Black Men Arrested At Starbucks Settle For $1 And $200K Youth Program

Source: Screengrab via ABC News/Good Morning America

The two black men who were arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks as they waited for a friend have reached a settlement with the city.

READ: Men Arrested At Starbucks Said They Were Only There For 2 Minutes Before Cops Were Called

On Wednesday, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson settled with the city for a symbolic $1 each and a promise from officials to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs, according to the Associated Press. The entrepreneur program will be for Philadelphia public high school students.

"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," Robinson said. "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."

Prior to this, Nelson and Robinson spoke about how they were only in the Starbucks in Philadelphia's tony Rittenhouse Square neighborhood for two minutes until police were called to arrest them.

Nelson and Robinson were waiting for the arrival of Andrew Yaffe, a white local businessman, to discuss a potential real estate opportunity, when officers told the men they had to leave without offering an explanation. Nelson and Robinson spent hours in a jail cell following the incident. They were released after midnight when the district attorney declined to prosecute them for trespassing. The two found out a video of the incident had gone viral upon being released.

Following the incident, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson apologized and ordered that stores close for mandatory training to tackle unconscious bias. The manager who also called the police on Nelson and Robinson has left the company.

Source: AP