PHILADELPHIA _ The woman who first shared the video of two black men getting arrested at a Starbucks in Philadelphia last year confronted the company's former executive chairman Howard Schultz at an event Wednesday night in Philadelphia and he acknowledged the manager of the store might not have called authorities if the two men had been white.
Melissa DePino, who posted the video of Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson being handcuffed and led out of the store at 18th and Spruce Streets by police after they declined to purchase anything, attended Schultz's stop on his book tour at the Free Library.
During the Q&A, DePino interjected after Schultz, a potential candidate for president, said the manager contacted police after she "felt a threat." DePino, identifying herself and her connection to the video, said Schultz was not outlining the event correctly, according to video of the exchange from NBC10.
"You are not describing the incident accurately and the way you are describing it is perpetuating the problem," she said. "And I know you want to be part of the solution and I hope you will be, but when you say there were words between the two of them, and she felt threatened, that didn't happen. I saw it with my own two eyes. I was there."
Schultz, who acknowledged he was not there and told DePino that he had "great respect for what (she) saw," went on to comment on his handling of the situation before he addressed it publicly, giving insight into a private conversation he had with the manager.
"I was advised before a nationally televised interview with Gayle King not to say something that I knew was not true. And what was true was I spent time with the manager one-on-one and I just asked her a simple question, and I asked her if those two young men were white, would she have called the police? And to her credit, she said, 'probably not.' So once I heard that, I knew that what occurred was a form of racial profiling."
Schultz was at the Free Library's Vine Street location to discuss his book, "From the Ground Up: A Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America," with Bill Kristol, founder and former editor of The Weekly Standard. Schultz said he was advised to not make those comments about possible racial profiling on national TV immediately after the incident, out of fear it would damage the company and brand. He said he felt a "moral obligation" to say the truth, however.
"I may not have been there, but I can tell you on a personal level, on a very emotional level, I was deeply, deeply concerned about what happened and we've done everything possible to try and learn from it and get better."
In a Twitter thread, DePino said she wrote a question on a card to be submitted during the Q&A session, but it was not needed "because I just stood up in the middle of the event and called @HowardSchultz out on his lie about the incident in Philly."
"There are people who are listening to you, @HowardSchultz," she wrote. "You have a responsibility as a result of your success. Do better."
Last April, the manager of the Center City store contacted police after Nelson asked to use the bathroom but was denied access because he wasn't a customer. Nelson and Robinson, who said they were at the store for a meeting, declined to make a purchase or leave, according to the 911 call released shortly after the incident.
At least six police officers arrived at the Starbucks, and led the two out in handcuffs. The police incident report, obtained by the Inquirer, said the two men cursed at the store manager and refused to leave even though officers asked "multiple times."
DePino shared a video of the incident on Twitter, which sparked a national outrage, public apologies, and a racial-bias training program at Starbucks stores across the nation.
The city later announced that it had reached an agreement with the two men, agreeing to pay them $1 and to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs. Separately, Starbucks announced that its agreement with the men included a "financial settlement" for an undisclosed sum as well as "continued listening and dialogue between parties and specific action and opportunity."
DePino went on to launch From Privilege to Progress, a project that looks to get white people to share the experiences of people of color, along with Michelle Saahene, who can be heard defending Nelson and Robinson in the original video.
Schultz stepped down from his position as Starbucks executive chairman last summer, and is believed to be planning a possible a campaign for president as an independent.
