Men arrested at Philadelphia Starbucks settle with city for $2 and a youth entrepreneurship program


The two black men who were arrested last month for sitting inside a Philadelphia Starbucks without ordering have reached settlements with both the city and the coffee company, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.
Starbucks reportedly settled for an undisclosed sum, and offered to pay for the men's college educations. The city will give the men, Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson, $1 each in a symbolic move chosen by the men. Instead of a larger sum for themselves, Robinson and Nelson arranged for the city of Philadelphia to set up a $200,000 program to support young entrepreneurs.
The arrest of the two men sparked protests and national outrage. Critics said that Robinson and Nelson were racially profiled and wrongfully arrested. The men sat at the local Starbucks without buying anything because they were waiting for a third man to arrive, AP reports, and store management called the police within two minutes of their arrival. They spent hours in jail before being released with no charges filed against them. The arrests will reportedly be expunged from their records as part of the agreement with the city.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The forthcoming program will grant local Philadelphia high schools resources to mentor budding entrepreneurs. "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. Read more at The Associated Press.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
-
AI workslop is muddying the American workplace
The explainer Using AI may create more work for others
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime minister
Speed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
-
The 5 best mob movies of all time
The Week Recommends If you don’t like a good gangster flick, just fuhgeddaboudit
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan church
Speed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school mass
Speed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murders
speed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bail
Speed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambush
Speed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrial
Speed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'