Black Men Arrested at Starbucks Settle with the City of Philadelphia for a Symbolic $1 Each + a $200,000 Program Benefitting Young Entrepreneurs

“I am pleased to have resolved the potential claims against the city in this productive manner,” Mayor Jim Kenney told the Associated Press. “This was an incident that evoked a lot of pain in our city and put us under a national spotlight for unwanted reasons.”

Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson were cuffed at the coffee house last month after they refused to leave without ordering anything.

The men were waiting for a friend to show up to a scheduled business meeting at the cafe when a restaurant manager called police.

Their April 12 arrest set off national protests over racial profiling.

Mayor Kenney said Nelson and Robinson wanted to collaborate with the city to “make something positive come of this.”

The entrepreneurship program will be open to 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, the Associated Press reported. “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,” he said.

The city got off easy, if you ask us. Still, we’re relieved to be reporting a non-tragic outcome to this series of unfortunate events.