A group of six police officers were asked to leave a Starbucks in Tempe, Arizona, on Thursday (July 4). The officers had just paid for their coffee and were standing around talking before their shift when a barista asked them to leave.
The barista, who has not been identified, told the officers that another customer "did not feel safe" by their presence and asked them to leave the establishment. The officers decided to leave the coffee shop without incident.
The Tempe Officers Association blasted Starbucks on Twitter, pointing out that several of the officers were veterans.
Don't appreciate@Starbucks asking our#Tempe cops to leave your establishment on the#4thofjuly2019. Several of those cops are#veterans who fought for this country!#ZeroRespect
The Tempe Police Department says they have spoken with Starbucks about what happened.
"It is our hope that the incident which occurred at Starbucks was an isolated incident between one community member and a single employee rather than an entire organization," a department spokesperson said. "Starbucks stated they are aware of this incident and advised this interaction is not in line with Starbucks values and will continue to work in strengthening their relationship with law enforcement."
Starbucks issued a statement and said that they have apologized to the department over the incident.
"We have a deep respect for the Tempe Police and their service to the community," spokesman Reggie Borges told the Arizona Republic. "We've reached out to the Tempe Police Department and Tempe Officers Association to better understand what happened and apologize. We want everyone in our stores to feel welcomed and the incident described is not indicative of what we want any of our customers to feel in our stores."
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