Starbucks has been under fire after a ‘racist incident’ took place where two black men were unnecessarily arrested at a Philadelphia location, sparking #BoycottStarbucks on Twitter. A video surfaced online on Thursday which shows police talking to two black men and eventually handcuffing and escorting them out of the building. The video since its release has been viewed more than 3 million times.

In a tweet, Melissa DePino who recorded the moment said, “The police were called because these men hadn’t ordered anything. They were waiting for a friend to show up, who did as they were taken out in handcuffs for doing nothing.”

Watch Video of Two Black Men Being Arrested

But according to the Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said his officers ‘did absolutely nothing wrong’. During a Facebook Live statement uploaded on Saturday afternoon, police commissioner said, “At about 4:40 police received a 911 call for a disturbance and trespass. When the police arrived, they were met by Starbucks employees who said that two males were trespassing and had refused to leave the establishment,” he said. He further said that according to Starbucks’ company policy they do not allow non-paying members or non-paying people to come in and use the restroom. After the two males refused to leave when asked politely, the police were called.

However, the video garnered attention of many and outraged social media users encouraged people to boycott Starbucks. Twitterati show their disapproval by posting tweets against Starbucks.

Racism at Its Ugliest Level

You Need to Be ‘This White’ to Sit in Starbucks

One User Wanted to Know the 911 Call from the Employee

Amid the outrage, Starbucks issued a statement online, writing, “We apologise to the two individuals and our customers and are disappointed this led to an arrest.”

Starbucks’ CEO Kevin Johnson expressed his deepest apologies about the incident and plans to fly to Philadelphia to help correct the situation. On Saturday Johnson said, “I hope to meet personally with the two men who were arrested to offer a face-to-face apology.” At the end of Ross’ statement, he acknowledged the racial tension that is surrounding the incident. “I will say that as an African American male I am very aware of implicit bias. We are committed to fair and unbiased policing and anything less than that will not be tolerated in this department,” he said.

The two black men who were arrested in the coffee ship have since been released and remain unidentified. A spokesman for the district attorney’s office said the men were released because of ‘lack of evidence’ that a crime had been committed, the Associated Press reported.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 15, 2018 05:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).