Three passengers are suing American Airlines after alleging employees from the company removed a total of eight Black men from a flight due to a complaint about a passenger with body odor.

Gravitas: Three black passengers sue American airlines for racial discrimination

Six former law enforcement officers from Mississippi, all of whom are white, have admitted guilt on state charges for torturing two Black men, media reports said.&nbsp;The officers were accused of carrying out heinous acts against the victims, including physical assault and humiliation.

Federal prosecutors revealed that some of the officers even gave themselves the nickname "Goon Squad," reflecting their inclination to use excessive force, including an assault that concluded with a deputy shooting one victim in the mouth. These officers had already confessed to their actions in a connected federal civil rights case.&nbsp;

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<h2>Details of the torture</h2>

In January, the officers unlawfully entered a residence without a warrant and subjected the two Black men to a horrifying 90-minute torture session involving stun guns, a sex toy, and other objects.

Throughout this ordeal, the officers continuously used racial slurs to demean the victims. To further cover up their actions, the officers planted drugs and a gun on the victims, leading to false charges that persisted for months.

<h2>Conspiracy unraveled&nbsp;</h2>

The officers' conspiracy began to unravel when one of them confessed to lying, prompting confessions from the other officers. It wasn't until June that the charges against the victims were dropped, following the involvement of both federal and state investigators.

<h2>Guilty pleas&nbsp;</h2>

The six former officers pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and conspiracy to hinder prosecution, with two of them also admitting to home invasion charges.

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They have agreed to sentences recommended by state prosecutors, which range from five to 30 years. However, the judge is not bound by these recommendations. The time served for the state convictions will be concurrent with the potentially longer federal sentences to be imposed in November.

<h2>Impact on victims&nbsp;</h2>

The victims, Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker were present at the hearing and sat just a few feet away from the families of their attackers. The charges against the victims were dropped after federal and state investigators intervened.&nbsp;

“I enjoyed the view of seeing the walk of shame. Head down, the disgust everybody felt for them and that they feel for themselves,” Parker said, adding, “I hope this is a lesson to everybody out there: Justice will be served.”

Monica Lee, the mother of Damien Cameron, another Black man who passed away while in Elward's custody in 2021, was also present during the hearing of the case.

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Lee alleged&nbsp;that an officer, not linked to this case, was responsible for her son's death.

In a separate incident, Carvis Johnson, the Black man who reported another deputy putting a gun in his mouth, lodged a federal lawsuit from inside prison. Johnson alleges that McAlpin assaulted him during an arrest and instructed him to avoid Rankin County.

Additionally, Jenkins and Parker are seeking $400 million in damages through a federal civil rights lawsuit against Rankin County.

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&nbsp;

Six former law enforcement officers from Mississippi, all of whom are white, have admitted guilt on state charges for torturing two Black men, media reports said.

Six former law enforcement officers from Mississippi, all of whom are white, have admitted guilt on state charges for torturing two Black men, media reports said. The officers were accused of carrying out heinous acts against the victims, including physical assault and humiliation. Federal prosecutors revealed that some of the officers even gave themselves the nickname "Goon Squad," reflecting their inclination to use excessive force, including an assault that concluded with a deputy shooting one victim in the mouth. These officers had already confessed to their actions in a connected federal civil rights case. Also Read | From 'ew' to 'yum': New York chef promotes eating creepy crawlies as sustainable delicacies Details of the torture In January, the officers unlawfully entered a residence without a warrant and subjected the two Black men to a horrifying 90-minute torture session involving stun guns, a sex toy, and other objects. Throughout this ordeal, the officers continuously used racial slurs to demean the victims. To further cover up their actions, the officers planted drugs and a gun on the victims, leading to false charges that persisted for months. Conspiracy unraveled The officers' conspiracy began to unravel when one of them confessed to lying, prompting confessions from the other officers. It wasn't until June that the charges against the victims were dropped, following the involvement of both federal and state investigators. Guilty pleas The six former officers pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and conspiracy to hinder prosecution, with two of them also admitting to home invasion charges. Also Read | At least five killed, seven missing after migrant boat capsizes off Tunisian coast They have agreed to sentences recommended by state prosecutors, which range from five to 30 years. However, the judge is not bound by these recommendations. The time served for the state convictions will be concurrent with the potentially longer federal sentences to be imposed in November. Impact on victims The victims, Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker were present at the hearing and sat just a few feet away from the families of their attackers. The charges against the victims were dropped after federal and state investigators intervened. “I enjoyed the view of seeing the walk of shame. Head down, the disgust everybody felt for them and that they feel for themselves,” Parker said, adding, “I hope this is a lesson to everybody out there: Justice will be served.” Monica Lee, the mother of Damien Cameron, another Black man who passed away while in Elward's custody in 2021, was also present during the hearing of the case. WATCH | India: Chandrayaan-3 craft completes 30 days in space × Lee alleged that an officer, not linked to this case, was responsible for her son's death. In a separate incident, Carvis Johnson, the Black man who reported another deputy putting a gun in his mouth, lodged a federal lawsuit from inside prison. Johnson alleges that McAlpin assaulted him during an arrest and instructed him to avoid Rankin County. Additionally, Jenkins and Parker are seeking $400 million in damages through a federal civil rights lawsuit against Rankin County. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. ×

Six white ex-Mississippi police officers plead guilty for horrifying torture of two Black men

State of Florida in the US on Tuesday officially cleared the names of four black men who had been wrongly convicted of sexually assaulting a white woman in the state. The 'crime' had been committed in 1949. The case is recognised as one of those involving gross misacrriage of justice in the US.

At the time of indictment and conviction of Ernest Thomas, Samuel Shepherd, Charles Greenlee and Walter Irvin there was no evidence against them but in Jim Crow-era Florida the men were convicted nonetheless. None of the men are alive today.

On Tuesday, Circuit Court Judge Heidi Davis in Lake County, Florida granted the State's motion to posthumously dismiss the indictments and convictions.

At the time of their conviction, the four men had come to be known as the "Groveland four" and were accused of sexually assaulting Norma Padgett in Groveland, Florida.

"I would not hate, but I will love and embrace all of those who did not know at the time that my father was a caring and loving and compassionate person that did not rape anybody. I stand here today to say thank you," said Carol Greenlee, daughter of Charles Greenlee in a press conference.

"For 72 years the families have been living with this and traveling with this journey waiting for today," said Bill Gladson, the state attorney. He was quoted by CNN.

State of Florida in the US on Tuesday officially cleared the names of four black men who had been wrongly convicted of sexually assaulting a white woman in the state.

State of Florida in the US on Tuesday officially cleared the names of four black men who had been wrongly convicted of sexually assaulting a white woman in the state. The 'crime' had been committed in 1949. The case is recognised as one of those involving gross misacrriage of justice in the US. At the time of indictment and conviction of Ernest Thomas, Samuel Shepherd, Charles Greenlee and Walter Irvin there was no evidence against them but in Jim Crow-era Florida the men were convicted nonetheless. None of the men are alive today. On Tuesday, Circuit Court Judge Heidi Davis in Lake County, Florida granted the State's motion to posthumously dismiss the indictments and convictions. At the time of their conviction, the four men had come to be known as the "Groveland four" and were accused of sexually assaulting Norma Padgett in Groveland, Florida. "I would not hate, but I will love and embrace all of those who did not know at the time that my father was a caring and loving and compassionate person that did not rape anybody. I stand here today to say thank you," said Carol Greenlee, daughter of Charles Greenlee in a press conference. "For 72 years the families have been living with this and traveling with this journey waiting for today," said Bill Gladson, the state attorney. He was quoted by CNN.

Four black men wrongly convicted in 70-year-old rape case get exonerated

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam granted posthumous pardons Tuesday to seven Black men who were executed in 1951 for the rape of a white woman, in a case that attracted pleas for mercy from around the world and in recent years has been denounced as an example of racial disparity in the use of the death penalty.

Northam announced the pardons after meeting with about a dozen descendants of the men and their advocates. Cries and sobs could be heard from some of the descendants after Northam’s announcement.

The "Martinsville Seven," as the men became known, were all convicted of raping 32-year-old Ruby Stroud Floyd, a white woman who had gone to a predominantly black neighborhood in Martinsville, Virginia, on Jan. 8, 1949, to collect money for clothes she had sold.

Four of the men were executed in Virginia’s electric chair on Feb. 2, 1951. Three days later, the remaining three were also electrocuted. All of them were tried by all-white juries. It was the largest group of people executed for a single-victim crime in Virginia’s history.

At the time, rape was a capital offense. But Northam said Tuesday that the death penalty for rape was applied almost exclusively to Black people. From 1908 — when Virginia began using the electric chair — to 1951, state records show that all 45 people executed for rape were Black, he said. The pardons do not address the guilt or innocence of the men, but Northam said the pardons are an acknowledgement that they did not receive due process and received a "racially-biased death sentence not similarly applied to white defendants."

"These men were executed because they were Black, and that’s not right," Northam said.

"Their punishment did not fit the crime. They should not have been executed," he added.

All seven men were convicted and sentenced to death within eight days. Northam said some of the defendants were impaired at the time of their arrests or unable to read confessions they signed. He said none of the men had attorneys present while they were interrogated.

Before their executions, protesters picketed at the White House, and the governor’s office received letters from around the world asking for mercy.

James Walter Grayson is the son of Francis DeSales Grayson, who was one of the seven. He sobbed loudly when Northam told the family members he would grant the pardons after meeting with them Tuesday. "Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord," he said, as he wept while being embraced by two other descendants of the men.

Grayson said he was 4 years old when his father was executed.

"It means so much to me," he said of the pardon.

"I remember the very day the police came to the door. He kissed us and they took him away, " he told The Associated Press in an interview after the announcement.

Rudolph McCollum Jr., a former Richmond mayor, who is the great-nephew of Francis DeSales Grayson and the nephew of another one of the executed men, Booker T. Millner, told Northam the executions represent "a wound that continues to mar Virginia’s history and the efforts to move beyond its dubious past." He wept when Northam announced he would pardon the men.

In December, advocates and descendants of the men asked Northam to issue posthumous pardons. Their petition does not argue that the men were innocent, but says their trials were unfair and the punishment was extreme and unjust.

"The Martinsville Seven were not given adequate due process ‘simply for being black,’ they were sentenced to death for a crime that a white person would not have been executed for ‘simply for being black,’ and they were killed, by the Commonwealth, ‘simply for being black,’ " the advocates wrote in their letter to Northam.

The seven men, most in their late teens or early 20s, were: Grayson, Millner, Frank Hairston Jr.; Howard Lee Hairston; James Luther Hairston; Joe Henry Hampton; and John Clabon Taylor.

Eric W, Rise, an associate professor at the University of Delaware who wrote a 1995 book on the case: "The Martinsville Seven: Race, Rape, and Capital Punishment," said Floyd told police she was raped by a large group of Black men and testified at all six trials. Two of the men were tried together.

All seven men signed statements admitting they were present during the attack, but they had no access to their parents or attorneys at the time, Rise said.

"The validity of the confessions were one of the things their defense attorneys brought up at the trials," Rise said.

Four of the men testified in their own defense. Rise said two men said they had consensual sex with her, one man denied any involvement, and another man said he was so intoxicated he could not remember what happened.

Northam has now granted a total of 604 pardons since taking office in 2018, more than the previous nine governors combined, his administration announced Tuesday.

"This is about righting wrongs," Northam said. "We all deserve a criminal justice system that is fair, equal, and gets it right — no matter who you are or what you look like," he said.

In March, Northam, a Democrat, signed legislation passed by the Democrat-controlled legislature abolishing the state’s death penalty. It was a dramatic shift for Virginia, a state that had the second-highest number of executions in the U.S. The case of the Martinsville Seven was cited during the legislative debate as an example of the disproportionate use of the death penalty against people of color.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam granted posthumous pardons Tuesday to seven Black men who were executed in 1951 for the rape of a white woman, in a case that attracted pleas for mercy from around the world and in recent years has been denounced as an example of racial disparity in the use of the death penalty.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam granted posthumous pardons Tuesday to seven Black men who were executed in 1951 for the rape of a white woman, in a case that attracted pleas for mercy from around the world and in recent years has been denounced as an example of racial disparity in the use of the death penalty. Northam announced the pardons after meeting with about a dozen descendants of the men and their advocates. Cries and sobs could be heard from some of the descendants after Northam’s announcement. The "Martinsville Seven," as the men became known, were all convicted of raping 32-year-old Ruby Stroud Floyd, a white woman who had gone to a predominantly black neighborhood in Martinsville, Virginia, on Jan. 8, 1949, to collect money for clothes she had sold. Four of the men were executed in Virginia’s electric chair on Feb. 2, 1951. Three days later, the remaining three were also electrocuted. All of them were tried by all-white juries. It was the largest group of people executed for a single-victim crime in Virginia’s history. At the time, rape was a capital offense. But Northam said Tuesday that the death penalty for rape was applied almost exclusively to Black people. From 1908 — when Virginia began using the electric chair — to 1951, state records show that all 45 people executed for rape were Black, he said. The pardons do not address the guilt or innocence of the men, but Northam said the pardons are an acknowledgement that they did not receive due process and received a "racially-biased death sentence not similarly applied to white defendants." "These men were executed because they were Black, and that’s not right," Northam said. "Their punishment did not fit the crime. They should not have been executed," he added. All seven men were convicted and sentenced to death within eight days. Northam said some of the defendants were impaired at the time of their arrests or unable to read confessions they signed. He said none of the men had attorneys present while they were interrogated. Before their executions, protesters picketed at the White House, and the governor’s office received letters from around the world asking for mercy. James Walter Grayson is the son of Francis DeSales Grayson, who was one of the seven. He sobbed loudly when Northam told the family members he would grant the pardons after meeting with them Tuesday. "Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord," he said, as he wept while being embraced by two other descendants of the men. Grayson said he was 4 years old when his father was executed. "It means so much to me," he said of the pardon. "I remember the very day the police came to the door. He kissed us and they took him away, " he told The Associated Press in an interview after the announcement. Rudolph McCollum Jr., a former Richmond mayor, who is the great-nephew of Francis DeSales Grayson and the nephew of another one of the executed men, Booker T. Millner, told Northam the executions represent "a wound that continues to mar Virginia’s history and the efforts to move beyond its dubious past." He wept when Northam announced he would pardon the men. In December, advocates and descendants of the men asked Northam to issue posthumous pardons. Their petition does not argue that the men were innocent, but says their trials were unfair and the punishment was extreme and unjust. "The Martinsville Seven were not given adequate due process ‘simply for being black,’ they were sentenced to death for a crime that a white person would not have been executed for ‘simply for being black,’ and they were killed, by the Commonwealth, ‘simply for being black,’ " the advocates wrote in their letter to Northam. The seven men, most in their late teens or early 20s, were: Grayson, Millner, Frank Hairston Jr.; Howard Lee Hairston; James Luther Hairston; Joe Henry Hampton; and John Clabon Taylor. Eric W, Rise, an associate professor at the University of Delaware who wrote a 1995 book on the case: "The Martinsville Seven: Race, Rape, and Capital Punishment," said Floyd told police she was raped by a large group of Black men and testified at all six trials. Two of the men were tried together. All seven men signed statements admitting they were present during the attack, but they had no access to their parents or attorneys at the time, Rise said. "The validity of the confessions were one of the things their defense attorneys brought up at the trials," Rise said. Four of the men testified in their own defense. Rise said two men said they had consensual sex with her, one man denied any involvement, and another man said he was so intoxicated he could not remember what happened. Northam has now granted a total of 604 pardons since taking office in 2018, more than the previous nine governors combined, his administration announced Tuesday. "This is about righting wrongs," Northam said. "We all deserve a criminal justice system that is fair, equal, and gets it right — no matter who you are or what you look like," he said. In March, Northam, a Democrat, signed legislation passed by the Democrat-controlled legislature abolishing the state’s death penalty. It was a dramatic shift for Virginia, a state that had the second-highest number of executions in the U.S. The case of the Martinsville Seven was cited during the legislative debate as an example of the disproportionate use of the death penalty against people of color.

Black men executed in 1951 rape granted posthumous pardons

Hollywood star Liam Neeson insisted on Tuesday he was "not racist" after <a href="http://www.wionews.com/entertainment/liam-neeson-reveals-how-he-had-once-hunted-for-a-black-bd-to-kill-195204">confessing that he once set out to</a> attack a random black man after a friend of his told him she had been raped.

"I'm not a racist," Neeson said on ABC News while admitting he had felt a "primal urge to lash out" about 40 years ago after hearing from his close friend that she had been attacked by a black man.

The 66-year-old star of 'Schindler's List' triggered an international backlash by sharing his story in an interview with British newspaper The Independent this week.

In damage limitation mode on ABC's "Good Morning America," the Northern Irish actor expanded on the incident, which he said left him shocked at himself.

"I went out deliberately into black areas in the city, looking to be set upon so that I could unleash physical violence," Neeson recalled. "I did it four, maybe four or five, times until I caught myself and it really shocked me, this primal urge."&nbsp;

While he says no violence ultimately occurred, Neeson said he sought help from a Catholic priest, spoke to friends, and walked for hours to rid himself of the episode.

But he also insisted race was not the driving factor behind his actions.

"If she had said an Irish or a Scot or a Brit or a Lithuanian, I know it would have had the same effect," he told ABC. "I was trying to show honour and stand up for my dear friend in this terrible medieval fashion."

By way of explanation, he pointed to his experience growing up in Northern Ireland, at the time locked in a deadly cycle of sectarian violence pitting Catholics against Protestants.

Neeson first revealed the incident to The Independent in an interview to promote his new thriller 'Cold Pursuit,' about a father seeking revenge after his son is murdered by a drug gang.

In the bombshell interview, he spoke of "hoping some black bastard would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could... kill him."

Neeson's acting career has spanned five decades and included a star turn in the 2008 hit 'Taken' -- about a former CIA agent trying to track down his kidnapped daughter.

With his own revelations now threatening to derail his career, Neeson pleaded for his story to be taken as part of a broader, honest debate on race relations.

"We all pretend we're all politically correct," he said. "Sometimes you scratch the surface and discover this racism and bigotry, and it's there."

- 'Deserves a medal' -

Many of the reactions were unequivocally damning.

Charles Blow, an African American columnist for The New York Times, asked on Twitter if a black actor could have got away with the same thing: "Could Will Smith confess to stalking the streets of Los Angeles for a whole week searching for random white men to kill and get a pass?"

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Could Will Smith confess to stalking the streets of Los Angeles for a whole week searching for random white people to kill and get a pass? Exactly… <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LiamNeeson?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LiamNeeson</a>
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Kovie Biakolo, an African American editor at the BuzzFeed news site, noted a similarity between Neeson's desire for violent confrontation with a black man and George Zimmerman's killing of an unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin, in Florida in 2012.

"Today is Trayvon's birthday and I had a thought: What's the distance between Liam Neeson and George Zimmerman? It gave me pause," she wrote on Twitter.

Some voices praised Neeson for his candor, however.

Former England footballer John Barnes, who suffered racist abuse during his career, said the actor "deserves a medal" for speaking honestly.

Barnes, who is black, told Sky News that Neeson responded in the way he did because "this is what society has shown him, that black people do, Muslims do -- this is what society has wrongly shown him. This is what the media have wrongly portrayed to him."

Hollywood star Liam Neeson insisted on Tuesday he was "not racist" after confessing that he once set out to attack a random black man after a friend of his told him she had been raped.

Hollywood star Liam Neeson insisted on Tuesday he was "not racist" after confessing that he once set out to attack a random black man after a friend of his told him she had been raped. "I'm not a racist," Neeson said on ABC News while admitting he had felt a "primal urge to lash out" about 40 years ago after hearing from his close friend that she had been attacked by a black man. The 66-year-old star of 'Schindler's List' triggered an international backlash by sharing his story in an interview with British newspaper The Independent this week. In damage limitation mode on ABC's "Good Morning America," the Northern Irish actor expanded on the incident, which he said left him shocked at himself. "I went out deliberately into black areas in the city, looking to be set upon so that I could unleash physical violence," Neeson recalled. "I did it four, maybe four or five, times until I caught myself and it really shocked me, this primal urge." While he says no violence ultimately occurred, Neeson said he sought help from a Catholic priest, spoke to friends, and walked for hours to rid himself of the episode. But he also insisted race was not the driving factor behind his actions. "If she had said an Irish or a Scot or a Brit or a Lithuanian, I know it would have had the same effect," he told ABC. "I was trying to show honour and stand up for my dear friend in this terrible medieval fashion." By way of explanation, he pointed to his experience growing up in Northern Ireland, at the time locked in a deadly cycle of sectarian violence pitting Catholics against Protestants. Neeson first revealed the incident to The Independent in an interview to promote his new thriller 'Cold Pursuit,' about a father seeking revenge after his son is murdered by a drug gang. In the bombshell interview, he spoke of "hoping some black bastard would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could... kill him." Neeson's acting career has spanned five decades and included a star turn in the 2008 hit 'Taken' -- about a former CIA agent trying to track down his kidnapped daughter. With his own revelations now threatening to derail his career, Neeson pleaded for his story to be taken as part of a broader, honest debate on race relations. "We all pretend we're all politically correct," he said. "Sometimes you scratch the surface and discover this racism and bigotry, and it's there." - 'Deserves a medal' - Many of the reactions were unequivocally damning. Charles Blow, an African American columnist for The New York Times, asked on Twitter if a black actor could have got away with the same thing: "Could Will Smith confess to stalking the streets of Los Angeles for a whole week searching for random white men to kill and get a pass?" Could Will Smith confess to stalking the streets of Los Angeles for a whole week searching for random white people to kill and get a pass? Exactly… #LiamNeeson — Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) February 5, 2019 × Kovie Biakolo, an African American editor at the BuzzFeed news site, noted a similarity between Neeson's desire for violent confrontation with a black man and George Zimmerman's killing of an unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin, in Florida in 2012. "Today is Trayvon's birthday and I had a thought: What's the distance between Liam Neeson and George Zimmerman? It gave me pause," she wrote on Twitter. Some voices praised Neeson for his candor, however. Former England footballer John Barnes, who suffered racist abuse during his career, said the actor "deserves a medal" for speaking honestly. Barnes, who is black, told Sky News that Neeson responded in the way he did because "this is what society has shown him, that black people do, Muslims do -- this is what society has wrongly shown him. This is what the media have wrongly portrayed to him."

I am not a racist, says Liam Neeson after admitting hunt for black men

Starbucks Chief Executive Kevin Johnson apologised late on Saturday for the arrests of two Afro-Americans at a Philadelphia coffee shop last week, which sparked accusations of racial profiling.

Promising to make everything right, Johnson promised a thorough investigation of the incident caught on video by a patron Thursday and shared widely online.

The men were accused of trespassing but have said they were waiting for a friend before ordering.

"The video shot by customers is very hard to watch and the actions in it are not representative of our Starbucks mission and values," Johnson said in a statement.

He added, "The basis for the call to the Philadelphia police department was wrong."

Philadelphia`s police commissioner on Saturday defended the arrest, saying his officers had to act after Starbucks employees told them the pair were trespassing.

Video of Thursday`s incident showed other patrons telling officers the pair were doing nothing wrong and appeared to have been targeted merely because of their race.

Police Commissioner Richard Ross said he knew the incident had prompted a lot of concern, but said his officers "did absolutely nothing wrong."

In a video statement, Ross said store employees called 911 to report a disturbance and trespassing.

When officers arrived, Ross said, staff told them the two men had wanted to use the restroom but were informed it was only for paying customers. The pair repeatedly refused to leave when politely asked to do so by the employees and officers, he said.

"If you think about it logically, that if a business calls and they say that someone is here that I no longer wish to be in my business, they (the officers) now have a legal obligation to carry out their duties. And they did just that," Ross said.

"They were professional in all their dealings with these gentlemen, and instead they got the opposite back."

Ross said that as an African-American man he was acutely 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 men were released, Ross said, after officers learned Starbucks was "no longer interested" in prosecuting them.

In a post on Twitter earlier on Saturday, Starbucks Corp said it was sorry for what took place.

Johnson added his apology, saying the company would review its policies and "further train our partners to better know when police assistance is warranted."

Melissa DePino, an author who posted video of the arrest, said staff called police because the two men had not ordered anything while waiting for a friend. She said white customers were "wondering why it`s never happened to us when we do the same thing."

Police departments across the United States have come under criticism for repeated instances of killing unarmed Afro-Americans&nbsp;in recent years, which activists blame on racial biases in the criminal justice system.

The men were accused of trespassing but have said they were waiting for a friend before ordering.

Starbucks Chief Executive Kevin Johnson apologised late on Saturday for the arrests of two Afro-Americans at a Philadelphia coffee shop last week, which sparked accusations of racial profiling. Promising to make everything right, Johnson promised a thorough investigation of the incident caught on video by a patron Thursday and shared widely online. The men were accused of trespassing but have said they were waiting for a friend before ordering. "The video shot by customers is very hard to watch and the actions in it are not representative of our Starbucks mission and values," Johnson said in a statement. He added, "The basis for the call to the Philadelphia police department was wrong." Philadelphia`s police commissioner on Saturday defended the arrest, saying his officers had to act after Starbucks employees told them the pair were trespassing. Video of Thursday`s incident showed other patrons telling officers the pair were doing nothing wrong and appeared to have been targeted merely because of their race. Police Commissioner Richard Ross said he knew the incident had prompted a lot of concern, but said his officers "did absolutely nothing wrong." In a video statement, Ross said store employees called 911 to report a disturbance and trespassing. When officers arrived, Ross said, staff told them the two men had wanted to use the restroom but were informed it was only for paying customers. The pair repeatedly refused to leave when politely asked to do so by the employees and officers, he said. "If you think about it logically, that if a business calls and they say that someone is here that I no longer wish to be in my business, they (the officers) now have a legal obligation to carry out their duties. And they did just that," Ross said. "They were professional in all their dealings with these gentlemen, and instead they got the opposite back." Ross said that as an African-American man he was acutely 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 men were released, Ross said, after officers learned Starbucks was "no longer interested" in prosecuting them. In a post on Twitter earlier on Saturday, Starbucks Corp said it was sorry for what took place. Johnson added his apology, saying the company would review its policies and "further train our partners to better know when police assistance is warranted." Melissa DePino, an author who posted video of the arrest, said staff called police because the two men had not ordered anything while waiting for a friend. She said white customers were "wondering why it`s never happened to us when we do the same thing." Police departments across the United States have come under criticism for repeated instances of killing unarmed Afro-Americans in recent years, which activists blame on racial biases in the criminal justice system.

Starbucks chief executive apologises for arrests of two Afro-American men

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