Some people don’t understand the issue: they were asked to leave after they said they were waiting for someone to arrive before placing an order. Ummm, how many people have been asked to leave Starbucks because they had been waiting inside the store for too long without having ordered? So first problem is these gentlemen were asked to leave, no one else. Second, police show up and arrest the men instead of letting their presence speak for itself and asking them to leave while threatening arrest or whatever. Once police arrived, they weren’t given the option to leave, they were arrested. That’s police discretion, they chose to handle it in that manner but didn’t mean to. So for those who don’t see a racial problem here, you’re just turning a blind eye to it.

tldr; Starbucks employees/managers didn’t have to ask them to leave and could have chosen to believe they were waiting to place order. Cops could have made them leave without arresting them.