The Woman Who Shared Philadelphia Starbucks Arrest Video Tells Her Story

Two African American men were arrested by the Philadelphia Police Department inside a Starbucks on Thursday afternoon. Starbucks has since apologized. The men were not charged with anything and have been released. And the PPD has said the cops did nothing wrong.

Rittenhouse Square resident Melissa DePino who posetd the video gives her account of what happened inside the Starbucks.

"I was just sitting there working on my laptop, and I guess I first noticed them when the two first cops — the bike cops — walked in. The girl behind the counter had called 911, apparently, and the cops came and said the guys were “trespassing.” They said we were waiting for somebody, and then the white guy in the video — that’s their family friend they were waiting for — he shows up. The guys wanted to know what they did. And then more cops and more cops and more cops show up." DePino continues, A bunch of people in the store were standing up and talking to the girl behind the counter and the cops, asking why this was happening. And then they freaking put them in handcuffs and perp-walked them out the freaking store. These guys never raised their voices. They never did anything remotely aggressive.

Melissa is shocked that her video has gained 4.15 million views, 101,000 retweets. "People ignore this kind of stuff. They don’t believe that it happens. People are saying that there must be more to this story. There is not. This would never happen to someone who looks like me. People don’t believe black people when they say this stuff happens. It does. They want to know the extenuating circumstances. There are none."

Melissa who has been contacted by many news outlets to tell her story says she will not go back into a Starbucks again even though it is around the corner where she lives.

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