Philadelphia's Top Cop Defends Indefensible Prejudice In Starbucks Arrest Incident

Police Commissioner Ross justifies repugnant arrest in Facebook video.
 
Philadelphia’s top cop, Richard Ross, an African-America, has once again exhibited his blind spot on racial bigotry by police during his defense of a specious arrest of two black men inside a Starbucks coffee shop recently that triggered strong condemnation from the mayor of the so-called City of Brotherly Love.

The arrest of those black men for trespassing while they sat inside a Starbucks awaiting their meeting with a white developer to discuss a possible real estate investment deal sparked social media outrage, an apology from the corporate head of Starbucks and a strident assessment from Philadelphia’s Mayor James Kenney.

That Starbucks incident Kenney said “appears to exemplify what racial discrimination looks like in 2018.”

Yet, despite wide ranging condemnations, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Ross made a Facebook video two days after that controversial arrest where he declared that his officers “did absolutely nothing wrong.”

Ross said his officers “were professional” in providing a “service” to the Starbucks employees inside the coffee shop located in an upscale residential area of downtown Philadelphia. Reports indicate the Starbucks shop personnel initially said the pair was loitering then trespassing.

Ross said police responded to a 911 call from that Starbucks reporting a “disturbance” – apparently a reference to the non-confrontational refusal of the two men to leave the coffee shop as demanded by that shop’s manager.

A cellphone video of the incident does not show any disturbance or even loud resistance to police by the pair who calmly submitted to the arrest.

Police held the pair for over seven hours before their release after midnight. That release resulted from Starbucks declining to press charges and Philadelphia’s District Attorneys Office stating there was a “lack of evidence that a crime was committed.”

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