In the “Can you believe this?” news category, the executive chairman of Starbucks actually wants their White ex-manager to meet with the two Black men she had arrested by a battalion of Philadelphia police.
According to The Daily Mail, the manager’s name is Holly Hylton, 31. She was employed at the Center City Philadelphia Starbucks for a year. The newspaper reported that Hylton also worked at Chipotle from 2006 to 2010 and Smashburger from 2010 from 2014.
Because they had not ordered anything, Hylton called the police on the two African American males — Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, both 23 — after they were in the Starbucks store after just two minutes on April 12. They were waiting for a White man, now identified as Andrew Yaffe, to discuss a business deal. The incident can be seen again on NBC10 Philadelphia below:
WATCH NBC10 NEWS LIVE NOW: Witness speaks to @AClineThomas
about controversial arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia @Starbucks https://t.co/DRzSOlwTWG pic.twitter.com/rHezYdnRjL— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) April 15, 2018
They arrived at 4:35 p.m. and the manager reportedly called police at 4:37 p.m. By the time Yaffee arrived, the officers were just placing Rashon and Donte in handcuffs. The Black men were holed up in the precinct jail for eight hours before being released without being charged. The manager in question was identified by Tom Cleary of Heavy.com
Philadelphia Starbucks manager, identified as Holly Hylton, told 911 dispatchers, “I have two gentlemen at my cafe that are refusing to make a purchase or leave.” Here’s what you need to know about Holly Hylton and the viral incident: https://t.co/y76esc3JwQpic.twitter.com/dDp6Y658Up
— Tom Cleary (@tomwcleary) April 17, 2018
During his interview with Gayle King on CBS, Starbucks executive chairman Howard Schultz reiterated the company’s apology for the arrest. But then Shultz added this curious twist:
“I think there’s a unique opportunity for her and the two gentlemen to sit down and potentially have some kind of reconciliation. I think it is going to be possible. I think she’s interested in doing it,” Schultz said.
Schultz also said the ex-manager is hurting over this episode.
“I think for her, she is suffering herself, in her own way. I think she recognizes that perhaps that calls shouldn’t have been made … I don’t think she intended when she made the call for the police to arrive and arrest the two men.”
How Schultz was able to turn Hylton into a victim when she wrongfully called the police on innocent Black men is beyond most people’s ability to understand.
One person who cannot understand is a former employee of that Starbucks store who worked under Hylton. He posted on social media that when Hylton arrived he said she “lowered my pay & tranferred me to another location-I had NO write up, NO warnings for anything, customers loved me & NO disciplinary actions & when I requested to speak with the district manager Paul Sykes, he even ignored me -this is how they do business 😒🙄 #Starbucks at 18th & Spruce Street #RittenhouseSquare location #racism.”
Here is that Starbucks employee’s Instagram post in full:
