arrived at the Philadelphia Starbucks where the two sat at a table last week, waiting for a meeting to begin.

But when the officers began walking in their direction, "we knew she called the police on us,” Nelson told the Associated Press in his first interview since the encounter went viral, leading to severe backlash against the coffee chain.

In a video taken by a white customer on a cellphone, the two can be seen being placed under arrest and escorted out in handcuffs.

"Initially, as soon as they approached us, they just said we had to leave," Robinson told Good Morning America Thursday.

An employee at the store had initially told Nelson he couldn't use the restroom, since he hadn't purchased anything, then approached the pair's table to ask if the two customers needed any help, which they declined, as they were waiting for a third person to arrive. Next, she called the authorities.

Robinson said the pair were not asked any questions or read any rights, before being handcuffed, escorted out, and put into the cop car.

"I was just trying to process the situation to myself, at the time," Robinson said. "I was just thinking about my family, and my community... In that moment, I'm trying to process what's going on because it didn't really hit me what was going on — that it was real — until I'm being double locked with my hands behind my back."

Mark Makela / Reuters

The two men, who have been friends since childhood, were supposed to meet with Andrew Yaffe, a local white Philadelphia businessman, who can be seen arriving and asking police for an explanation of the arrest of the two men in the video, which has been viewed more than 11 million times. Protests and calls for a boycott of Starbucks have followed the outcry.

Robinson and Nelson did not resist or react at the time.

“When you know that you did nothing wrong, how do you really react to it?” Nelson told the AP. “You can either be ignorant or you can show some type of sophistication and act like you have class. That was the choice we had.”

Nelson also said he had feared for his safety and his life.

“Anytime I’m encountered by cops, I can honestly say it’s a thought that runs through my mind,” he said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

Mark Makela / Reuters

Nelson and Robinson were taken to a jail cell, where they stayed with no outside contact until after midnight, when the district attorney declined to prosecute them for trespassing and released them.

Robinson then called Yaffe to discuss the previous day's business deal, having no idea how much attention his arrest had gotten. Yaffe then told him the video had gone viral.

Attorney Stewart Cohen, who is representing Nelson and Robinson, say the two were illegally profiled under Title II of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in hotels, restaurants, and theaters on the basis of race.

In the wake of backlash to the video, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson has not only apologized to Robinson and Nelson, but has also met with them to discuss the possible implementation of a customer bill of rights and independent investigations of complaints of racial profiling or discrimination from customers and employees.

Starbucks will also close 8,000 stores and corporate offices on the afternoon of May 29 to hold anti–racial bias trainings.

“We were there for a real reason, a real deal that we were working on,” Robinson told the AP. “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."

He added appreciates the public support but hopes that there will be more action taken, beyond boycotting Starbucks. He said on GMA that he hopes that young men will "not be traumatized by this and instead be motivated."

“You go from being someone who’s just trying to be an entrepreneur, having your own dreams and aspirations, and then this happens,” Nelson said, of the incident. “How do you handle it? Do you stand up? Do you fight? Do you sit down and just watch everyone else fight for you? Do you let it slide, like we let everything else slide with injustice?”

"We do want a seat at the table," Robinson told the AP.

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